Virtual influencers in consumer behaviour: A social influence theory perspective

Although virtual influencers, that is, computer‐generated personas, have been a growing trend in marketing, we still know very little about their impact on consumers’ attitudes and behaviour. To bridge this gap, this study: (a) explores individuals’ acceptance of influences induced by virtual influencers and (b) investigates how influence acceptance translates into behaviour. Drawing on Social Influence Theory, we first conducted a comprehensive literature review to extract the key attributes of virtual influencers (i.e. warmth, relatedness, interactivity, competence, empathy, uniqueness, fairness and credibility) as enablers of engagement that can determine influence acceptance. Then, based on 601 survey responses and using a fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis, we analysed the associations between the enablers of engagement, influence acceptance processes (i.e. compliance, identification and internalization) and behavioural responses (purchase intention and behaviour adoption). Our findings highlight various sets of virtual influencer attributes that lead to high degrees of compliance, identification and internalization, and behavioural responses. We contribute to the influencer literature by explaining the causes of the persuasiveness of virtual influencers and their effectiveness in stimulating behaviour. Our study also offers practical insights into how brand managers can leverage virtual influencers in online marketing strategies

Virtual influencers in consumer behaviour: A social influence theory perspective

Although virtual influencers, that is, computer-generated personas, have been a growing trend in marketing, we still know very little about their impact on consumers’ attitudes and behaviour. To bridge this gap, this study: (a) explores individuals’ acceptance of influences induced by virtual influencers and (b) investigates how influence acceptance translates into behaviour. Drawing on Social Influence Theory, we first conducted a comprehensive literature review to extract the key attributes of virtual influencers (i.e. warmth, relatedness, interactivity, competence, empathy, uniqueness, fairness and credibility) as enablers of engagement that can determine influence acceptance. Then, based on 601 survey responses and using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, we analysed the associations between the enablers of engagement, influence acceptance processes (i.e. compliance, identification and internalization) and behavioural responses (purchase intention and behaviour adoption). Our findings highlight various sets of virtual influencer attributes that lead to high degrees of compliance, identification and internalization, and behavioural responses. We contribute to the influencer literature by explaining the causes of the persuasiveness of virtual influencers and their effectiveness in stimulating behaviour. Our study also offers practical insights into how brand managers can leverage virtual influencers in online marketing strategies

Configuring systems to be viable in a crisis: The role of intuitive decision-making

Decision-making in complex systems becomes even more challenging when the environment creates volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous conditions that disrupt operations. In these settings, the viable system model (VSM) advocates that delegated autonomy, appropriately calibrated, can help decision-makers deal with disruptions quickly to preserve system viability and performance. However, the delegated authority to act also requires the confidence and knowledge to make effective decisions and, in this vein, we explore the role of intuition as an enabler of autonomy in emergency response systems. Intuition allows decision-makers who confront a novel situation to translate their experience, knowledge, and protocols in creative ways – innovations permitted by their delegated authority. This study contributes to VSM literature by a) demonstrating how VSM’s structure and complexity management principles can support the analysis of viability in multi-agency emergency systems and b) using VSM to design a systems model to explain the role of autonomy and intuition in supporting decision-making and complexity management in viable systems. Methodologically, the study uses a multi-stage discovery-oriented approach (DOA) to develop theory, with each stage combining literature, data analysis, and model/theory development and identifying further questions to inform the subsequent stage. Through the DOA, we synthesise literature (e.g. on VSM, complexity management) with seven months of field-based insights (from interviews, workshops, and observation of a live disaster exercise) to develop VSM models. This research makes two contributions to soft operational research (OR) literature: taking a black-box approach to theory development in soft OR to uncover the role of autonomy and intuition in managing complexity and demonstrating DOA as a methodology that can provide fresh insights for behavioural soft OR studies

