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Goals:This research, conducted as part of a master’s degree in marketing, analyzes success factors on social media and economic and consumer perception variables, comparing the effects of human and virtual influencers.
Methodology:After reviewing existing studies, a quantitative approach was adopted. An online questionnaire was distributed, collecting 281 responses. Data analysis was performed using SPSS. Due to the absence of a normal distribution, non-parametric techniques such as Pearson Correlation, ANOVA, and linear regression were applied. The study examines virtual influencers' effectiveness, click-through rate, perceived trust, willingness to pay, perceived value and quality, facial expressions, and perceived risk.
Findings:Generation Z and Millennials, the largest respondent group, believe virtual influencers enhance willingness to pay and improve perceived product quality and value. Consumers with lower price sensitivity prefer products promoted by virtual influencers over human influencers. Although virtual influencers have yet to match human influencers’ success, findings indicate a promising trajectory.
Implications:This study underscores the significance of virtual influencers in digital marketing, shedding light on consumer evaluation and response. The results contribute to marketing knowledge and inform professionals in designing more effective strategies.
Originality:Research on virtual influencers primarily focuses on their followers (Choudhry et al., 2022; Shin & Lee, 2020), overlooking perceptions of non-followers. Additionally, most comparisons rely on visual analysis (Ozdemir et al., 2023; Yu et al., 2024). This study fills this gap by analyzing both groups’ perceptions without using images.