【前沿追踪】企业产品代言中虚拟偶像的应用研究

企业产品代言中虚拟偶像的应用研究

随着洛天依、柳夜熙、翎Ling和叶悠悠等虚拟形象热度的持续提升，当下，越来越多的品牌商开始打造自己的虚拟形象或者选择虚拟偶像来为产品代言。与人类偶像相比，虚拟偶像具有较高的可控性，且不受时间和空间限制，能够提供高质量个性化服务，因此品牌商们纷纷在营销活动中引入虚拟偶像。

本期将介绍三篇有关虚拟代言人的研究。Lim等人发表在《Computers in Human Behavior》上的文章“ ‘You are a virtual influencer!’: Understanding the impact of origin disclosure and emotional narratives on parasocial relationships and virtual influencer credibility”指出，虽然虚拟代言人在与消费者互动时能达到和真人同样的效果，但是当它们的出身被披露时，会降低其可信性。Jiang等人发表在《Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services》上的文章“Green power of virtual influencer: The role of virtual influencer image, emotional appeal, and product involvement”指出虚拟偶像在绿色产品代言中依然能够发挥较好的效果。Ozdemir等人发表在《Computers in Human Behavior》上的文章“ Human or virtual: How influencer type shapes brand attitudes”指出，与真人偶像相比，消费者对虚拟偶像的可信度较低，进而影响消费者对其代言的品牌的态度，但是当虚拟偶像在代言活动中使用理性语言时，就不再会对消费者的品牌态度产生负面影响。

PART.1

You are a virtual influencer!”: Understanding the impact of origin disclosure and emotional narratives on parasocial relationships and virtual influencer credibility

“你是一个虚拟偶像！”：了解出身披露和情感叙事对准社会关系和虚拟影响者可信度的影响

Key words：Virtual influencer; Origin disclosure; Emotional narratives; Para-social interactions; Influencer credibility; Social media influencer

虚拟偶像；出身披露；情感叙事；准社会互动；偶像可信性；社交媒体偶像

Abstract：Virtual influencers have become increasingly prevalent because of technological advancements and the fact that they offer benefits similar to human influencers. Studies have found that virtual influencers engage consumers just as effectively as humans, but their artificial identity poses credibility concerns that can hinder the effectiveness of influencer marketing. Given this, two experiments were conducted to explore key marketing and communication factors (i.e., the disclosure of the virtual influencer’s origin and the use of positive vs. negative emotional narratives) that influence virtual influencers’ credibility. A pre-study investigated the effect of disclosing a virtual influencer’s origin on perceived humanness. Additionally, the main study examined whether the virtual influencer’s origin disclosure and emotional narratives jointly influenced the virtual influencer’s credibility through changes of perceived parasocial interaction. The results are further presented in detail, offering both theoretical and practical implications.

摘 要：由于技术进步以及虚拟偶像能够产生与真人偶像同样的效果，虚拟偶像变得越来越流行。研究发现，虚拟偶像能够和真人一样有效地吸引消费者，但他们的人造身份带来了可信度问题，可能会阻碍其参与的营销活动的有效性。鉴于此，我们进行了两个实验来探索影响虚拟偶像可信度的关键营销和沟通因素（即，对虚拟偶像出身的披露以及虚拟偶像采用的是积极的还是消极的情感叙事）。通过一个前测探索了披露虚拟偶像出身对感知人性的影响。然后，通过系列实验考察了虚拟偶像的出身披露和情感叙事是否通过感知准社会互动的变化共同影响虚拟偶像的可信度。本文对虚拟偶像相关研究提供了理论和实践启示。

文献来源：Lim R E , Lee S Y ."You are a virtual influencer!": Understanding the impact of origin disclosure and emotional narratives on parasocial relationships and virtual influencer credibility[J].Computers in human behavior, 2023,148.

