AI influencers on social media are a fascinating, emerging phenomenon. They are computer-generated characters that captivate a sizable audience and following that engages with virtual influencers. Although audience engagement with virtual influencers is an intriguing phenomenon, little is known about its driving forces and core components. This study uses a qualitative netnographic approach to examine audience interaction with virtual influencers. Content analysis of comments made by viewers on the websites of four virtual influencers instagram account includes Kyra, Imma, Leya Love and Lil Miquela. The audience’s remarks reveal five primary content themes: appreciation, freshness, competence, emotional attachment, and source affection. This study delivers an analytical structure along with pertinent practical implications for audience interaction with virtual influencer.
Batista da Silva OliveiraAChimentiP (2021) “Humanized robots”: a proposition of categories to understand virtual influencers. Australasian Journal of Information Systems25: 3. DOI: 10.3127/ajis.v25i0.3223.
2.
CampbellCLSandsSPlanggerK, et al. (2022) Unreal influence: leveraging AI in influencer marketing. European Journal of Marketing56(6): 1.
3.
CarlsonA (1979) Appreciation and the natural environment. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism37(3): 267–275. DOI: 10.2307/430781.
4.
CasalóLVFlaviánCIbáñez-SánchezS (2020) Influencers on instagram: antecedents and consequences of opinion leadership. Journal of Business Research117(117): 510–519.
5.
ChoudhryAHanJXuX, et al. (2022) I felt a little crazy following a “doll”. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction6(GROUP): 1–28.
6.
ContiMGathaniJTricomiPP (2022) Virtual influencers in online social media. IEEE Communications Magazine60(8): 86–91. DOI: 10.1109/MCOM.001.2100786.
7.
CrisafulliBQuaminaLTSinghJ (2022) Competence is power: how digital influencers impact buying decisions in B2B markets. Industrial Marketing Management104: 384–399. DOI: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2022.05.006.
8.
DabiranEFangWSamiraF (2022) Virtual Influencer Marketing: Anthropomorphism and its Effect. AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2022_rip/32.
9.
De VeirmanMCaubergheVHuddersL (2017) Marketing through Instagram influencers: the impact of number of followers and product divergence on brand attitude. International Journal of Advertising36(5): 798–828.
10.
DehghaniMJohnsonKMGartenJ, et al. (2017) TACIT: an open-source text analysis, crawling, and interpretation tool. Behav Res49: 538–547. DOI: 10.3758/s13428-016-0722-4.
11.
DrielLVDumitricaD (2021) Selling brands while staying “Authentic”: the professionalization of Instagram influencers. Convergence27(1): 66–84. DOI: 10.1177/1354856520902136.
12.
FingerhutJPrinzJJ (2018) Chapter 6 - wonder, appreciation, and the value of art. In: ChristensenJFGomilaA (eds) Progress in Brain Research. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier, Vol. 237. 107–128. DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2018.03.004.
13.
FolkvordFBevelanderKERozendaalE, et al. (2019) Children’s bonding with popular YouTube vloggers and their attitudes toward brand and product endorsements in vlogs: an explorative study. Young Consumers20(2): 77–90.
14.
HughesCSwaminathanVBrooksG (2019) Driving brand engagement through online social influencers: an empirical investigation of sponsored blogging campaigns. Journal of Marketing83(5): 78–96. DOI: 10.1177/0022242919854374.
15.
KimDYParkMKimH-Y (2022) An influencer like me: examining the impact of the social status of Influencers. Journal of Marketing Communications29: 1–22.
16.
KozinetsRV (1998) On netnography: Initial reflections on consumer research investigations of cyberculture. ACR North American Advances25.
17.
KozinetsRV (2002) The field behind the screen: using netnography for marketing research in online communities. Journal of Marketing Research39(1): 61–72.
18.
LadhariRMassaESkandraniH (2020) YouTube vloggers’ popularity and influence: the roles of homophily, emotional attachment, and expertise. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services54: 102027. DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.102027.
19.
LouCKiewSTJChenT, et al. (2022) Authentically fake? How consumers respond to the influence of virtual influencers. Journal of Advertising. DOI: 10.1080/00913367.2022.2149641.
20.
MaryamahMArifinAZSarnoR, et al. (2021) Adapting Google translate using dictionary and word embedding for Arabic-Indonesian cross-lingual information retrieval. In: IoTaIS 2020 - Proceedings: 2020 IEEE International Conference on Internet of Things and Intelligence Systems. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 205–209. Article 9359708. DOI: 10.1109/IoTaIS50849.2021.9359708.
21.
MassettiB (1996) An empirical examination of the value of creativity support systems on idea generation. MIS Quarterly20(1): 83.
22.
MkonoMMarkwellK (2014) The application of netnography in tourism studies. Annals of Tourism Research48: 289–291.
23.
MoustakasELambaNMahmoudD, et al. (2020) Blurring lines between fiction and reality: perspectives of experts on marketing effectiveness of virtual influencers. In: 2020 International Conference on Cyber Security and Protection of Digital Services (Cyber Security), Dublin, Ireland, 1–6. DOI: 10.1109/CyberSecurity49315.2020.9138861.
24.
NandagiriVPhilipL (2018) Impact of influencers from instagram and youtube on their followers. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Modern Education4(1): 61–65.
25.
NowakKLBioccaF (2003) The effect of the agency and anthropomorphism on users’ sense of telepresence, copresence, and social presence in virtual environments. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments12(5): 481–494.
26.
RobinsonB (2020) Towards an ontology and ethics of virtual influencers. Australasian Journal of Information Systems24. DOI: 10.3127/ajis.v24i0.2807.
SallesAEversKFariscoM (2020) Anthropomorphism in AI. AJOB Neuroscience11(2): 88–95. DOI: 10.1080/21507740.2020.1740350.
29.
Sánchez-FernándezRJiménez-CastilloD (2021) How social media influencers affect behavioural intentions towards recommended brands: the role of emotional attachment and information value. Journal of Marketing Management37(11–12): 1–25.
30.
SyrdalHABriggsE (2018) Engagement with social media content: a qualitative exploration. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice26(1–2): 4–22.
VanniniP (2019) How to create and disseminate ethnographic and qualitative research to wide audiences. In: Doing Public Ethnography. 1st editions.l.Routledge, p. 166.
33.
WaytzACacioppoJEpleyN (2010) Who sees human? the stability and importance of individual differences in anthropomorphism. Perspectives on Psychological Science5(3): 219–232. DOI: 10.1177/1745691610369336.
34.
WengMLRasulT (2022) Customer engagement and social media: revisiting the past to inform the future. Journal of Business Research148: 325–342. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.04.068.
ZłotowskiJProudfootDYogeeswaranK, et al. (2014) Anthropomorphism: opportunities and challenges in human–robot interaction. International Journal of Social Robotics7(3): 347–360.
