On the Social Media Platform, Virtual Internet Celebrities and Real
Idol Brand Spokesmen Perceive Human Nature, Physical Charm, and
Study Consumer Reaction Based on Self-Consistency:
The Media Effect of Trust
LI LI1, SHANSHAN LIU2, JONG-YOON LEE3,*
1Anyang Normal University,
Anyang
CHINA
2Nanyang Institute of Technology,
Nanyang
CHINA
3Department of Photography and Visual Media
SangMyung University
Seoul
KOREA
*Corresponding Author
Abstract: - With technological advances in computer-generated images, a new type of social media influencer
has arisen, the virtual webcam. It has an advantage over human webmasters because, without physical
constraints, their images are easier to control. However, it remains to be seen and researched whether virtual
influencers can be as effective as human influencers in generating positive brand attitudes. Virtual web
celebrities or real idols, marketing to consumers is the trust of the marketing effect, so it tries to discuss from
the empirical. This paper discusses the role of perceiving human nature, charm, and the mediation effect of trust
based on self-consistency. To this end, determine the perception of human-level (high/low) and charm
(high/low) self-consistency (high/low) model spokesperson type (virtual web celebrity/real idol) on the
influence of advertising effect, the results show that consumers to brand perception human nature and charm
level is higher, when a positive attitude towards advertising and high trust, and consumer self-consistency is
higher brand spokesperson also have higher preference. In addition, trust also plays a media role in the
relationship between the characteristics of brand spokesmen and the advertising effect. Specifically, when the
level of human nature and charm is high, the spokesperson will be more trustworthy, which also has a positive
impact on the effect of all advertising. Finally, the influence of human nature perception and charm on the
advertising effect does not change according to the different types of spokesmen, but in contrast, the trust
degree of real idol models is higher than that of virtual web celebrities, and their positive attitude and purchase
intention to the brand are also higher. Perception of humanity, charm, and self-consistency all have a positive
impact on trust. Furthermore, trustworthiness had a meaningful effect on consumer response and was confirmed
to have a vector effect on all independent variables. This study is expected to provide both theoretical and
practical value by clarifying the effects of the main variables that may influence the marketing of brand
spokesmen.
Key-Words: - Marketing, Virtual web celebrity, Brand spokesmen, Media platform, Spokesperson Trust,
Perceived human nature, Charm, Consistency.
Received: March 17, 2023. Revised: January 22, 2024. Accepted: February 13, 2024. Published: March 15, 2024.
1 Introduction
With the emergence of the concept of "meta-
universe", the accompanying virtual web celebrity
also appears on various social media platforms.
They seem to be similar to the real people and even
have the same human set as the real people,
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constantly attracting the attention of the public and
gaining a large number of fans. Different types of
virtual web celebrities give the brand side more
cooperation choices and marketing. Imma, a virtual
web celebrity in Japan, is a fan of hair. Virtual web
celebrity Miquela is a Brazilian and Spanish hybrid
girl, a professional musician, with cute freckles on
her face. As a new opinion leader in the digital age,
the emergence of virtual web celebrities
undoubtedly provides a new idea for brand
marketing and extends the boundary of brand
marketing. Virtual web celebrities will be the
mainstream marketing trend in the digital era,
becoming more and more favored by brands.
The upsurge of the brand virtual image model
coincides with the rapid development of the digital
economy. Although some people think that the
virtual web celebrity industry is still in its infancy,
more and more brands are beginning to try to use
virtual web celebrities and target the consumer
groups in the Z era. Because young people have
become the main consumers of the market, they are
more receptive to virtual characters. In addition,
with the repetition of basic technologies, the barriers
between virtual and reality are broken, and the sense
of reality of experience and interaction becomes
more urgent. With the rapid development of the
virtual economy, brands need to extend their brand
image to the virtual world. The 2021 virtual idol
consumer market survey report shows that 62.31%
of young consumers have the possibility of buying
virtual idol model products, 9.78% of consumers
will pay for the virtual idol model when young
consumers gradually form the core purchasing
power, brand virtual image model will become the
focus of the brand, release more brand business
value, [1].
Under the new trend of virtual web celebrity
brand endorsement, is there any difference between
the effect of virtual web celebrities and real idols as
advertising spokesmen? That is, the perception of
human nature and the charm of virtual web
celebrities and real idols is based on the analysis of
advertising and influence, to verify the difference
between the effect of virtual web celebrity and real
idol advertising. It needs to pay a large amount of
endorsement fee to be the role of advertising
spokesperson. Secondly, virtual web celebrities and
real idols verify the reaction attitude of consumers
under the intermediary effect of trust.
