Are they humans or are they robots? The effect of virtual influencer disclosure on brand trust

Fernanda Muniz · Kristin Stewart

110 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Consumer Behaviour

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Digital Marketing and Social Media Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification AI in Service Interactions

Abstract

Abstract The increased prevalence of social media has led brands to utilize influencers for product endorsements and influence consumer perceptions. Among these influencers, virtual influencers (VIs)—that is, computer‐generated influencers with a social media presence–have gained significant attention due to their substantial online following and greater engagement compared to human influencers. However, a research gap exists in understanding the impact of VIs on consumer response toward brands, particularly when consumers perceive VIs as human. To address this gap, this study draws upon anthropomorphism and expectation disconfirmation theories to investigate the effect of disclosing a VI's nonhuman nature on consumer trust in the brand. Additionally, the influence of culture on consumers' perceptions of VIs is explored. The study employs three within‐subject experimental designs, with two studies conducted in the United States ( n = 75 and n = 101) and one in Brazil ( n = 83). The findings reveal that the disclosure of a VI's nonhuman nature negatively affects the perceived anthropomorphism of the influencer, subsequently diminishing the credibility of the VI and impacting brand trust. This study contributes significantly to the consumer behavior literature by examining the unintended consequences of disclosing VIs' nonhuman nature on consumer perceptions. Furthermore, it highlights the potential role of culture, as the direct influence of disclosure on anthropomorphism is observed, but the indirect influence on brand trust is not supported among Brazilian consumers. Consequently, brands must reconsider the design of their own VIs or those they collaborate with, striving for a design that mitigates consumer suspicion avoiding the negative effects of disclosure.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 110 citations exist upstream.

References

2003Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies.2000Structural equation modeling with AMOS: basic concepts, applications, and programming 1980A Cognitive Model of the Antecedents and Consequences of Satisfaction Decisions 2011Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context 2001The Chain of Effects from Brand Trust and Brand Affect to Brand Performance: The Role of Brand Loyalty 1997The media equation: how people treat computers, television, and new media like real people and places 2007On seeing human: A three-factor theory of anthropomorphism.1990Construction and Validation of a Scale to Measure Celebrity Endorsers' Perceived Expertise, Trustworthiness, and Attractiveness

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.