Virtual Influencer Marketing: Is It Effective in Engaging Younger Generations?

The market value of global influencer marketing has more than doubled since 2019 (Statista, 2021). The emergence of the so-called virtual influencers(VIs)has redefined the boundaries of possibilities in this “industry” attracting the interest of many brands and raising severalquestions abouttheir development, ethics, purpose in marketing and perspective. These‘new’social media celebrities have also attracted the attention of the scientific communitybutresearchhas yet to explorehow VIsare likely to reshape the practice of marketing.Thisstudy aims to better understandthe attitudes and reactions of Generations Y and Z (the most attractive target groupfor influencers) towardsVIs—in particular, to find out how VIs are perceivedby younger customers andwhether VIscan effectivelypersuade themto buycertain products. Two focus groups were conducted to facilitate an initial response to a relatively new phenomenon, and to gaina social,contextual view ofthe issue. Our results showedthat human influencers still outperform the virtual ones for a numberof reasons, ranging from the impossibility of identifying with digital creatures, the inability of the latter to demonstrate the efficacy of the products on themselvesand the impossibility,expressed by many respondents,of empathising withentitiesthat appear soulless and largely manipulated by those who—anonymously, behind theirbacks—areonly interestedin selling products.