2 Theoretical Background
2.1 Spokesperson Trust
Influencers or idols are people who can influence
others and make people worship. The digitalization
of images is the biggest difference between virtual
idols and real idols. In addition, it is also manifested
in the further media such as voice and social mode.
Virtual idol is an embodiment of the high media of
people, [2]. Young people's enthusiasm for virtual
idols stems from the individual's worship of ideal
and perfect characters. It is a "new idol worship"
generated by contemporary fan culture in the digital
age, and presents diversified forms with the
development of technology, [3]. Virtual web
celebrity is derived from the continuous evolution of
virtual idols. The operation mode of virtual web
celebrities is more and more close to real web
celebrities. Virtual web celebrities has crossed from
the previous two-dimensional world to the third-
dimensional world and are active in social media,
short videos, live broadcasts and other real scenes.
In the traditional media environment, the person
who influences most decision-making and
information dissemination is called the opinion
leader, and the opinion leader can be interpreted as
the person or leader who can influence the opinions
or behaviors of others, [4]. Their role is equivalent
to a channel for delivering information about a
product to consumers, and can be seen as a provider
of information that can influence purchasing
decisions, [5]. In the age of smart media,
networking-based social media are also spreading.
In such a media environment, several new opinion
leaders with leading roles and leading opinions
appear. They have a large number of fans, not only
in the spread of information, and in the formation of
public opinion, but also play a huge influence on the
opinion guide as called idols.
Trust (Credibility) is the characteristic of the
information source that affects the audience
response, [6], which is the reliability and
professionalism of the advertising audience
perception disseminator. Reliability refers to the
belief in trustworthiness and reliability of the
advertising spokesperson as a source of information.
The advertising spokesperson is an objective source
of information, and it has no intention to deceive the
advertising audience for its interests, [7].
Advertising spokesmen are considered to be true
statements of their advertising products and are
considered to be true statements of information
transmitters. It is therefore defined as the level of
trust that consumers have, [8]. Advertising
audiences believe that advertising spokesmen have
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the experience, knowledge, and technology related
to the information theme, and will provide unbiased
opinions and sincere and objective information. The
credibility of advertising spokesmen has received
considerable academic attention. In practice,
enterprises use advertising spokesmen as reliable
sources of information to influence consumers'
attitudes and purchasing intentions, [9].
An advertising spokesperson is the information
messenger with the knowledge or ability to convey
advertising information, [10], which is that the
audience thinks that the advertising model can put
forward the correct answer or correct judgment on
the theme or focus of the given information. [11],
defined the knowledge or ability to make reasonable
claims as the professionalism of the advertising
audience. Therefore, professionalism is not so much
the attribute of the advertising model itself as the
attribute of the advertising model perceived by the
audience. The persuasive effect of professionalism
is different from the persuasive effect of reliability.
Considering it together with the technical
proposition of information, it largely depends on the
explanatory power of the models appearing in the
advertisement. Therefore, reliability and
professionalism are important for the
conceptualization of trust and can be seen as
attitudes that persuade consumers, [12]. It is worth
mentioning that the professionalism of advertising
spokesmen plays a greater influence in the process
of consumer purchase decision-making. We
experimented on the reliability and professionalism
dimensions and found that the professional factors
have the most influence.
Since virtual Internet celebrities are not real
human beings, and most of them are operated for
commercial purposes, virtual celebrities lack
reliability in the advertisements and posts of the
brands and products they act or publish, which may
lead to their lack of credibility. With the increasing
demand for trust in society, people put more
emphasis on the need for trust in advertising
spokesmen, so trust is a must-have element as
advertising spokesmen, [13]. When consumers
believe that advertising spokesmen or information
sources are highly professional and transmit
information objectively and honestly, they will
internalize the prompted information and actively
accept it. Internalization means that the recipient of
the information accepts the information as his own
opinion and complies with the attitude or behavior
that the information wants to guide, [14].
Professionalism is also related to the adaptation
between advertising models and products. For
example, the use of dentists as advertising models
and race car drivers for car oil in toothpaste
advertisements all emphasize the professionalism of
the product and the right advertising model and thus
gain trust.
Therefore, Hypothesis 1. In the type of brand
spokesperson, real idols will show more active trust
than virtual Internet celebrities.
2.2 Perceived Human Nature
Perceived humanity refers to the degree to which a
person (human or non-human) is considered to have
typical human qualities, [15]. Social robots should
look like real humans and give humans
psychological abilities to improve acceptance and
make social dialogue with humans easier. Previous
research has found that people are more likely to be
associated with robots that look like humans, [16].
