A Study on Virtual Influencer Marketing and Brand Engagement

Authors

  • M. Sujith Raj Research Scholar, BBA Department, KLEF
  • Dr. Madhavi Sripathi BBA Department, KLEF

Keywords:

Virtual influencers, influencer marketing, and brand engagement, parasocial relationship, authenticity, trust, keyword, chi-square analysis, ANOVA, regression analysis.

References

Arsenyan, J., & Mirowska, A. (2021). Almost human? A comparative case study on the social media presence of virtual influencers. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 155, Article 102694.

Artificial intelligence-generated virtual influencer: Examining the effects of emotional display on user engagement. (2023). Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698923003119

Artificial intelligence in influencer marketing: A mixed-method comparison of human and virtual influencers on Instagram. (2024). Journal of Interactive Advertising. https://doi.org/10.1080/15252019.2024.2313721

Breves, P., Liebers, N., & Motschenbacher, B. (2021). Reducing resistance: The impact of nonfollowers’ and followers’ parasocial relationships with social media influencers on persuasive resistance and advertising effectiveness. Human Communication Research, 47(4), 418–443.

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Consumer reactions to virtual influencer transgressions: How anime-looking and AI-driven influencers are less vulnerable. (2026). [Journal title], 21(7), Article 219. https://www.mdpi.com/0718-1876/21/7/219

Drenten, J., & Brooks, G. (2020). Celebrity 2.0: Lil Miquela and the rise of a virtual star system. Feminist Media Studies, 20(8), 1319–1323.

Eeriness unveiled: A natural language processing investigation of co-presented human and virtual influencers on Instagram. (2024). Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-05972-z

An empirical investigation of parasocial relationship theory in the context of virtual influencers. (2026). International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 30(3). https://www.ijec-web.org/past-issues/volume-30-number-3-2026/an-empirical-investigation-of-parasocial-relationship-theory-in-the-context-of-virtual-influencers/

Exploring the impact of virtual vs human influencers on purchase intentions in fashion/beauty industry. (2025). [Journal title]. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773067025000433

Published

2026-10-30

How to Cite

M. Sujith Raj, & Dr. Madhavi Sripathi. (2026). A Study on Virtual Influencer Marketing and Brand Engagement. Journal of Advanced Research in Journalism & Mass Communication, 13(3&4), 93-106. Retrieved from https://adrjournalshouse.com/index.php/Journalism-MassComm/article/view/2979