The Past, Present, and Future of Virtual Influencer Marketing

Abstract

Virtual influencer (VI) has become a prominent and significant topic in the marketing literature. A thorough understanding of its influence on consumer behavior is still lacking, despite years of discussion in academic research and managerial practice. In order to address the inconsistency of findings in the literature, we thoroughly reviewed 117 papers from 31 different journals. We combine two approaches in this study, including a systematic review and similarity analysis using IRaMuTeQ software. This study undertakes a systematic literature review, employing the SPAR-4-SLR protocol as its guiding framework. Using the antecedents–decisions–outcomes (ADO) framework, this study delineates the established knowledge base on virtual influencer research. The theories, contexts, and methods (TCM) framework reveals how we know about virtual influencer literature. Moreover, this study seeks to identify pivotal research gaps in the current virtual influencer literature and recommend specific future research avenues. We used the integrated ADO-TCM framework to synthesize the virtual influencer literature and provide a conceptual framework. The findings advance influencer marketing literature and provide underpinning future research directions capable of guiding forthcoming research and nurturing field maturation and help the field continue to evolve.