According to the CASA (computer is a social actor)
paradigm, human beings unconsciously apply
human social scripts to the interaction with social
technologies and make social interactions with
human-like computers, such as personality and
emotion, [17]. Research in the field of human-
computer interaction shows that social and
anthropomorphic cues have positive effects on
human perception and response, [18]. Therefore,
artificial actors who can participate in social
interaction through dialogue and emotional
expression are likely to be regarded as true social
actors. Humans differ from machines in warmth and
emotion, [19]. The core characteristics of human
nature are emotion, warmth, openness, initiative,
and depth, which is considered to be a basic aspect
of human nature. As a result, emotional aspects such
as warmth and experience are often defined as basic
skills, as compared to machines, [20]. Warm and
friendliness, in the form of cooperation-
communication skills, is a real emotion that requires
a complete human mind to experience, [21]. In
short, warmth and experience, surpassing ability and
reason, seem to be the unique human characteristics
that distinguish between humans and machines. A
study by showed that the humanoid behavior,
emotions, and morality of virtual agents promote the
perception of human nature, therefore, the
perception of the virtual agent improves customer
satisfaction. Earlier research has confirmed that a
virtual web celebrity with personalized stories and
experiences can affect people's perception of
products. It is seen as a central component of human
communication. Therefore, it is expected that the
interaction of virtual web celebrities on the network
will bring a higher humanized perception, and then
positively affect the brand attitude and purchase
intention.
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Therefore, Hypothesis 2. Compared with a high
or low perception of human nature, the high
perception of human nature will show more positive
trust.
Research question 1. Will the type of brand
spokesperson (virtual web celebrity/real idol) and
the perception of human nature (high/low) show an
interactive effect on the trust degree?
2.3 Charm
Charamour can be formed through a combination of
physical charm and social charm, [22]. Physical
charm means the face and body, while social charm
means intimacy (familiarity), similarity (similarity),
and goodwill (likability), [23]. Intimacy refers to the
sense of familiarity of consumers with advertising
models. Model spokesmen establish a sense of
familiarity through communication and bond with
their fans, and consumers are attracted to the
spokesmen in this way. Similarity means that
consumers think they are similar to advertising
models. According to the similarity- -charm theory
(similarity-attraction theory), people not only feel
comfortable and attractive about their appearance,
gender, and age, but also about people with similar
orientations, values, beliefs, and attitudes to
themselves, [24]. Faction refers to the good feeling
of the spokesperson or the emotional degree of the
spokesperson, that is, the degree of preference. The
higher the goodwill, the more attractive it is. In
addition, in addition to this physical charm and
social charm, it also includes intelligence,
personality, lifestyle, and other charm.
In many studies on the effect of advertising
spokesperson and information source effect models,
the trust and charm of the advertising model or
guarantor have a positive impact on consumer
attitudes, purchasing intentions, and verbal
intentions towards the brand or product, [25]. That
is to say, people's positive, goodwill evaluation and
emotion of advertising spokesmen will transfer to
the product and brand, so that people's attitude,
purchase intention, and oral intention towards the
product and brand will be positively improved,
which is a long-standing empirical test. In addition,
the credibility and attractiveness of brand
spokesmen also have a positive impact on
consumers' evaluation and attitudes, [26], the survey
shows that the charm and trust of brand spokesmen
are based on brand attitude, which has a positive
impact on the purchase intention.
Therefore, Hypothesis 3, the higher the charm
of the brand spokesperson, the higher the trust
degree.
2.4 Consistency
Self-image refers to the image of oneself, [27]. Just
like the self-image of the consumer, the product also
has the image of the product. Product image is
shaped not only by price and advertising but also by
users, [28]. Self-image is a self-concept studied in
psychology, but recently much self-image in the
field of consumer behavior. Consumers like
products that are similar to their self-image, [29],
and express their personality characteristics by using
their self-image corresponding with the product
image and owning the product. The product can
well express the self-image of consumers and lead
them to sustained long-term loyalty, [30]. Brands
that promote self-change in a positive direction or
have higher goals are more real in the eyes of
consumers than less positive brands, which will lead
to a positive attitude towards the brand, [31]. In
addition, consumers will meet the needs of self-
respect and a sense of self-consistency for products
or brands with images similar to self-concept, [32].
That consumers will have a love for a specific brand
with the image consistent with their image or
consistent with the image seen by others, [33]. Self-
consistency will have a direct impact on the charm
and trust. Researchers believe that the relationship
between brands and consumers will be more
harmonious, and the consistency of self will affect
the charm of basic perception and perceived human
nature, so it is adopted as an important variable.
Therefore, Hypothesis 4, the higher the self-
consistency of the brand spokesperson, the higher
the trust degree.
3 Research Technique
3.1 Experimental Design
This study discusses the influence of brand
spokesperson type (virtual web celebrity and real
idol) and the perception of humanity, self-
consistency, and the charm of spokesperson on trust.
