Sponsored by a robot? How the human likeness of virtual influencers influences purchase intentions towards sponsored products

Abstract

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and the emerging trend of influencer marketing, virtual influencers have become promising advertising tools for marketers. Based on computers are social actors (CASA) and uncanny valley theory (UVT), this research study conducted a pilot study (N = 155) and an online experiment (N = 293) to investigate how the perceived humanness of virtual influencers affects their advertising effectiveness. The results indicate that the perceived humanness of virtual influencers increases perceptions of eeriness, attractiveness and authenticity. The increased perceived attractiveness and authenticity of virtual influencers, in turn, leads to more positive attitudes towards the virtual influencers and purchase intentions towards the advertised products. Furthermore, the current study found that such effects were moderated by the perceived similarity between consumers and virtual influencers. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.