Emotional Showdown: Can Virtual Endorsers Out‐Express Human Endorsers in Digital Advertising?

ABSTRACT Despite the growing use of virtual endorsers in emotional advertising, it remains unclear whether they can convey emotions as effectively as human endorsers. In commercial advertising, positive emotional ads are the most prevalent. This study investigates the comparative effectiveness of virtual and human endorsers in delivering positive emotions in digital advertising. Leveraging field data analysis powered by a large language model and five controlled experiments, our findings reveal that human endorsers outperform virtual endorsers in conveying abstract emotions such as hope and gratitude. However, there is no significant difference between the two in conveying concrete emotions such as happiness and excitement. Emotional contagion and perceived expectation violation emerge as parallel mediators, while perceived self‐endorser attitude similarity mitigates the disadvantage of virtual endorsers in expressing abstract emotions. These findings advance understanding of the distinct emotional dynamics between virtual and human endorsers in emotional marketing and provide actionable insights for marketers.