literature review for dissertation, marketing, 4500 words

Exploring the Influence of Virtual and Human Influencers on Consumer Behaviour in Experiential Products

Introduction

During the digital society, digital marketing has become a topic that every marketer has to face. In this context, marketing activities will change the communication posture, interactive experience, and user reach, from the emphasis on accurate push to encourage users to take the initiative to interact with customers to communicate with them as equals with, warm emotional connection. As social media platforms continue to dominate consumer engagement, influencer marketing has emerged as a ubiquitous strategy for brands across diverse industries. Influencer marketing is growing rapidly as a major part of digital marketing, and the global influencer marketing market size will reach $24 billion in 2024, according to Statistics. Influencers are content creators who produce high-quality and engaging content that resonates with their audience. More importantly, they can reach niche audiences with specific interests or demographics so that brands can more effectively connect with their target consumer base and drive higher

engagement and conversions (Jin et al, 2019). However, as the influencer

marketing landscape continues to evolve and digital technology develops, virtual influencers are emerging and bringing about a new change in influencer marketing.

Virtual influencers are defined as:

Digitized entities with anthropomorphized appearances that have human bodies, social roles, and their own identity; they can play the role of human SMIs by interacting with other humans, controlled either by humans or computer algorithms. (Byun and Ahn, 2023,)

Virtual influencers create their own persona by posting their relevant videos and graphics on social media platforms to convey their values and life philosophy to their fans. Brands use the impact of virtual influencers on social media to post various product promotions, special offers and exclusive deals, which can increase exposure and bring in a lot of attention and potential customers. Compared to human influencers, virtual influencers are not limited by time, space, and location, offering infinite possibilities for brands. They can also present better brand creativity at a lower price and with greater controllability (Byun and Ahn, 2023). Consumers' novelty of virtual influencers plays a role in helping brands open up the consumer market and increase customer engagement and goodwill (Franke et al., 2022). Virtual influencer marketing represents a groundbreaking development in the field of digital marketing, changing the traditional influencer marketing landscape. Therefore, it is a challenge to understand the different attitudes and purchase intentions of consumers in the experiential products industry towards virtual and human influencers.

Word-of-mouth and user-generated content play an important role in the marketing of experiential products(Bronner & Hoog, 2019), and influencers can make full use of their influencers to share what they feel when using experiential products. The sharing of these influencers can help consumers understand the content of the product and stimulate them to expect or aspire to the product, thus driving the demand for experiential products.

This research aims to delve into the impact of virtual and human influencers on consumer behavior within the experiential product space to reveal the potential mechanisms that drive consumer engagement and purchase intent. By drawing on case studies, data analysis, and theoretical frameworks, this research is intended to illuminate how virtual and human influencers use social media platforms to create meaningful connections with consumers and curate engaging experiences. The unique strengths and limitations of each type of influencer will be explored to help marketers design more targeted and impactful influencer marketing strategies to increase consumer engagement, satisfaction, and brand loyalty.

Literature Review

Evolution of Influencer Marketing

The essence of influencer marketing as a marketing hot topic in recent years has evolved from celebrity endorsement, and the situation remains that brands promote their own products or services by partnering with celebrities(Hugh et al. 2022). However, with the rise of social media platforms such as TikTok,

Instagram and YouTube, many influencers have emerged with high followings. This has given brands more options when choosing who to work with, from macro-influencers with millions of followers to micro-influencers with smaller but highly engaged audiences (Conde & Casais 2023). This change has led to greater acceptance by brands of all sizes and industries, who often offer free products or services to influencers in exchange for the opportunity to promote their own products in the form of free products or services to the influencers, or sponsorship of their creative content (Audrezet et al., 2020).

When the personal style of the influencers matches the product tone of the brand, the followers of the influencers will become potential consumers of the brand, and the followers will have trust in the products they recommend and thus consume them (Lou & Yuan 2019). However, when influencers gradually become more involved in marketing activities, followers become concerned about the authenticity of the products they recommend. Influencers may be perceived as being tempted by money and lose their heart to the point where consumers lose trust and become less willing to purchase (Kim & Wang 2023).

