Search Results (12)

This review examines existing research on virtual streamers in live streaming commerce and digital marketing, identifying key factors that shape consumer responses. Based on 41 peer-reviewed studies and following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, the analysis applies the CIMCO to synthesize findings through a systematic review. Results highlight three primary mechanisms—trait-based trust, perceived social presence, and message framing—which collectively constitute an integrative model explaining how virtual streamers influence AI-enabled consumer behavior. These elements shape how consumers engage with virtual streamers across platforms and product types. However, current research is limited by geographic concentration, reliance on self-reports, and a lack of longitudinal or behavioral data, which constrains broader applicability. For retailers and platform operators, aligning avatar traits and communication styles with product categories and consumer expectations is crucial for effective digital service delivery. Transparency about whether a streamer is AI or human-operated is also important for maintaining user trust. This review proposes a triadic integration model and offers a foundation for future research on AI-driven marketing influence. Full article

Virtual streamers (VSs) and virtual live streaming rooms (VLSRs) are increasingly being utilized in live-streaming commerce. However, consumer purchase resistance in VLSRs remains a salient issue. Grounded in the expectation disconfirmation theory and the product uncertainty perspective, this study adopts a multi-method approach to explore the mechanisms underlying purchase resistance in VLSRs and identify actionable mitigation strategies. Specifically, Study 1 employs a questionnaire survey to examine how negative VS anthropomorphism disconfirmation (NVAD) influences consumer purchase resistance in VLSRs. Study 2 utilizes an experiment to investigate the effectiveness of service guarantees in reducing consumers’ purchase resistance intentions. The results indicate that NVAD impacts consumers purchase resistance in VLSRs via direct dissatisfaction and the chain mediation of perceived product fit uncertainty and dissatisfaction; for consumers with a higher need for interaction with a service employee, the positive relationship between NVAD and dissatisfaction with VLSRs will be stronger; service guarantees can reduce consumers’ resistance. This study enriches the literature on human–AI interaction in VLSRs, consumer resistance behaviors, the expectation disconfirmation theory, product uncertainty, and service guarantees, providing empirical insights for retailers to mitigate consumers purchase resistance in VLSRs. Full article

Within the domain of live-streaming e-commerce, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies presents novel growth opportunities. Live-streaming sales by AI streamers have attracted widespread attention as a new form. To promote the application of AI streamers in live-streaming e-commerce, this paper mainly addresses the following question: How do AI streamers in live-streaming e-commerce influence consumer trust and purchase intention? Based on this, guided by the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) theory, we construct a research model to study the impact of AI streamers’ characteristics and scenario fit on purchase intention through trust mediation. Subsequently, 410 valid samples of consumers who watch AI streamers promoting products are collected through an online questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) are integrated to investigate both the influence mechanisms and configurational pathways affecting purchase intention. This study reveals that AI streamers’ image characteristics (cuteness, vitality) and scenario fit are positively associated with purchase intention. However, AI streamers’ ability characteristics (professionalism, responsiveness) are not positively associated with purchase intention. In addition, consumer trust partially mediates the relationship between these key factors and purchase intention. Further, consumer innovativeness significantly negatively moderates the effect of AI streamers’ characteristics and scenario fit on consumer trust. Moreover, the influence mechanisms diverge substantially between incremental and breakthrough products. Full article

Live streaming sales rely heavily on streamers, with both genuine and AI-generated virtual streamers gaining popularity. However, these streamer types possess contrasting capabilities. Genuine streamers are superior at building trust and reducing product valuation uncertainty but have limited reach, while virtual streamers excel at broad audience engagement but are less effective at mitigating uncertainty, often leading to higher product return rates. This trade-off creates a critical strategic gap; that is, brand firms lack clear guidance on whether to invest in genuine or virtual streamers or adopt a hybrid approach for their live channels. This study addresses this gap by developing a theoretical analytical model to determine a monopolistic brand firm’s optimal streamer strategy among three options: using only a genuine streamer, only a virtual streamer, or a combination of the two (hybrid approach). The researchers model consumer utility, factoring in uncertainty and the streamers’ differential impact on reach, to derive optimal decisions on pricing and streamer selection. The analysis yields several key findings with direct managerial implications. First, while a hybrid strategy leverages the complementary strengths of both streamer types, its success depends on employing high-quality streamers; in other words, this strategy does not justify settling for inferior talent of either type. Second, employing a virtual streamer requires a moderate price reduction to compensate for higher consumer uncertainty and prevent high profit-eroding return rates. Third, a pure strategy (only genuine or only virtual) is optimal only when that streamer type has a significant cost advantage. Otherwise, the hybrid strategy tends to be the most profitable. Moreover, higher product return costs directly diminish the viability of virtual streamers, making a genuine or hybrid strategy more attractive for products with expensive return processes. The results provide a clear framework for brand firms—that is, the choice of streamer is a strategic decision intertwined with pricing and product return costs. Firms should pursue a hybrid strategy not as a compromise but as a premium approach, use targeted pricing to mitigate the risk of virtual streamers, and avoid virtual options altogether for products with high return costs. Full article

