Is AI Better than Humans? Unveiling the Boundary Conditions Under Which Virtual Influencers Outperform Human Influencers in Endorsing Sustainable Products

Xu Yan (), Hon Tat Huam and Abu Bakar Sade
Additional contact information
Xu Yan: Putra Business School, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Seri Kembangan 43400, Malaysia
Hon Tat Huam: Faculty of Business, City University of Macau, Avenida Padre Tomás Pereira, Taipa, Macau
Abu Bakar Sade: Putra Business School, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Seri Kembangan 43400, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 22, 1-28

Abstract: With the rising trend toward sustainable consumption and the pivotal role of social media in the buying behavior, brands are keen to promote sustainable products through these platforms. Virtual influencers (VIs) have emerged as lower-cost and scandal-resistant alternatives to human influencers (HIs). However, their artificial nature may evoke credibility concerns, potentially undermining marketing effectiveness. Currently, it is unclear whether humans or virtual influencers achieve better endorsement outcomes for sustainable products. This study explores the effectiveness of VIs and HIs in endorsing sustainable products and the conditions under which VIs may outperform HIs. Through two studies (N = 1097), we investigate the impact of influencer type, advertising appeals, and product involvement on consumer purchase intentions and brand attitudes. Our findings reveal that, in low-involvement product scenarios with emotional appeals, HIs are more effective, while in high-involvement product scenarios featuring rational appeals, VIs exhibit superior effectiveness. These results suggest that the choice of influencer type should be tailored to the product involvement level and the nature of the advertising appeal, providing guidance for brands to enhance the impact of their green marketing strategies.

Keywords: sustainable consumption; virtual influencers; sustainable products; green marketing; influencer marketing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9896/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9896/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:22:p:9896-:d:1520062

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().