It also examines whether the trust has a meaningful
impact on consumers' reaction (advertising attitude,
brand attitude, and purchasing intention), and
verifies the media effect of the trust from the results.
The experimental design of this study is divided
into virtual web celebrities and real idols according
to the type of spokespersons. The experimental
group was divided into two groups. The specific
stimuli were made as follows:
Experimental stimuli of this study, to control the
subjects' attitude of spokesperson, made a virtual
web celebrity and the image of the real idol, the
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experiment stimuli to the subject simple exposure,
considering this, set it for at least tens of thousands
of fans spokesperson, so that the subjects indirectly
feel the influence of the spokesperson. According to
the advertisement of the products on the social
platform, the spokesperson advertising poster was
made, with the slogan "for your skin color, bright
white, radiant", "+ 83% even skin color, + 91% skin
luster".
3.2 Product Selection and Spokesperson
Setting
In the effect study of commodity types, according to
the five categories of products, cosmetics are
products with high psychological and physical
danger. Therefore, in cosmetics advertising, virtual
spokesmen and real spokesmen are the most used
products.
Referring to the current situation of the
cosmetics industry of the Korean Cosmetics
Industry Research Institute, we chose 5 varieties
such as toner, essence, lotion, cream, and facial
mask, and choose the cosmetics that we are most
familiar with, have high participation and like. The
survey results showed that the facial mask had the
highest score.
To control the subjects' attitude towards the
spokesperson, the general spokesperson was made
and used to distinguish the difference between a
virtual person and a real person in appearance and to
prompt the information of "a virtual web celebrity
spokesperson" and "a real idol spokesperson"
through the situation setting text.
3.3 Subjects and Data Collection
To verify the research hypotheses and questions of
this study, an online questionnaire was conducted
for college students in China from May 20, 2023, to
20 June 2023. The experimental stimuli and
spokesperson types of this study require consumers
who are more familiar with social media online
shopping and often use cosmetics.
A total of 352 participants participated in the
experiment of this study, excluding 45 consumers
who did not use cosmetics. Finally, the data from
300 valid samples were applied to this study.
3.4 Research Models and Research Questions
3.4.1 Research Model
This study aims to verify the influence of the type of
product spokesperson (virtual web celebrity/real
idol) and the perception of human nature and charm
on the trust of brand spokesperson under the self-
consistency. And verify the response of trust to
consumers (advertising attitude, brand attitude,
purchase intention). Finally, confirm the media
effect of the trust of the brand spokesperson. The
study model constructed based on this result is
shown in Figure 1.
Fig. 1: Establishment of research model on media
effect of confirming brand spokesperson's trust
3.4.2 Project
Research question 1. Will the type of brand
spokesperson (virtual web celebrity/real idol) and
the perception of human nature (high/low) show an
interactive effect on the trust degree?
Research question 2. Will there be a media
effect between the type of spokesperson, perception
of humanity, charm, self-consistency, and consumer
response?
4 Finding
4.1 Demographic Characteristics
The subjects of this study were four-year
undergraduate students. Among the demographic
characteristics, apart from gender education,
whether they had experience in online shopping on
social media platforms and had ever used Korean
cosmetics, the data were further collected through
the questionnaire.
The results showed that 78.7% of the subjects
were aged 18-25 years old, and all of them had
experience in using social media for online
shopping. The experimental subjects participating in
this study were randomly arranged in two groups. In
each experimental group were184 in the virtual web
celebrity group and 187 in the real idol group. 150
valid questionnaires were selected for analysis.
4.2 The Main Effect of the Type of South
Korean Cosmetics Brand Spokesperson
To observe the effect of cosmetic spokesperson type
on trust, an independent sample t-test was
performed. Through the difference in the
subordinate effect of the two spokesperson types
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(virtual web celebrity/real idol), we try to verify that
the spokesperson type has a meaningful impact on
trust. At the same time, I want to verify which type
of spokesperson has a more positive impact on trust.
The study hypothesis is as follows.
Research hypothesis 1. Among the types of
Korean cosmetics brand spokespersons, real idol
type will show more active trust than virtual web
celebrities (Table 1, Appendix).
To study the influence of spokesperson type on
trust, as shown in Table 1 (Appendix), the influence
factors of human idols (M=4.61, SD=1.65), The
influencing factors of virtual web celebrity
(M=3.38, SD=1.39) showed a more positive trust,
which was statistically significant (t= -6.97, p
<.001). Therefore, study hypothesis 1 holds.
4.3 The Main Effect of Perceiving Human
Nature
This study raises four measurement questions to
verify whether the virtual web celebrity
spokesperson feels human nature. Do you think the
models in this advertisement are natural? Do you
think the models in this AD are like humans? Do
you think the models in this AD are conscious? Do
you think the model in this AD is alive? Measure
with Likert 7 points (1= not at all; 7= very yes).