The technical and technological advances of recent years in the field of real-time photorealistic rendering have enabled enormous development in virtual production. However, the democratization of this technology faces two main obstacles: the high economic cost of implementation and the high complexity of the necessary software. This paper studies three virtual production software solutions that represent different stages in the democratization process of the technology, ranging from the professional software InfinitySet, to the more generalist and educational environment Edison, and to the cloud version of this same software, Edison OnCloud. To this end, an analysis of their functionalities and interfaces is conducted, the SUS questionnaire is applied, and the three systems are evaluated from the perspective of Nielsen’s usability principles. These tests demonstrate the complexity of the professional software InfinitySet, making it unapproachable for non-expert users without extensive previous training. On the other hand, both Edison and Edison OnCloud show significant usability improvements through limiting and reducing functionalities, which also results in a reduction in implementation costs, making the use of the technology feasible in non-professional environments, such as in education or for streamers. Full article

Virtual AI-driven streamers have been gradually used in live commerce, and they may affect consumer impulsive purchase intention. Drawing on the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) model, this research examined consumer impulsive purchase intention in virtual AI streaming. Based on survey data from 411 predominantly young and educated virtual AI streaming users recruited through snowball sampling, we found that perceived responsiveness, perceived likeability, perceived expertise, and perceived anthropomorphism of virtual AI streamers are associated with trust and flow experience, both of which predict consumers’ impulsive purchase intentions. The fsQCA identified two paths that lead to impulsive purchase intention. The results imply that live streaming platforms need to engender consumers’ trust and flow experience in order to increase their impulsive purchase intention. Full article

As an important tool for brand promotion and marketing, the status of virtual streamers is gradually improving, especially in the Chinese market with a huge Internet user base. Virtual streamer anthropomorphism has gradually become an important research content in the field of consumer behavior. However, the specific mechanism by which the multidimensional anthropomorphic characteristics of virtual streamers affect consumer trust and purchase intention requires further investigation. Therefore, based on the avatar theory, this research explores how the anthropomorphic characteristics of virtual streamers affect consumer purchase intention through cognitive trust. The analysis was performed using SPSS 27.0 and AMOS 24.0, establishing a structural equation model. Through the analysis of questionnaire data from 503 Chinese consumers, it was found that behavioral anthropomorphism, cognitive anthropomorphism, and emotional anthropomorphism all exert a notable influence on cognitive trust. Appearance anthropomorphism and emotional anthropomorphism directly affect purchase intention, and cognitive trust has a significant impact on purchase intention. Moreover, cognitive trust fully mediates the effects of behavioral anthropomorphism and cognitive anthropomorphism on purchase intention and partially mediates the effects of emotional anthropomorphism on purchase intention. This study enriches the application of avatar theory in virtual streamers in live e-commerce and provides theoretical backing for virtual streamer development and enterprise marketing strategies. It also offers practical insights to help brands optimize virtual streamers and improve consumer participation and purchase conversion rates. Full article

A growing number of enterprises are using virtual influencers on livestreaming e-commerce platforms to extend the duration for which live streamers stay online. This article uses the uncanny valley phenomenon to investigate the effects of the level of anthropomorphization of images of virtual influencers on the purchase intention of consumers. We divided the images of virtual influencers into three categories according to their level of anthropomorphization: cartoon images (low), medium-realistic images (medium), and hyper-realistic images (high). We identified a U-shaped relationship between the level of anthropomorphization of images of virtual influencers and consumers’ purchase intention. Virtual influencers represented by cartoon images and hyper-realistic images enhanced the purchase intentions of consumers, while streamers with medium-realistic images reduced them. Algorithmic aversion was found to play a mediating role in this relation. In addition, self-efficacy had an inhibitory effect on the inverted U-shaped relationship between the anthropomorphism of the image of the virtual influencer and algorithmic aversion. When the virtual influencer had a medium-realistic image, consumers exhibited the strongest algorithmic aversion, the lowest purchase intention, and the most significant inhibition in self-efficacy. This work provides guidance for designing images of virtual influencers for marketing-related activities on livestreaming e-commerce platforms. Full article

