{"title":"Virtual influencer and cultural heritage destination: Endorsement effectiveness of virtual versus human influencers","authors":"Ke Zhang , Xinru Sun , Gang Li","doi":"10.1016/j.annals.2024.103873","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The present research conducted four experiments and found that virtual influencers are less effective than human influencers in endorsing cultural heritage destinations. Drawing on social categorization theory, we suggest that this effect occurs because tourists perceive virtual (vs. human) influencers as outsiders of humankind with a limited understanding of human culture. Consistent with this mechanism, our findings further reveal that this low effectiveness would be mitigated when virtual influencers showcase the ability to comprehend human culture. This research makes theoretical contributions to the literature on social perceptions of virtual influencers and social media marketing in the tourism industry. Also, these findings provide managerial implications regarding the effective usage of virtual influencers in destination marketing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48452,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Tourism Research","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 103873"},"PeriodicalIF":10.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals of Tourism Research","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738324001506","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The present research conducted four experiments and found that virtual influencers are less effective than human influencers in endorsing cultural heritage destinations. Drawing on social categorization theory, we suggest that this effect occurs because tourists perceive virtual (vs. human) influencers as outsiders of humankind with a limited understanding of human culture. Consistent with this mechanism, our findings further reveal that this low effectiveness would be mitigated when virtual influencers showcase the ability to comprehend human culture. This research makes theoretical contributions to the literature on social perceptions of virtual influencers and social media marketing in the tourism industry. Also, these findings provide managerial implications regarding the effective usage of virtual influencers in destination marketing.
期刊介绍：
The Annals of Tourism Research is a scholarly journal that focuses on academic perspectives related to tourism. The journal defines tourism as a global economic activity that involves travel behavior, management and marketing activities of service industries catering to consumer demand, the effects of tourism on communities, and policy and governance at local, national, and international levels. While the journal aims to strike a balance between theory and application, its primary focus is on developing theoretical constructs that bridge the gap between business and the social and behavioral sciences. The disciplinary areas covered in the journal include, but are not limited to, service industries management, marketing science, consumer marketing, decision-making and behavior, business ethics, economics and forecasting, environment, geography and development, education and knowledge development, political science and administration, consumer-focused psychology, and anthropology and sociology.
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