Showing usage behavior or not? The effect of virtual influencers’ product usage behavior on consumers

With the development of technology and the low cost of creation, virtual influencers have become increasingly common and interact deeply with consumers in 'human ways', such as demonstrating or using products. There has been limited research on the effect of virtual influencers' behavioral realism on consumers, specifically through the lens of experiencing products vicariously. With the aim of exploring how virtual influencers' product usage behavior affects consumers, our study involved three online experiments and a secondary data analysis. The results show that the presence (vs. absence) of virtual influencer's product usage behavior significantly triggers perceptions of greater competence in virtual influencers and ultimately elicits more positive reactions from consumers; however, this effect diminishes with anime-like virtual influencers or the presence of content that explains the algorithms behind the recommendations. Our paper provides empirical evidence and extends research on behavioral realism of virtual influencers. These findings suggest marketers can strengthen consumer engagement by applying strategies that mimic human behavior, such as showing product usage behavior. However, it is important to exercise caution in the selection of virtual influencer types and in determining the extent to which explanations about the algorithms are provided.