The factors that affect the persuasiveness of virtual influencers

Virtual influencer marketing is an emerging research area due to the increasing popularity of virtual influencers across the social media landscape. However, existing literature falls short when it comes to explaining how consumers perceive the attributes of virtual influencers and what their roles are in determining the cognitive acceptance of the messages they communicate. To address the research gaps, this study pursued the objective of exploring the cognitive processes of individuals being exposed to the information elicited by virtual influencers. We adopted Social Influence Theory, which postulates that there are three processes of influence acceptance, namely compliance, internalisation and identification, each of which is conditioned by a set of different factors. To address the research objective, this study was carried out in two stages. In the first exploratory stage, we drew on relevant research to identify the attributes of virtual influencers, which could predict the three influence acceptance processes. To ensure the accuracy of the results, three approaches to the validation and filtering of attributes were used, i.e.: a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of 126 papers discussing the characteristics of influencers and a survey-based ranking of the importance of the generated attributes. As a result, we found that the top 8 statistically significant factors are warmth, relatedness, interactivity, competence, empathy, uniqueness, fairness and credibility. In the second stage, based on a sample of 601 respondents, we analysed the associations of the identified attributes with cognitive processes using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The analysis showed different configurations of the core and peripheral predictors of compliance, identification and internalisation. For a high level of compliance, a high level of interactivity is a core condition; for a high level of identification, empathy, competence, fairness, interactivity, and credibility act as core predictors. A high level of internalisation is associated with two core predictors, namely interactivity and relatedness. The findings of the study contribute to the extant literature on virtual influencers by providing empirical evidence about the cognitive acceptance of influence elicited by virtual influencers and the characteristics of non-human opinion leaders that shape consumers’ attitudes and behaviour. The findings offer practical insights into how to enhance the persuasiveness of virtual influencers’ messages

Anti-child-abuse ads: believability and willingness-to-act

Purpose – Given their expense, the psycho-dynamic they induce among many viewers, and the lack of empirical evidence for their efficacy, studies to assess anti-child-abuse ad campaigns are warranted. As a preliminary foray into this research domain, this study explores a dual-process model for a single ad from the NSPCC's FULL STOP campaign. Specifically, it examines whether ad believability relates more strongly to an emotional or a cognitive response and which type of response is the strongest mediator on “willingness to act against child abuse”. Design/methodology/approach – A convenience sample of 242 students enrolled in postgraduate business and management studies at a large university in the UK responded to a structured questionnaire posted online. Findings – Except for H3, the hypothesised relationships are significant and in the expected direction. Specifically, ad believability relates negatively related to self-esteem (H1), self-esteem relates positively to “willingness to act against child abuse” (H2), and belief in child sexual abuse (CSA) myths relates negatively to “willingness to act against child abuse” (H4). However, ad believability does not relate negatively to belief in CSA myths (H3). Research limitations/implications – Findings based on student samples should be interpreted cautiously. For example, representations of child abuse across subpopulations should not be ignored, as findings by culture, ethnicity, or gender may differ. Only one ad was tested; responses to other ads may differ. Controls to boost internal validity, such as using a second group unexposed to the test ad, were not implemented. Although a mediation effect between self-esteem and CSA myths was not observed, a larger or alternative sample might reveal this effect. Originality/value – A dual-process model of viewers' responses to anti-child-abuse ads, which assumes viewers consider the information embedded in these ads and their emotional responses to these ads, should outperform a purely cognitive or emotive model. Here, a simple model with emotional and cognitive factors as antecedents of “willingness to act against child abuse” is tested. Although a more comprehensive model might explain additional variation, the goal was to develop and test a preliminary model that could disconfirm a dual cognitive-emotive process. Furthermore, testing the effect of FULL STOP ads on viewers' self-esteem is an important first step to assessing the efficacy and ethicality of these ads. </jats:sec

Business Unethicality as an Impediment to Consumer Trust:The Moderating Role of Demographic and Cultural Characteristics

The article reports the findings of a study conducted among 387 consumers regarding their perceptions of the unethicality of business practices of firms and how these affect their response behavior, in terms of trust, satisfaction, and loyalty. The study confirmed that high levels of perceived corporate unethicality decrease consumer trust. This in turn reduces consumer satisfaction, which ultimately has negative effects on customer loyalty. It was also revealed that, although both consumer gender and urbanity have a moderating effect on the link between perceived unethicality and trust, the age group and level of education of the consumer did not exhibit such an effect. With regard to consumer cultural characteristics, both high uncertainty avoidance and low individualism were found to increase the negative impact of business unethicality on trust, as opposed to power distance and masculinity that did not have any moderating effect on this relationship. Implications for managers are extracted from the study findings, as well as directions for future research