A new era of rivalry for human influencers: Leveraging opportunities of virtual influencers for digital marketing strategies

PURPOSE: Based on the uses and gratifications theory, this study aims to demonstrate the systematic influence of social media browsing, openness to change, and parasocial relationships with virtual influencers on consumers' purchase intentions, while considering potential moderating factors. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to evaluate data obtained from 276 followers of Chinese virtual influencers. FINDINGS: The findings show that followers' openness to change is influenced by their hedonic and utilitarian social media browsing, which also positively impacts their parasocial relationships. Furthermore, the role of being open to change in establishing a strong parasocial relationship is significantly enhanced by the perceived humanity of virtual influencers. Unexpectedly, the study revealed that the interaction between product-endorser fit and parasocial relationship did not substantially shape followers' purchase interactions. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This study provides novel insights for brands to exploit the digital uprising of virtual influencers effectively. It signifies the need to change digital marketing strategies to reinforce consumer engagement strategies arising from the virtual influencers' framework, which can help achieve marketing goals more effectively.