The Impact of Source Credibility Dimensions on Customer Engagement and Purchase Intention in Virtual Influencer Marketing

Abstract

The use of virtual influencers (VIs) or computer-generated characters has changed traditional influencer marketing, but the mechanisms driving their convincing effectiveness remain empirically underexplored. Based on Source Credibility Theory this study investigates how three core attributes of virtual influencers expertise, attractiveness, and trustworthiness influence customer engagement and, subsequently, purchase intention. The data were collected from active social media users familiar with virtual influencers through snowball sampling. The hypothesized relationships were tested using Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modeling The findings reveal that the three attributes significantly impact customer engagement and finally purchase intention. This study provides actionable insights for brand managers on selecting or designing virtual ambassadors by extending classic persuasion theories into the novel context of human-AI interaction, through the demonstration of artificial entities generating authentic engagement.