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Virtual Influencer as a Brand Avatar in Interactive Marketing

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Abstract

Social media influencers have become an integral part of most brands’ interactive marketing strategy for the past 15 years. Leveraging their unique content and substantial follower base, brands benefit from innovative forms of consumer engagement above and beyond more traditional firm-driven approaches. Alongside the numerous human influencers, a new opinion leader—virtual influencers—entered the stage with early examples launched in 2016. Virtual influencers are computer-generated characters or avatars designed and maintained by experts and digital agencies that help brands appeal to and reach desirable target groups effectively through their digital personalities. Despite their potential impact, little is known to date about these virtual opinion leaders. The purpose of this chapter is to offer a detailed presentation of virtual influencers within their ecosystem, taking into consideration their human influencer counterparts as well as consumer perceptions. Building on an extensive review of the literature and exploratory interviews with a group of young consumers, we make specific recommendations for brands as to how to incorporate virtual influencers into their interactive marketing strategy. This chapter is concluded by offering avenues for future research to help scholars and practitioners interested in pursuing this area and boost their understanding of this innovative and promising digital entity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Influencer Marketing Benchmark report, Influencer Marketing Hub, 2021.

  2. 2.

    Tweet of Trevor McFedries, October 4th, 2021.

  3. 3.

    Further details on this collaboration can be found on the following site: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/who-enlists-virtual-influencer-for-covid-19-prevention-campaign/575493/.

  4. 4.

    https://www.instagram.com/astrolovesu/.

  5. 5.

    For further details please see the following link: https://www.wk.com/work/kfc-virtual-colonel/.

  6. 6.

    Concrete examples can be found on the link: https://www.nssgclub.com/en/fashion/23083/digital-influencer-fashion-industry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Français de La Mode, Paris, France

    Alice Audrezet

  2. IÉSEG School of Management, Lille, France

    Bernadett Koles

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  1. Alice Audrezet
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  2. Bernadett Koles
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Correspondence to Alice Audrezet .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of New Haven, West Haven, CT, USA

    Cheng Lu Wang

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Audrezet, A., Koles, B. (2023). Virtual Influencer as a Brand Avatar in Interactive Marketing. In: Wang, C.L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Interactive Marketing. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14961-0_16

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