PART.2

Green power of virtual influencer: The role of virtual influencer image, emotional appeal,and product involvement

虚拟偶像的绿色力量：虚拟偶像形象、情感诉求和产品卷入度的作用

Key words：Virtual influencer; Green product endorsement; Emotional appeal; Product involvement

虚拟偶像；绿色产品支持；情感诉求；产品卷入度

Abstract: Based on the fast-growing sustainable consumption trend and the importance of social media in consumer decision-making, increasingly companies are introducing green products and promoting them through social media platforms. Virtual influencers (VI), as interesting alternatives to human influencers, have a lower risk of being involved in scandals and unethical behaviors, and can convey consistent ethical signals, showing a higher fit with green products. However, how to design effective VI green product endorsement solutions remains unknown. This study explored the effectiveness of VI green endorsement from three dimensions: VI image, emotional appeal, and product involvement. Four experimental studies (N=1027) showed that human-like VI (HVI) was more credible and had an endorsement advantage compared to anime-like VI (AVI). Second, HVI was more suitable for using pride appeals, while AVI was a better match for gratitude appeals, and AVI using gratitude appeals was considered as credible as HVI. It is worth noting that emotional appeals are only applicable in low-involvement green products, and HVI is more advantageous in high-involvement product advertisements regardless of the appeal used. The findings provide a new direction for the VI green marketing of enterprises.

摘 要：基于快速增长的可持续消费趋势以及社交媒体在消费者决策中的重要性日益增强，越来越多的公司推出绿色产品，并通过社交媒体平台进行推广。与真人偶像相比，虚拟偶像（VI）卷入丑闻和不道德行为的风险较低，并且可以传达一致的道德信号，更适合绿色产品。然而，如何设计有效的VI绿色产品代言形式少有研究。本研究从VI形象、情感诉求和产品卷入度三个维度探讨了VI代言绿色产品的有效性。四个实验研究（N=1027）表明，与动漫形象的VI（AVI）相比，类人形象的VI（HVI）更可信，并具有背书优势。其次，HVI更适合使用骄傲诉求，而AVI更适合使用感激诉求，并且使用感激诉求的AVI被认为与HVI一样可信。值得注意的是，情感诉求仅适用于低卷入度的绿色产品，而无论使用何种情感诉求，HVI在高卷入度的产品广告中都更有优势。研究结果为企业使用虚拟偶像开展绿色营销提供了新的方向。

文献来源：Jiang K, Zheng J, Luo S. Green power of virtual influencer: The role of virtual influencer image, emotional appeal, and product involvement[J]. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2024, 77: 103660.

PART.3

Human or virtual: How influencer type shapes brand attitudes

真人还是虚拟：偶像类型如何塑造品牌态度

Key wors：Virtual influencers; Social media; Brand endorsement; Source credibility; Language

虚拟偶像；社交媒体；品牌背书；来源可信度；语言

Abstract: As social media has grown, firms have increasingly sought endorsements from social media influencers rather than traditional celebrity endorsements. Technological advancements in computer-generated imagery have led to the emergence of a particular new type of social media influencer: virtual influencers. Virtual influencers offer advantages over human influencers because they have no physical limitations and their images are more easily controlled. It remains to be seen, however, whether virtual influencers can be as effective as human influencers in generating a positive brand attitude. Five experimental studies (N=1,734) reveal that virtual influencers are not as effective as their human counterparts. The underlying process driving this effect is the perceived lack of credibility of virtual influencers compared to their human counterparts, which, in turn, leads to a less positive attitude toward the brands that they endorse. This research, however, identifies a boundary condition: when virtual influencers use rational language (rather than emotional language) in their endorsements, the effect of influencer type on credibility perceptions of the influencers and attitude toward brands is eliminated.

摘  要：随着社交媒体的发展，公司越来越多地选择社交媒体中的偶像代言，而不是传统的名人代言。计算机生成图像的技术进步导致了一种特殊的新型社交媒体偶像的出现：虚拟偶像。虚拟偶像比人类偶像有优势，因为他们没有物理限制且形象更容易控制。然而，在产生积极的品牌态度方面，虚拟偶像是否能和人类偶像一样有效，还有待研究。本文通过五个实验（N=1734）证明，虚拟偶像不如人类偶像有效。造成这种结果的原因是，与人类偶像相比，虚拟偶像缺乏可信度，这导致消费者对虚拟偶像所代言的品牌持不那么积极的态度。然而，上述影响存在一个边界条件：当虚拟偶像在代言中使用理性语言（而不是情感语言）时，偶像类型对偶像自身的可信度以及对品牌的态度的影响就消除了。

文献来源：Ozdemir O, Kolfal B, Messinger P R, et al. Human or virtual: How influencer type shapes brand attitudes[J].Computers in human behavior, 2023,145.

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图文：孟朝月

编辑：李发珍

审核：宁靓、姜忠辉