Digital pioneers or mere illusions? Decoding young consumers’ perceptions of virtual influencers and their social advocacy

This study explores young consumers’ perceptions of virtual influencers in social advocacy, addressing a growing but underexplored area in the influencer marketing literature. While virtual influencers have gained popularity in brand marketing, limited research has examined their effectiveness in the context of promoting social causes, a domain traditionally reliant on human authenticity and emotional appeal. Existing studies primarily focus on virtual influencers’ aesthetics, branding potential or consumer trust in commercial settings, leaving a critical gap in understanding how audiences interpret virtual influencers’ credibility, motives and emotional resonance in non-commercial, advocacy-driven contexts. Using the source credibility model, semi-structured interviews with 26 participants reveal four key themes: lack of human qualities, human preference and emotional impact, transparency and motive concerns, and nonexperiential positioning in advocacy. While participants recognised the unique value virtual influencers bring to awareness campaigns, they also highlighted clear limitations tied to authenticity, emotional resonance and accountability. The findings offer insights into balancing authenticity and transparency to leverage virtual influencers in social cause campaigns and contribute to influencer marketing literature by extending the understanding of virtual influencer effectiveness beyond commercial contexts. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at http://hstalks.com/business.