Nicht-menschenähnliche virtuelle vs. menschliche Influencer

: Einfluss von Authentizität und Glaubwürdigkeit auf die Kaufentscheidung

Abstract

In recent years, social media influencers have increasingly established themselves as important opinion leaders.6 With the rise of artificial intelligence, a new form of influencer marketing has developed in recent years, so-called virtual influencers. This new type of influencer is “a digital figure that is created by computer graphics software, then given a personality defined by a first-person perspective of the world, and made accessible on media platforms to exert influence.” 7 Due to the coexistence of human and virtual influencers, it is important for advertisers to know which type of influencer is most effective for marketing their products, and how authenticity and credibility play a role in this.8 However, research to date often treats these two characteristics as synonymous and neglects a differentiated analysis of their respective mechanisms of action. There is also a lack of studies that examine the influence of authenticity and credibility in a direct comparison between human and non-human-like virtual influencers. This master's thesis aims to close this research gap. The theoretical basis of this work is based on two key concepts. The Source Credibility Theory by Hovland & Weiss (1951) is used to determine the perception of credibility of both non-human virtual and human influencers.9 The Entity-Referent Correspondence (ERC) framework (Moulard et al., 2021) is used to determine how consumers perceive the authenticity of the two influencer types.10 For empirical verification, a 2x2 experiment was conducted to test the effect of four influencer postings in the context of sport and nutrition (n = 146). The results of the empirical study show that human influencers have a significantly stronger positive effect on purchase intention, product attitude and word-of-mouth intention than non-human-like virtual influencers. Authenticity and credibility prove to be central mechanisms of action for both influencer types. Credibility in particular, with the dimensions of trustworthiness, attractiveness and expertise, was identified as a decisive influencing factor for the purchase decision. The perceived influencer product fit additionally reinforces the perceived authenticity and credibility. The findings of this master's thesis highlight the need for critical analysis when using virtual influencers and provide valuable implications for practice.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	German (Austria)
Awarding Institution	Johannes Kepler University Linz
Supervisor	Wolfgang Jonas Weitzl (Supervisor)