The Effects of External and Internal Human Similarity of Virtual Human Influencers on Generation Z’s Policy eWOM Intention in Public Policy Promotion: Focusing on the Moderating Role of Trend Innovativeness

Key Points

• This research explores how the similarity of virtual human influencers impacts Generation Z's intention to spread information about public policies online.
• Participants: 191 Generation Z individuals (ages 19-29)
• Intervention: Viewing a 40-second promotional video featuring the virtual influencer 'YTY' and completing an online survey
• Analysis of the impact of external/internal similarity on eWOM intention with consideration of trend innovativeness.
• External and internal similarity of the virtual influencer positively affects Generation Z's eWOM intention (p<0.05).
• Trend innovativeness significantly moderates the relationship between external similarity and eWOM intention, as well as the relationship with internal similarity.
• The influence of similarity is only significant in groups with high trend innovativeness, indicating that greater trend innovativeness enhances the effect.