Almost human? A comparative case study on the social media presence of virtual influencers

Arsenyan, Jbid; Mirowska, Agata

doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2021.102694

Cited by 128 publications

(109 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…In addition, the effect of AI and virtual SMIs on consumers has been investigated in different studies (Arsenyan and Mirowska, 2021 ; Block and Lovegrove, 2021 ; Sands et al, 2022 ). Arguably, such virtual influencers can fulfill a user's social needs just as good as any human could do (Arsenyan and Mirowska, 2021 ). However, findings indicate that (fashion) AI influencers are often perceived as less trustworthy (Sands et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The visual appearance of the virtual influencer seems to play a role in this context. For example, Arsenyan and Mirowska ( 2021 ) used computer-generated images (CGI) as part of a human-like virtual influencer in their study. Results indicate that such a human-like appearance can evoke a perception of “creepiness” in the human viewers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research has started to explore the use of AI to rank multimedia influencers based on audience and content representation to match them with marketeers (Farseev et al, 2018(Farseev et al, , 2021. In addition, the effect of AI and virtual SMIs on consumers has been investigated in different studies (Arsenyan and Mirowska, 2021;Block and Lovegrove, 2021;Sands et al, 2022). Arguably, such virtual influencers can fulfill a user's social needs just as good as any human could do (Arsenyan and Mirowska, 2021).…”

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The three-step persuasion model on YouTube: A grounded theory study on persuasion in the protein supplements industry

Tripathi

Vries

Lemke

2022

Front. Artif. Intell.

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Persuasion can be defined as an active attempt by a person to change the behavior and attitudes of others. The purposive attempt to influence one's behavior can originate from different areas, and people who are able to do so are often referred to as influencers. Social media platforms such as Instagram or YouTube have become crucial platforms for influencers who generate their income by recommending products and services to their followers, including cosmetics, multimedia articles or clothing. Studies indicate that influencers actively try to persuade the viewer to adopt specific desirable behavior by strategically altering their displayed behavior on social media. Such strategies have mainly been explored in the context of beauty products, where lack of expertise and misinformation might have few negative consequences. Less is known about strategies used in a health-sensitive context, such as nutritional supplements. This research addresses this gap and aims to understand persuasive techniques used by health professionals on YouTube to promote the use of protein supplements. This study is based on an interpretive paradigm using interpretive grounded theory to analyze 60 YouTube videos. We developed a three-step model of persuasion for YouTube videos consisting of the steps: reaching the message, staying on the message, and performing the action that the persuader desires. Our analysis resulted in five core themes that contributed to the persuasiveness of the analyzed YouTube videos. These themes included: Quality, curiosity, engagement, concretization, and genuineness. We conclude the paper with reflections on our model's theoretical and practical implications.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The three-step persuasion model on YouTube: A grounded theory study on persuasion in the protein supplements industry

Tripathi

Vries

Lemke

2022

Front. Artif. Intell.

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“…Uncanny virtual influencers, when combined with attempts to mimic human posting and speech patterns, may unavoidably lead to the Uncanny Valley, where the lines between virtual and human blur and users react unfavorably due to impressions of an uncanny resemblance to humans [46].…”

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Influencers : Is The Persona Trustworthy?

Wibawa

Pratiwi²,

Wahyono³

et al. 2022

JAMIKA

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In today's digital world, people are using social media at a higher rate than ever before. One digital marketing phenomenon is the use of services from a virtual influencer. Virtual influencers are computer-generated models who are becoming increasingly famous on social media. The purpose of the study is to identify and analyze the communication way of virtual influencers in the digital marketing era. The current study uses a literature review method that searches article titles and abstracts in electronic databases (Scopus and Google Scholar) for studies published between 2018-2022 using keywords. The importance of this research is due to the phenomenon and data literature on lifestyle, interaction patterns, and most of the media production from conventional to digital which has a significant impact on the development of the digital world. The results show the perspective of digital experts on the efficacy and trustworthiness of the use of virtual influencers as a marketing strategy is capable of promoting businesses. Virtual characters can give a new color and dimension to the global marketing world and will be widely used in various industries such as fashion, music, games, films, marketing, education, and politics.

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“…Since she was introduced, many brands in many industries, such as ANANDA Development (real estate), CIMB Thai (banking), SCG Home (retail), Yamaha (automobile), Dentyne (candy), and Dhipaya Insurance, have already reached out to Callmewunni as their VI. Furthermore, with human-like VIs designed to look and behave like a human, their public profiles and identities are also clearly posted on their Instagram accounts, allowing greater interactions by followers (Arsenyan & Mirowska, 2021).…”

Section: Literature Review Aims and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What causes social media users to engage and mimic virtual influencers? The role of self-congruity

Suprawan

Pojanavatee

2022

Innovative Marketing

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Influencer marketing has been widely utilized in marketing communication. With the growing interest in virtual influencers, this study aims to investigate why social media users would interact with virtual influencers. The research model was developed based on the self-congruity theory. The data were obtained by questionnaires distributed to social media users using judgmental sampling (respondents were above 18 years old and actively used Instagram within the past six months). The questionnaire was posted on social media, and 230 responses were collected and analyzed using a covariance-based structural equation. Influencer-brand fit was found to have a weak direct effect on engagement (γ = 0.158, p &lt; 0.05), but insignificant direct effect on mimicry desire (γ = 0.160, p &gt; 0.05). Value homophily significantly affects both engagement and mimicry desire directly (β = 0.338 and β = 0.622, p &lt; 0.01). Moreover, value homophily was found to fully mediate the virtual influencer-brand fit/mimicry desire relationship (B = 0.546, p &lt; 0.01) and partially mediate the relationship of virtual influencer-brand fit/engagement (B = 0.229, p &lt; 0.01). However, the mediating effect of mimicry desire on the virtual influencer-brand fit/engagement relationship was found to be non-significant (B = 0.065, p &gt; 0.05). This study contributes to influencer marketing by highlighting value homophily as the most significant factor explaining why consumers respond to a virtual influencer when used as a message source in marketing communication.

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Almost human? A comparative case study on the social media presence of virtual influencers

Cited by 128 publications

References 54 publications

The three-step persuasion model on YouTube: A grounded theory study on persuasion in the protein supplements industry

The three-step persuasion model on YouTube: A grounded theory study on persuasion in the protein supplements industry

Virtual Influencers : Is The Persona Trustworthy?

What causes social media users to engage and mimic virtual influencers? The role of self-congruity

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