Are Virtual Influencers Friends or Foes? Uncovering the Perceived Creepiness and Authenticity of Virtual Influencers in Social Media Marketing in the United States

This empirical study investigates the structural relationships among virtual influencer attributes, perceived creepiness, perceived authenticity, emotional attachment, and word-of-mouth intentions of social media users. To be specific, this study conceptually identifies the roles of the virtual influencer attributes of language similarity, interest similarity, social attractiveness, physical attractiveness, and attitude homophily on perceived creepiness and perceived authenticity of the virtual influencer, as these in turn affect emotional attachment and word-of-mouth. This study collected data from social media users in the United States via a survey approach and found that creepiness was significantly influenced by attitude homophily while perceived authenticity was significantly affected by language similarity, interest similarity, physical attractiveness, and attitude homophily. In addition, this study found significant relationships among perceived creepiness, perceived authenticity, emotional attachment, and word-of-mouth intention. This empirical study has both theoretical and practical implications for virtual influencer marketing.