Two clusters of high and low perceived human
nature are divided by the mean. An independent
sample t-test was conducted to verify the differences
between the subordination of the two groups,
whether the perceived human nature had a
meaningful impact on trust, and the higher the
perceived human nature, the more positive the effect
on trust.
Research hypothesis 2. The brand spokesperson
of Korean cosmetics will show more positive trust
compared with a high or low perception of human
nature (Table 2, Appendix).
The analysis results can be seen in Table 2
(Appendix), where the perception of human nature
has a meaningful influence on trust. The effect of
perceived human nature on trust was examined, and
groups with high perception (M=4.72, SD=1.52)
showed more positive trust than those with low
perception (M=3.28, SD=1.43), which was
statistically significant (t= -8.38, p <.001).
Therefore, the study hypothesis that 2 holds true.
4.4 The Interaction Effect of the
Spokesperson Type and the Perception
Of Human Nature
After analyzing the main effect of spokesperson
type and the effect of perceived human nature,
variable analysis of variance (Two-way ANOVA)
was conducted to further analyze the interaction
effect of spokesperson type and perceived human
nature. That is, whether the influence on trust under
the interaction of human nature perceived by virtual
web celebrities and human idols changes. The
research questions are presented as follows:
Research question 1. Will the type of brand
spokesperson (virtual web celebrity/real idol) and
the perception of human nature (high/low) show an
interactive effect on the trust degree (Table 3,
Appendix)?
The results of the analysis of the research
questions can be seen from Table 3 (Appendix), in
terms of trust, the interactive effect of the
spokesperson type and the perception of human
nature is completely absent. That is, both virtual
Internet celebrities and real idols show a more
positive trust in the perception of human nature.
4.5 The Main Effect of Self-Consistency
This study sought to examine whether the self-
consistency of spokespersons had a meaningful
influence on trust. Self-consistency is formed by the
subject's subjective judgment of the cues in the
experimental stimulus, such as personal feelings or
thoughts, which the researcher cannot operate. Two
groups of self-consistent (high/low) were separated
by the mean. Independent sample t-test was used to
examine the effect of self-consistency on trust. The
difference in self-consistency is separated by the
mean between the two groups on trust, and whether
the influence on trust is significant. The study
hypotheses are as follows:
Research hypothesis 3. The higher the self-
consistency of the brand spokesperson, the higher
the trust of the brand spokesperson (Table 4,
Appendix).
The results shown in Table 4 (Appendix) show
that self-consistency has a significant influence on
reliability. The group with high self-consistency
(M=4.66, SD=1.51) showed higher trust than the
group with low self-consistency (M=3.20,
SD=1.43), which was statistically significant (t= -
8.52, p <.001). Study Hypothesis 3 holds true.
4.6 The Main Effect of Charm
This study used an independent sample t-test to
examine the effect of charm on trust. Divide the
charm into two groups through the mean to verify
the difference between the cluster on trust and
whether the influence on trust is significant. The
study hypotheses are as follows:
Research hypothesis 4. The higher the cognition
of the charm of the brand spokesperson, the higher
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the trust of the brand spokesperson (Table 5,
Appendix).
Analysis results can be seen from Table 5,
(Appendix), charm is verified to have a meaningful
effect on reliability. The group with high
attractiveness (M=4.64, SD=1.63) showed higher
trust than the group with low attractiveness
(M=3.37, SD=1.40). Statistically significant (t=-
7.20, p<.001). Therefore, study hypothesis 4 holds.
4.7 The Main Effect of Reliability
A simple regression analysis (Regression analysis)
was conducted to examine the effect of trust on
consumer response (content attitude, brand attitude,
purchase intention).
The study hypotheses are as follows:
Study hypothesis 5. Trust will have a positive
(+) impact on consumer response (Table 6,
Appendix).
The analysis results are shown in Table 6,
(Appendix) and the explanatory power of trust on
advertising attitude, brand attitude, and purchase
intention are 20%, 19%, and 38% respectively, and
has significant statistical significance (β=.45,
p<.001) (β=.44, p<.001) (β=.51, p<.001). It has been
confirmed that the higher the trust of the
spokesperson, the more positive the consumption
reaction. So, the study hypothesis 5 holds true.
4.8 The Mediation Effect of Trust Degree
This study sought to explore whether
trustworthiness plays a mediating role between
spokesperson type, perceived humanity, self-
consistency, and charm, and consumer response.
Previously, the test of research hypotheses 1, 2, 3,
and 4 confirmed the statistically significant
relationship between the type of spokesperson and
the perception of humanity, self-consistency, and
charm on trust. Through the verification of study
hypothesis 5, we confirmed that trust has a
meaningful impact on consumer response. To verify
the medium effect of trust, the hierarchical multiple
regression analysis method proposed in [34], is
implemented. The research question is as follows.
