The next hype in social media advertising: Examining virtual influencers’ brand endorsement effectiveness
Virtual influencers are gaining prominence as a way of attracting people’s attention on social media, but limited research has been conducted on this subject. In this research, we explore the effects of human-like virtual influencers (HVIs) vs. anime-like virtual influencers (AVIs) and sponsorship d...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1089051/full |
| _version_ | 1811159261201301504 |
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| author | Eunjin (Anna) Kim Donggyu Kim Zihang E Heather Shoenberger |
| author_facet | Eunjin (Anna) Kim Donggyu Kim Zihang E Heather Shoenberger |
| author_sort | Eunjin (Anna) Kim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Virtual influencers are gaining prominence as a way of attracting people’s attention on social media, but limited research has been conducted on this subject. In this research, we explore the effects of human-like virtual influencers (HVIs) vs. anime-like virtual influencers (AVIs) and sponsorship disclosure on message credibility perception and message attitudes. Conducted with a 2 (virtual influencer type: HVI vs. AVI) x 2 (sponsorship disclosure: absent vs. present) between-subjects experiment, our findings suggest that HVI endorsements produce greater perception of message credibility and message attitudes than AVI endorsements, but the superior effect of HVIs (vs. AVIs) vanishes when sponsorship is disclosed. The results also show that message credibility plays a significant mediating role only when sponsorship is not disclosed. We believe our research offers interesting insights to both researchers and practitioners on the topic of virtual influencers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:39:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-99414b25a4364f1b8e4a41826899fd7b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:39:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-99414b25a4364f1b8e4a41826899fd7b2023-03-06T16:04:14ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-02-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.10890511089051The next hype in social media advertising: Examining virtual influencers’ brand endorsement effectivenessEunjin (Anna) Kim0Donggyu Kim1Zihang E2Heather Shoenberger3Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesAnnenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesAnnenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesDonald P. Bellisario College of Communication, Penn State University, University Park, PA, United StatesVirtual influencers are gaining prominence as a way of attracting people’s attention on social media, but limited research has been conducted on this subject. In this research, we explore the effects of human-like virtual influencers (HVIs) vs. anime-like virtual influencers (AVIs) and sponsorship disclosure on message credibility perception and message attitudes. Conducted with a 2 (virtual influencer type: HVI vs. AVI) x 2 (sponsorship disclosure: absent vs. present) between-subjects experiment, our findings suggest that HVI endorsements produce greater perception of message credibility and message attitudes than AVI endorsements, but the superior effect of HVIs (vs. AVIs) vanishes when sponsorship is disclosed. The results also show that message credibility plays a significant mediating role only when sponsorship is not disclosed. We believe our research offers interesting insights to both researchers and practitioners on the topic of virtual influencers.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1089051/fullhuman-like virtual influencersanimated virtual influencerssponsorship disclosuremessage credibilitymessage attitudebrand endorsement |
| spellingShingle | Eunjin (Anna) Kim Donggyu Kim Zihang E Heather Shoenberger The next hype in social media advertising: Examining virtual influencers’ brand endorsement effectiveness Frontiers in Psychology human-like virtual influencers animated virtual influencers sponsorship disclosure message credibility message attitude brand endorsement |
| title | The next hype in social media advertising: Examining virtual influencers’ brand endorsement effectiveness |
| title_full | The next hype in social media advertising: Examining virtual influencers’ brand endorsement effectiveness |
| title_fullStr | The next hype in social media advertising: Examining virtual influencers’ brand endorsement effectiveness |
| title_full_unstemmed | The next hype in social media advertising: Examining virtual influencers’ brand endorsement effectiveness |
| title_short | The next hype in social media advertising: Examining virtual influencers’ brand endorsement effectiveness |
| title_sort | next hype in social media advertising examining virtual influencers brand endorsement effectiveness |
| topic | human-like virtual influencers animated virtual influencers sponsorship disclosure message credibility message attitude brand endorsement |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1089051/full |
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