Download pdf
Ananlysing the Effectiveness of Anime-like Virtual Influencer
- 1 Boston University
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
As social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, continue to revolutionize the advertising industry, a new breed of influencer has emerged, incorporating three-dimensional technology to create anime-like personas. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of anime-like virtual influencers on Kellogg's, a significant player in the cereal industry, by utilizing SWOT analysis.Additionally, the research examined the relationship between anime-like influencers, brand identity, endorser fitness, and customers' purchase intentions. The study ultimately found a positive relationship between anime-like influencers and their impact on advertising and branding. By using the SWOT method to analyze the impact of these digital animals, this paper demonstrated how animal virtual influencer can evoke a sense of sympathy and emotional connection with the audience, effectively capturing their attention in commercials and campaigns. The study also provided insights on how to leverage virtual influencers as a marketing strategy. The research highlighted the importance of creating a unique visual identity and emotional connection with the audience and provides guidance on selecting appropriate virtual influencer types for endorsements to maximize their effectiveness. The study also contributed to the existing literature on the efficacy of influencer endorsement and sponsorship disclosure by expanding the research to encompass the virtual influencer trend. The findings offered valuable insights into how virtual influencers, particularly anime-like virtual influencers, can be leveraged to create unique branding strategies and connect with consumers on a deeper emotional level.
Keywords
kellogg, animal virtual influencer, brand identity, purchase intention
[1]. Travers, C. (2020). Notable Virtual Influencer Brand Partnerships. Retrieved from https://www.virtualhumans.org/
[2]. Kim, D., Kim, E., & Shoenberger, H. (2023). The next hype in social media advertising: Examining virtual influencers' brand endorsement effectiveness. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 485.
[3]. Baklanov, N. (2021) "The Top Virtual Instagram Influencers in 2021."Retrieved from https://hypeauditor.com/blog/
[4]. Bogage, J. (2022) "Americans adopted millions of dogs during the pandemic. Now what do we do with them?" The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/
[5]. Schouten, A. P., Janssen, L., & Verspaget, M. (2020). Celebrity vs. Influencer endorsements in advertising: the role of identification, credibility, and Product-Endorser fit. International journal of advertising, 39(2), 258-281.
[6]. Hashaw. (2019) "The Effect of Celebrities in Advertisements." Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/
[7]. Starostinetskaya, A. (2020) "Kellogg's Enlists Instagram's Top Animal Influencers to Promote Its Vegan “Incogmeato” Brand." Retrieved from https://vegnews.com/
[8]. Fowles, J. (1985) "Advertising's fifteen basic appeals." Journal of Advertising Research 11-21.
[9]. Eighmey, J., & Carlson, L. (1985) "Advertising and referral incentives in a marketing-controlled environment." Journal of Marketing 50-63.
[10]. Chekima, B., Jusoh, R., & Aziz, Y. A. (2020) "The impact of influencer attractiveness on followers' behavioral intentions on Instagram." Journal of Social Media Marketing 127-138.
[11]. Ohanian, R. (1990) "Construction and validation of a scale to measure celebrity endorsers' perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness." Journal of Advertising 19: 39-52.
[12]. Erdogan, B. Z. (1999) "Celebrity endorsement: A literature review." Journal of Marketing Management 15: 291-314.
[13]. Choi, S. M., & Rifon, N. J. (2007) "Who is the celebrity in advertising? Understanding dimensions of celebrity images." Journal of Popular Culture 304-324.
[14]. Till, B. D., & Busler, M. (2000) "The match-up hypothesis: Physical attractiveness, expertise, and the role of fit on brand attitude, purchase intent and brand beliefs." Journal of Advertising 1-13.
[15]. Kim, J. Y., & Na, E. (2007) "Effects of spokesperson's attractiveness and match-up on product involvement, attitude toward the product, and purchase intention." Journal of Advertising 57-70.
[16]. Jin, S. A., & Phua, J. (2014) "Following celebrities’ tweets about brands: The impact of twitter-based electronic word-of-mouth on consumers’ source credibility perception, brand identity, and purchase intention." Journal of Advertising 181-195.
[17]. Erdogan, B. Z., Baker, M. J., & Tagg, S. K. (2019) "Selecting celebrity endorsers: The practitioner’s perspective." Journal of Advertising Research 456-470.
[18]. Dwivedi, Abhishek, Tahmid Nayeem, and Feisal Murshed. (2018) "Brand experience and consumers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) a price premium: Mediating role of brand credibility and perceived uniqueness." Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 1-3.
[19]. Mind Tools Content Team. n.d. "SWOT Analysis." MindTools. https://www.mindtools.com/amtbj63/swot-analysis.
[20]. Salar, Menekse, and Orkide Salar. (2014) "Determining pros and cons of franchising by using swot analysis." ScienceDirect 1-4.
[21]. Dyson, and R-G. (2004) "Strategic Development and Swot Analysis at the University of Warwick." European Journal of Operational Research 152 (3): 631-640.
[22]. Kellogg Company. (2023) Kellogg's. Retrieved from https://www.kelloggs.com/en_US/who-we-are.html.
[23]. Shastri, Aditya. (2021) "Comprehensive S.W.O.T Analysis of Kelloggs." The Digital School. Retrieved from https://iide.co/case-studies/swot-analysis-of-kelloggs/.
[24]. Gutaj, Emirjeta. (2022) The Effectiveness of Virtual Influencers as Brand Endorsers. Universiteit Gent.
Cite this article
Fang,Z. (2023). Ananlysing the Effectiveness of Anime-like Virtual Influencer. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,33,232-239.
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
Disclaimer/Publisher's Note
The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.
About volume
Volume title: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Economic Management and Green Development
© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who
publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this
series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published
version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial
publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and
during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See
Open access policy for details).