Research question 2. Will there be a media
effect between the type of spokesperson, perception
of humanity, charm, self-consistency, and consumer
response?
4.8.1 Model Type, Perception of Humanity, Self-
Consistency, Charm and Advertising
Attitude
Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was
performed to investigate whether trust plays a
mediating role between model type, perceived
humanity, charm, self-consistency, and advertising
attitudes (Table 7, Appendix).
The results are shown in Table 7 (Appendix).
First of all, the test passed the first stage and
determined that the type of spokesperson,
perception of humanity, self-consistency, and charm
have a meaningful influence on trust, respectively (β
=.375, p<.001) (β=.467, p<.001) (β=.420, p<.001)
(β=.468, p<.001), Secondly, through the test of step
2, the model type, perception of humanity, self-
consistency and charm have meaningful effects on
advertising attitude, respectively (β =.465, P<.001)
(β=.434, P<.001) (β=.430, P<.001) (β=.436,
P<.001). Again, through the test of step three, the
influence of model type, human nature perception,
self-consistency, charm, and trust on advertising
attitude is confirmed. The results showed that the
influence of model type, perceived humanity, self-
consistency, charm, and trust on advertising attitude
were respectively (β=.344, P<.001) (β=.284,
P<.001) (β=.291, P<.001) (β=.286, P<.001) are
lower than the standardized coefficient values of the
second stage, which means that the trust degree has
a partial mediating effect between them.
Specifically, in terms of the explanatory power of
advertising attitude, the first stage was 14%, 22%,
18%, and 22% respectively, and the intermediary
effect of trust increased to 31%, 27%, 28%, and
27% respectively. Thus, the partial mediating effect
of reliability was verified.
4.8.2 Model Type, Perception of Humanity, Self-
Consistency, Charm and Brand Attitude
A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was
conducted to investigate whether trust plays an
intermediary role between model type, perceived
humanity, personal innovation, charm, and brand
attitude (Table 8, Appendix).
The results are shown in Table 8 (Appendix).
First of all, the test passed the first stage, and
determined that the type of spokesperson,
perception of humanity, self-consistency, and charm
have a meaningful influence on trust, respectively
(β=.375, p<.001) (β=.467, p<.001) (β=.420, p<.001)
(β=.468, p<.001), Secondly, through the test of step
2, the model type, perceived humanity, self-
consistency and trust have meaningful influence on
brand attitude, respectively (β =.367, P<.001)
(β=.421, P<.001) (β=.382, P<.001) (β=.388,
P<.001). Again, through the test of step 3, the
influence of the model type, human nature
perception, self-consistency, charm, and trust on the
brand attitude is confirmed. The results showed that
the influence of model type, perceived humanity,
self-consistency, charm, and trust on brand attitude
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were respectively (β=.235, P<.001) (β=.275,
P<.001) (β=.240, P<.001) (β=.233, P<.001) are
lower than the standardized coefficient values of the
second stage, which means that the trust degree has
a partial mediating effect between them.
Specifically, in terms of the explanatory power of
brand attitude, the first stage is 14%, 22%, 18%, and
22% respectively, and the intermediary effect of
trust increased to 24%, 25%, 24%, and 24%
respectively. Thus, the partial mediating effect of
reliability was verified.
4.8.3 Model Type, Perception of Humanity, Self-
Consistency, Charm and Purchase Intention
Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was
performed to investigate whether trust plays a
mediating role between model type, perceived
humanity, personal innovation, charm, and purchase
intention (Table 9, Appendix).
The results are shown in Table 9 (Appendix).
First of all, the test passed the first stage and
determined that the type of spokesperson,
perception of humanity, self-consistency, and charm
have a meaningful influence on trust, respectively
(β=.375, p<.001) (β=.467, p<.001) (β=.420, p<.001)
(β=.468, p<.001). Secondly, through the test of step
2, the model type, perceived humanity, self-
consistency, and charm have meaningful effects on
the purchase intention, respectively (β=.600,
P<.001) (β=.579, P<.001) (β=.401, P<.001) (β=.482,
P<.001). Again, through the test of step 3, the
influence of the model type, perceived humanity,
self-consistency, charm, and trust on the purchase
intention is confirmed. The results showed that the
influence of model type, perceived humanity, self-
consistency, charm, and trust on advertising attitude
were respectively (β=.429, P<.001) (β=.372,
P<.001) (β=.172, P<.001) (β=.247, P<.001) are
lower than the standardized coefficient values of the
second stage, which means that the trust degree has
a partial mediating effect between them.