The global VTuber market is experiencing rapid growth, with VTubers extending beyond mere content creators to be utilized in various fields such as social interaction, public relations, and health. VTubers have the potential to expand the existing content market and contribute to increasing economic and public value. This study aims to investigate the perception of VTubers in South Korea and to provide insights that can contribute to the global activation of the VTuber entertainment industry. For this purpose, unstructured data on VTubers from the past three years, during which interest in VTubers has significantly grown in South Korea, was collected. A total of 57,891 samples were gathered from Naver, Daum, and Google, of which 50 highly relevant data points between VTubers and users were selected for analysis. First, key terms such as ‘Broadcast’, ‘YouTube’, ‘Live’, ‘Game’, ‘Youtuber’, ‘Japan’, ‘Character’, ‘Video’, ‘Sing’, ‘Virtual’, ‘Woowakgood’, ‘Fan’, ‘Idol’, ‘Korea’, ‘Twitch’, ‘IsegyeIdol’, ‘Communication’, ‘Worldview’, ‘VTuberIndustry’, ‘Contents’, ‘AfricaTV’, ‘Nijisanji’, and ‘Streamer’ were extracted. Second, CONCOR analysis revealed four clusters: ‘Famous VTubers’, ‘Features of VTubers’, ‘VTuber Industry’, and ‘VTuber Platforms’. Based on these findings, the study offers various academic and practical implications regarding VTubers in South Korea and explores the potential for global growth in the VTuber industry. Full article

Virtual streamers, as a typical application of AI-enabled digital humans, are increasingly being utilized in live-streaming commerce due to technological advancements and industry innovations. Although virtual streamers present several benefits, there is potential for adverse effects when they do not align with consumer expectations. Drawing upon expectancy violations theory, this study developed a theoretical model to explore whether and how consumers’ expectation violations during human–virtual streamer interactions affect consumers’ discontinuance behavior. Through an online questionnaire survey of 307 Chinese consumers with prior experience interacting with virtual streamers, this study used a partial least squares structural equation model to analyze the research model. The empirical results indicated that professionalism expectation violation, empathy expectation violation, and responsiveness expectation violation positively influenced consumers’ distrust and dissatisfaction, which subsequently led to discontinuance behavior. This study contributes to the literature on live-streaming commerce, human–AI interaction, and expectancy violation theory. Furthermore, the findings offer valuable insights for practitioners in the field of live-streaming commerce by enabling them to formulate preventive or remedial strategies to mitigate potential negative outcomes when implementing virtual streamers. Full article

Despite the popularity of AI-oriented e-commerce live-streaming, the service failures that can result from real-time interaction and instant transactions have not been taken seriously. This study aims to assess the failure of AI-oriented live-streaming e-commerce services and help retailers identify various risks. Based on expectancy disconfirmation theory and a stressor–strain–outcome framework, this study identified a comprehensive framework including information, functional, system, interaction, and aesthetic failures. The structural equation modeling (SEM) method is used to further examine its effect on consumers’ discontinuance behavior. Further research reveals the mediating role of consumer disappointment and emotional exhaustion, as well as the moderating role of the live-streaming platform type. These results shed light on the negative influence of AI-oriented live-streaming e-commerce service failures and contribute to the literature on live-streaming commerce, service failure, and virtual streamers. Full article

This study investigates the use of live streaming as a strategic tool in the tourism industry, with a focus on the attributes of live streamers that influence viewer engagement, particularly in the context of South Korea’s digital landscape. The purpose of this research is to understand how the attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise of live streamers can affect the parasocial relationships—characterized by perceived friendship and trust—between viewers and streamers and how these relationships subsequently influence viewer loyalty and cooperation intentions. A quantitative research methodology was employed, utilizing a structured online survey distributed by a leading market research agency in South Korea. The survey targeted a diverse demographic to ensure a comprehensive analysis of digital consumer behavior in the tourism sector. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 28.0 and IBM SPSS Amos 28.0, employing structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships. The results revealed that while attractiveness and trustworthiness impact perceived friendship, only expertise significantly affects trust for a travel live streamer. Furthermore, perceived friendship plays a crucial role in fostering loyalty to and cooperation with the streamer, having practical implications for the tourism industry in terms of crafting marketing strategies and training digital ambassadors. Th study extends parasocial interaction theory to the digital travel domain, providing original insights into virtual tourist behavior and highlighting live streaming’s significant contribution to viewer engagement. This research has limitations in its geographical focus on South Korea, suggesting the need for cross-cultural studies to validate the findings. Overall, this study offers valuable contributions to the academic literature and practical guidance for the tourism industry, emphasizing the importance of digital personalities in post-pandemic tourism recovery strategies. Full article