How Does Humanoid Virtual Influencers' Appearance Convey Social Presence? The Underlying Process and Path to Purchase Intention

Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework, the current work contends that the interplay between Humanoid Virtual Influencer (HVI) traits acts as a stimulus that shapes consumers' sense of social presence and perception of HVI's attractiveness, which in turn influences their willingness to follow HVI's recommendations and purchase intention. Four online survey studies were conducted among Instagram users in Japan. The results from Study 1 show that animism partially mediates the impact of HVI anthropomorphism on social presence. Moreover, Study 2 reveals that warmth and competence dimensions, as stereotypical evaluations, partially mediate the influence of anthropomorphism and animism on social presence. Unexpectedly, Study 3 found that HVI attractiveness does not mediate the linkage between social presence and consumers' disposition to follow HVI recommendations. However, Study 4 reveals that the disposition to follow HVI recommendations acts as a mediating factor in the pathway between attractiveness and the intention to make a purchase. This research expands the existing literature by considering animism as an additional characteristic of HVIs and examining its influence on stereotypical evaluations. These insights provide practical implications for retail marketers who collaborate with HVIs in their advertising efforts.