Specifically, in terms of the explanatory power of
the purchase intention, the first stage was 14%,
22%, 18%, and 22% respectively, and the
intermediary effect of trust increased to 53%, 49%,
40%, and 43% respectively. Thus, the partial
mediating effect of reliability was verified.
5 Conclusion
Enterprises and consumers are paying more and
more attention to virtual web celebrities that span
virtual and reality. Different from traditional real
idols, virtual web celebrity goes beyond the
limitations of time and space, and is considered to
be able to communicate with consumers online. This
study tries to explore the trust of which type of
brand spokesperson is higher and the influence of
spokesperson type on the advertising effect.
Specifically, we want to understand the difference in
the perception of virtual web celebrities, and
whether the charm of spokesmen and self-
consistency will lead to different attitudes towards
advertising, brand attitude, and purchase intention,
and whether this relationship is mediated by trust. In
addition, we try to verify whether the interaction
between the type of spokesperson and perceived
humanity has an impact on trust. The experimental
results are discussed as follows:
The hypothesis was verified by experiments and
the results supported the study hypothesis. It is
found that compared with the virtual web celebrity
spokesperson, the endorsement of real idols can
effectively improve the advertising effect, which is
mediated by consumers feeling the degree of trust in
the advertising spokesperson. Through the
evaluation of three dimensions, the perception of
human nature, self-consistency, and charm of the
trust of advertising spokesmen, it is concluded that
the advertising trust of real idols is higher than that
of virtual web celebrities. The trust of the
spokesperson has a significant impact on the
consumer response (advertising attitude, brand
attitude, and purchase intention). Through
verification, it is proved that trust is the core factor
of consumer response in spokesperson marketing,
and verified trust has different degrees of
intermediary effect between the independent
variables and consumer response.
The first research, the influence of advertising
effect research from spokesperson owns some
properties of the study, this study is on the basis of
previous research, from a new perspective, the study
of the spokesman focuses on traditional real idol,
spokesperson and virtual web celebrity
spokesperson, contrast two types of endorsements,
explore different advertising spokesperson types and
perception of human nature, the interaction of
advertising effect, enrich the advertising
spokesperson and advertising effect related
theoretical research content. In practice, it provides
a reference value for product promotion and the use
of a spokesperson advertising strategy when
expanding the market. Starting from the trust of
advertising spokesmen, it provides an accurate
judgment benchmark for advertisers or marketing
leaders when choosing more appropriate advertising
spokesmen. It is the creative purpose of most virtual
celebrities to create the role of mass media whose
shape and character are more in line with the
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audience's expectations. The use of virtual
celebrities as advertising spokesmen can not only
avoid the risk of scandal among celebrities
themselves, but also bring advertising unique
experiences to consumers, and strengthen and
consolidate consumers' positive feelings of the
advertising itself.
Where the advantages of sustainable
development of virtual netroots lie, it is suggested
that virtual idol design companies and operation
teams should make reasonable use of artificial
intelligence technology and big data promotion to
improve the popularity and anthropomorphism of
virtual netroots, and intelligently push virtual
netroots to users through platform databases, or
create works related to virtual netroots and release
them on various online platforms to improve the
familiarity of Internet users with virtual netroots.
When a company chooses a virtual web celebrity to
promote its brand, their trustworthiness, humanity,
charisma, and professionalism are screening criteria
of the virtual web celebrity. In addition, when
brands choose spokespersons, brand companies
should adhere to the personality preferences and
values of mass consumers, respect consumer trust
according to the product positioning spokespersons,
and choose the right spokespersons to match the
brand image to increase branded product sales.