Emergence and Impact of Virtual Influencers

The concept of virtual influencers stems from the intersection of technology, social media and marketing. These virtual influencers gain attention by posting their work on social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, which in turn attracts followers, brand partnerships and media coverage. The rise of virtual influencers reflects the shift to digital-first marketing strategies and the blurring of the line between reality and fiction in the social media age ( Koles et al. , 2024 ). Virtual influencers exhibit unique characteristics that distinguish them from human influencers. Unlike traditional influencers who are real individuals, virtual influencers are fictional characters created and controlled by their creators or organisations ( Koles et al. , 2024 ). They often possess idealised physical characteristics, desirable lifestyles and elaborate storylines that enable them to resonate with their target audience and attract followers through engaging content and storytelling (Lim & Lee, 2023).. Compared to human influencers, virtual influencers offer new opportunities for creative expression and audience engagement, providing brands with greater control over messaging, branding and image cultivation, thereby reducing the risks associated with controversy or personal scandal for the

influencer( Thomas and Fowler, 2021 ). However, the digital attributes of virtual influencers also make it difficult for consumers to develop an intimate emotional connection with them.

The emergence and influence of virtual influencers is expected to continue to evolve with technological advances, consumer preferences and regulatory developments. Virtual influencers are likely to diversify across industries, genres, and platforms, expanding their reach and influence beyond traditional boundaries. In addition, research on virtual influencers is likely to focus on topics such as consumer perceptions, engagement metrics, and best practices in brand collaboration, providing insight into their role in shaping the future of influencer marketing.

Gaps in the Literature and Future Research Directions

While virtual influencers offer brands new opportunities to innovate and interact with consumers, their effectiveness and authenticity relative to human influencers is still debatable. There is a growing interest in virtual influencers, but there are still gaps in the literature that warrant further research. Research comparing the effectiveness of virtual and human influencers across industries, product categories, and target audiences is limited. This study will therefore explore the moderating effect of these factors on consumer perceptions and behaviours towards influencer content, complementing the comparative analysis of virtual and human influencers as an evolving landscape for influencer marketing.

This research paper attempts to clarify the evolving landscape of influencer marketing within the experiential product space and its far-reaching impact on consumer behaviour. By delving into this aspect of the phenomenon, we aspire to contribute to the understanding of contemporary marketing practices and consumer engagement strategies, ultimately driving innovation and effectiveness in the evolving marketing landscape.

Methodology

Questionnaire

The questionnaire will consist of two parts, the first part will be the demographics of the respondents and screen for whether the respondents have participated in or have knowledge of human and virtual influencer marketing. The second part is based on the Hierarchy of Effects model to understand the respondents' knowledge and feelings about experiential product influencer marketing campaigns in terms of the six dimensions of Awareness, Knowledge, Liking, Preference, Conviction, and Purchase.

In order to ensure the accuracy of the scale of this study, the question items will be designed with reference to the relevant scenarios and cases of existing marketing campaigns of experiential products, so as to achieve the effect of fully responding to the connotations of the variables and effectively measuring the research variables. The content of the questionnaire will be more inclined to the expression of figurative scenarios during the design process so that respondents can understand the content of the questions more clearly and accurately and improve the efficiency of the questionnaire.

The study will select 10 followers of several popular Instagram influencers as pre-survey respondents, such as those who follow @imma.gram, @magazineluiza, @lilmiquela. The researcher will try to find the right people through the Instagram platform and communicate with them to invite them to participate in this research. The preliminary survey will allow the researcher to assess the credibility and validity of the questionnaire and at that stage the feedback and comments from the respondents will be used to see if the questionnaire is designed to be easy to understand (Melnychuk et al. 2024).

As for the formal survey, the questionnaire will be posted online on social platforms, and the main target groups include members of virtual influencer forums, followers of familiar social platform influencers, and student communities. This part of the target audience has a high frequency of use of social platforms and is the main target of influencer marketing. Therefore the selection of such samples is representative and can reflect the characteristics of the overall group. In order to ensure the fairness of the sample, the results of the survey will be analyzed only on the responses received from the same forms. Once the questionnaires have been collected, proceed with data analysis by SPSS to summarize the characteristics of the sample and eliminate substandard responses such as incomplete answers, longer or shorter answers, and responses with more consecutive repetitive answers.

