Sands et al. (2022) — Unreal influence: Leveraging AI in influencer marketing
Sands, S., Campbell, C.L., Plangger, K. & Ferraro, C. (2022). Unreal influence: Leveraging AI in influencer marketing. European Journal of Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-12-2019-0949
What this source contributes
Examines AI influencers through the lens of anthropomorphism, the attribution of human qualities to non-human entities. The authors show that anthropomorphism is the mechanism allowing an AI influencer to function as a social actor: it reduces the psychological distance between follower and persona, making a fabricated agent capable of generating trust and social connection.
A key boundary condition in their model is agency. Whether a persona is perceived as autonomous or as externally managed affects how followers respond, and an influencer that appears to act on its own initiative reads as more trustworthy than one visibly controlled, even when both are equally fabricated. This places the appearance of autonomous selfhood at the centre of the trust architecture.
Analytical function in Virtual Influencer
Reframes anthropomorphism from an aesthetic choice into a design mechanism. Complements Kim et al. (2023) by showing the trust effect operates even when the audience knows the persona is artificial, because the response is automatic rather than belief-based. The agency dimension adds a further requirement: the virtual influencer must appear not merely human but self-directed.
Related entries
- Virtual Influencer — anthropomorphism and apparent agency as the design mechanisms behind the persona