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APPENDIX
Table 1. The main effect of the spokesperson type
Model type
Average value
M
F
T
Free
degree
Significance
(double-
tailed)
Reliability
Virtual web celebrity
3.3827
10.777
-6.974
298
.000
Mortal idol
4.6133
-6.974
289.805
.000
Table 2. The main effect of perceiving human nature
Perceive human clusters
Average
value
Standard
deviation
F
T
Free degree
Significance
(double-tailed)
Reliability
Low perception of
human nature
3.2848
1.43971
2.961
-8.389
298
.000
High perception of
human nature
4.7208
1.52436
-8.386
296.529
.000
Table 3. The interactive effect of the spokesperson type and the perception of human nature: The
trust degree
Class III and the sum
of the squares
Free
degree
Mean
square
F
Conspicuousness
Model type
50.938
1
50.938
25.153
.000
Perceive human clusters
91.563
1
91.563
45.215
.000
Model type * Perceived
humanity cluster
4.708
1
4.708
2.325
.128
Error
599.423
296
2.025
Amount to
5604.680
300
A. R square =.259 (Adjusted R square =.252)
Table 4. The main effect of self-consistency
Self-consistency cluster
Average
value
Standard
deviation
F
T
Free
degree
Significance (double-
tailed)
Reliability
Low self-
consistency
3.2073
1.43535
2.722
-
8.489
-
8.529
298
293.712
.000
.000
High self-
consistency
4.6626
1.51462
Table 5. The main effect of the charm
Charm cluster
Average
value
Standard
deviation
F
T
Free
degree
Significance (double-
tailed)
Reliability
Low
charm
3.3724
1.40143
10.022
-7.223
298
.000
High
charm
4.6405
1.63365
-7.208
288.791
.000
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Table 6. The main effect of trust: Consumer reaction
Model
Standardized coefficient Beta
T
Conspicuousness
R square
Free degree
F
Advertising attitude
Brand attitude
.453
8.782
.000
.206
1
77.125
.441
8.475
.000
.194
1
71.823
Purchasing intention
.517
9.542
.000
.381
1
83.388
Table 7. Media effect test results: Advertising attitude
Relation
B
SE
Β
T
R square
F
P
Step 1
Model type
Dummy variable
1.231
.176
.375
6.974
.140
48.643
.000
Perceived human nature
→ reliability
.419
.046
.467
9.111
.218
83.014
.000
Consistency
.413
.052
.420
7.986
.176
63.772
.000
Glamour
.556
.061
.468
9.133
.219
83.404
.000
Step 2
Model type
Dummy variable
1.687
.186
.465
9.078
.217
82.417
.000
Perceived human nature
Advertisement attitude
.429
.052
.434
8.312
.188
69.091
.000
Consistency
.467
.057
.430
8.223
.185
67.621
.000
Glamour
.571
.068
.436
8.354
.190
69.784
.000
Step 3
Model type
Dummy variable
1.246
.189
.344
6.601
.307
65.860
.000
Perceived human nature
Advertisement attitude
.281
.056
.284
5.063
.269
54.568
.000
Consistency
.316
.059
.291
5.346
.275
56.424
.000
Glamour
.375
.074
.286
5.100
.270
54.803
.000
Reliability
Table 8. Media effect test results: Brand attitude
Relation
B
SE
Β
T
R square
F
P
Step 1
Model type
Dummy variable
1.231
.176
.375
6.974
.140
48.643
.000
Perceived human nature
→ reliability
.419
.046
.467
9.111
.218
83.014
.000
Consistency
.413
.052
.420
7.986
.176
63.772
.000
Glamour
.556
.061
.468
9.133
.219
83.404
.000
Step 2
Model type
Dummy variable
1.531
.225
.367
6.817
.135
46.469
.000
Perceived human nature
→ brand attitude
.479
.060
.421
8.016
.177
64.249
.000
Consistency
.477
.067
.382
7.145
.146
51.045
.000
Glamour
.585
.081
.388
7.263
.150
52.748
.000
Step 3
Model type
Dummy variable
.981
.227
.235
4.316
.242
47.350
.000
Perceived human nature
→ brand attitude
.314
.065
.275
4.859
.254
50.442
.000
Consistency
.299
.069
.240
4.304
.242
47.284
.000
Glamour
.421
.087
.233
4.055
.236
45.992
.000
Reliability
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Contribution of Individual Authors to the
Creation of a Scientific Article (Ghostwriting
Policy)
- Li Li conducted the writing, survey and data
analysis.
- Shanshan Liu provided methodological guidance
for the study.
- Jongyoon Lee supervised and guided the entire
study.
Sources of Funding for Research Presented in a
Scientific Article or Scientific Article Itself
No funding was received for conducting this study.
Conflict of Interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0)
This article is published under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
_US
Table 9. Media effect test results: Purchase intention
Relation
B
SE
Β
T
R square
F
P
Step 1
Model type
Dummy variable
1.231
.176
.375
6.974
.140
48.643
.000
Perceived human nature
→ reliability
.419
.046
.467
9.111
.218
83.014
.000
Consistency
.413
.052
.420
7.986
.176
63.772
.000
Glamour
.556
.061
.468
9.133
.219
83.404
.000
Step 2
Model type
Dummy variable
2.344
.181
.600
12.94
.360
167.37
.000
Perceived human nature
→ purchasing intention
.618
.050
.579
12.26
.335
150.41
.000
Consistency
.469
.062
.401
7.559
.161
57.135
.000
Glamour
.682
.072
.482
9.490
.232
90.05
.000
Step 3
Model type
Dummy variable
1.676
.166
.429
10.09
.539
173.57
.000
Perceived human nature
→ purchasing intention
.397
.050
.372
7.937
.489
142.26
.000
Consistency
.202
.058
.172
3.496
.405
101.26
.001
Glamour
.350
.070
.247
4.981
.429
111.42
.000
Reliability
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