Justification for Questionnaire:

· Scalability: Surveys can reach a large number of respondents, providing a broad dataset that enhances the generalizability of the findings.

· Quantifiable Data: Structured questions allow for the collection of quantifiable data, making it possible to perform statistical analysis and identify significant patterns and correlations.

· Comparability: Using standardized questions ensures that responses are comparable across different demographic groups and influencer types.

1. Research Design

Design a study to collect data on consumer attitudes and behaviors regarding virtual and human influencers. This data can be collected through surveys, where respondents rate their perceptions and intentions on a Likert scale.

2. Data Collection

Gather data on the following variables:

· Independent Variables (IVs): Type of influencer (virtual or human), consumer demographics (age, gender, etc.), social media usage frequency.

· Dependent Variables (DVs): Consumer purchase intentions, engagement levels, brand loyalty.

3. Regression Analysis

Perform a regression analysis to examine the relationships between the independent variables and dependent variables.

Steps for Regression Analysis:

1. Prepare the Data:

· Clean and preprocess the data.

· Encode categorical variables if necessary (e.g., type of influencer as 0 for virtual and 1 for human).

2. Choose the Regression Model:

· For a simple relationship, use linear regression.

· For more complex relationships with multiple independent variables, use multiple regression.

3. Build the Regression Model:

· Define the regression equation: Y=β0+β1X1+β2X2+...+βnXn+ϵY

= \beta_0 + \beta_1 X_1 + \beta_2 X_2 + ... + \beta_n X_n +

\epsilonY=β0​ +β1​ X1​ +β2​ X2​ +...+βn​ Xn​ +ϵ

· YYY = Dependent Variable (e.g., purchase intention)

· β0\beta_0β0​ = Intercept

· β1,β2,...,βn\beta_1, \beta_2, ..., \beta_nβ1​ ,β2​ ,...,βn​

= Regression coefficients for each independent variable

· X1,X2,...,XnX_1, X_2, ..., X_nX1​ ,X2​ ,...,Xn​ =

Independent Variables

· ϵ\epsilonϵ = Error term

4. Estimate the Model Parameters:

o Use statistical software (e.g., SPSS, R, Python) to estimate the regression coefficients (β\betaβ).

4. Hypothesis Testing

Perform hypothesis testing to determine if the regression coefficients are statistically significant.

Steps for Hypothesis Testing:

1. Formulate Hypotheses:

· Null Hypothesis (H0H_0H0​ ): The coefficient (βi\beta_iβi​ ) is equal to zero (i.e., the independent variable has no effect on the dependent variable).

· Alternative Hypothesis (H1H_1H1​ ): The coefficient (βi\beta_iβi​ ) is not equal to zero (i.e., the independent variable has an effect on the dependent variable).

2. Conduct t-tests for Regression Coefficients:

· Calculate the t-statistic for each coefficient: t=βiSE(βi)t = \frac{\beta_i}{SE(\beta_i)}t=SE(βi​ )βi​ ​

· βi\beta_iβi​ = Estimated coefficient

· SE(βi)SE(\beta_i)SE(βi​ ) = Standard error of the coefficient

· Compare the t-statistic to the critical value from the t-distribution table based on your chosen significance level (typically 0.05) and degrees of freedom.

3. Determine p-values:

· Calculate p-values for each t-statistic. The p-value indicates the probability of observing the data assuming the null hypothesis is true.

· If the p-value is less than the significance level (0.05), reject the null hypothesis, indicating that the coefficient is statistically significant.

5. Interpret Results

· Regression Coefficients: Interpret the magnitude and direction of the relationships between independent variables and the dependent variable.

· Statistical Significance: Use the results of hypothesis testing to determine which variables have a significant impact on the dependent variable.

Ethical Considerations

Ethical issues will be addressed by ensuring informed consent from all participants, maintaining anonymity, and adhering to data protection regulations. The study will seek approval from an institutional review board to ensure ethical compliance.

Conclusion

This research aims to elucidate the impact of virtual and human influencers on consumer behavior in the experiential product sector. By examining the strengths and limitations of each influencer type, the study will provide valuable insights for marketers to enhance consumer engagement and brand loyalty in the dynamic field of influencer marketing.

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