How Does Humanoid Virtual Influencers' Appearance Convey Social Presence? The Underlying Process and Path to Purchase Intention

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Hauptverfasser: Haithem Zourrig, Jeongsoo Park, Imene Becheur
Format: Artículo Open Access
Veröffentlicht: Wiley 2025
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author Haithem Zourrig
Jeongsoo Park
Imene Becheur
author_facet Haithem Zourrig
Jeongsoo Park
Imene Becheur
Haithem Zourrig
Jeongsoo Park
Imene Becheur
collection Wiley Open Access
contents How Does Humanoid Virtual Influencers' Appearance Convey Social Presence? The Underlying Process and Path to Purchase Intention Haithem Zourrig Jeongsoo Park Imene Becheur International Journal of Consumer Studies ABSTRACT Drawing on the stimulus‐organism‐response (S‐O‐R) framework, the current work contends that the interplay between Humanoid Virtual Influencer (HVI) traits acts as a stimulus that shapes consumers' sense of social presence and perception of HVI's attractiveness, which in turn influences their willingness to follow HVI's recommendations and purchase intention. Four online survey studies were conducted among Instagram users in Japan. The results from Study 1 show that animism partially mediates the impact of HVI anthropomorphism on social presence. Moreover, Study 2 reveals that warmth and competence dimensions, as stereotypical evaluations, partially mediate the influence of anthropomorphism and animism on social presence. Unexpectedly, Study 3 found that HVI attractiveness does not mediate the linkage between social presence and consumers' disposition to follow HVI recommendations. However, Study 4 reveals that the disposition to follow HVI recommendations acts as a mediating factor in the pathway between attractiveness and the intention to make a purchase. This research expands the existing literature by considering animism as an additional characteristic of HVIs and examining its influence on stereotypical evaluations. These insights provide practical implications for retail marketers who collaborate with HVIs in their advertising efforts. 10.1111/ijcs.70013 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
doi_str_mv 10.1111/ijcs.70013
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institution Wiley Open Access
license_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
publishDate 2025
publisher Wiley
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spellingShingle How Does Humanoid Virtual Influencers' Appearance Convey Social Presence? The Underlying Process and Path to Purchase Intention
Haithem Zourrig
Jeongsoo Park
Imene Becheur
International Journal of Consumer Studies
How Does Humanoid Virtual Influencers' Appearance Convey Social Presence? The Underlying Process and Path to Purchase Intention Haithem Zourrig Jeongsoo Park Imene Becheur International Journal of Consumer Studies ABSTRACT Drawing on the stimulus‐organism‐response (S‐O‐R) framework, the current work contends that the interplay between Humanoid Virtual Influencer (HVI) traits acts as a stimulus that shapes consumers' sense of social presence and perception of HVI's attractiveness, which in turn influences their willingness to follow HVI's recommendations and purchase intention. Four online survey studies were conducted among Instagram users in Japan. The results from Study 1 show that animism partially mediates the impact of HVI anthropomorphism on social presence. Moreover, Study 2 reveals that warmth and competence dimensions, as stereotypical evaluations, partially mediate the influence of anthropomorphism and animism on social presence. Unexpectedly, Study 3 found that HVI attractiveness does not mediate the linkage between social presence and consumers' disposition to follow HVI recommendations. However, Study 4 reveals that the disposition to follow HVI recommendations acts as a mediating factor in the pathway between attractiveness and the intention to make a purchase. This research expands the existing literature by considering animism as an additional characteristic of HVIs and examining its influence on stereotypical evaluations. These insights provide practical implications for retail marketers who collaborate with HVIs in their advertising efforts. 10.1111/ijcs.70013 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
title How Does Humanoid Virtual Influencers' Appearance Convey Social Presence? The Underlying Process and Path to Purchase Intention
topic International Journal of Consumer Studies
url https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijcs.70013