Credibility of Virtual Influencers: the role of design stimuli, knowledge cues, and user disposition

Samia Cornelius; Dorothy E. Leidner; Hind Benbya

Credibility of Virtual Influencers: the role of design stimuli, knowledge cues, and user disposition

Samia Cornelius
, Dorothy E. Leidner
, Hind Benbya

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Virginia
Deakin University

Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference Paper › Conference Paper › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

40 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Virtual Influencers (VIs) are digital influencers that can look and behave like human beings but project themselves as "robots". They influence people's attitudes and behaviors through their presence and interaction. While human-like design can lead to acceptance, additional information about machine-like description (robot) can create conflict about the influencer's identity and lead to unfavorable social responses. Social perceptions are also subjective. In this study, we examine the influence of human-like design, knowledge cues, and user disposition on user perceptions of VI credibility. In doing so, we present a case for the substitution of human influencers by "lesser human" counterparts in the context of social media.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Editors	Tung X. Bui
Publisher	Association for Information Systems
Pages	3401-3410
Number of pages	10
ISBN (Electronic)	9780998133164
Publication status	Published - 2023
Externally published	Yes
Event	Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - Virtual, Online, United States Duration: 3 Jan 2023 → 6 Jan 2023 Conference number: 56th

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Volume	2023-January
ISSN (Print)	1530-1605

Conference

Conference	Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Abbreviated title	HICSS
Country/Territory	United States
City	Virtual, Online
Period	3/01/23 → 6/01/23

Keywords

Credibility
Disposition
Humanness
Knowledge
Virtual influencers

Access to Document

full textFinal published version, 382 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

Cornelius, S., Leidner, D. E., & Benbya, H. (2023). Credibility of Virtual Influencers: the role of design stimuli, knowledge cues, and user disposition. In T. X. Bui (Ed.), Proceedings of the 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 3401-3410). (Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences; Vol. 2023-January). Association for Information Systems.

Cornelius, Samia ; Leidner, Dorothy E. ; Benbya, Hind. / Credibility of Virtual Influencers : the role of design stimuli, knowledge cues, and user disposition. Proceedings of the 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. editor / Tung X. Bui. Association for Information Systems, 2023. pp. 3401-3410 (Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences).

@inproceedings{653153d2131b43d5ae9557353e84dae1,

title = "Credibility of Virtual Influencers: the role of design stimuli, knowledge cues, and user disposition",

abstract = "Virtual Influencers (VIs) are digital influencers that can look and behave like human beings but project themselves as {"}robots{"}. They influence people's attitudes and behaviors through their presence and interaction. While human-like design can lead to acceptance, additional information about machine-like description (robot) can create conflict about the influencer's identity and lead to unfavorable social responses. Social perceptions are also subjective. In this study, we examine the influence of human-like design, knowledge cues, and user disposition on user perceptions of VI credibility. In doing so, we present a case for the substitution of human influencers by {"}lesser human{"} counterparts in the context of social media.",

keywords = "Credibility, Disposition, Humanness, Knowledge, Virtual influencers",

author = "Samia Cornelius and Leidner, \{Dorothy E.\} and Hind Benbya",

year = "2023",

language = "English",

series = "Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences",

publisher = "Association for Information Systems",

pages = "3401--3410",

editor = "Bui, \{Tung X.\}",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences",

note = "Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS ; Conference date: 03-01-2023 Through 06-01-2023",

}

Cornelius, S, Leidner, DE & Benbya, H 2023, Credibility of Virtual Influencers: the role of design stimuli, knowledge cues, and user disposition. in TX Bui (ed.), Proceedings of the 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, vol. 2023-January, Association for Information Systems, pp. 3401-3410, Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Virtual, Online, United States, 3/01/23.

Credibility of Virtual Influencers: the role of design stimuli, knowledge cues, and user disposition. / Cornelius, Samia; Leidner, Dorothy E.; Benbya, Hind.
Proceedings of the 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. ed. / Tung X. Bui. Association for Information Systems, 2023. p. 3401-3410 (Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences; Vol. 2023-January).

Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference Paper › Conference Paper › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Credibility of Virtual Influencers

T2 - Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

AU - Cornelius, Samia

AU - Leidner, Dorothy E.

AU - Benbya, Hind

N1 - Conference code: 56th

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Virtual Influencers (VIs) are digital influencers that can look and behave like human beings but project themselves as "robots". They influence people's attitudes and behaviors through their presence and interaction. While human-like design can lead to acceptance, additional information about machine-like description (robot) can create conflict about the influencer's identity and lead to unfavorable social responses. Social perceptions are also subjective. In this study, we examine the influence of human-like design, knowledge cues, and user disposition on user perceptions of VI credibility. In doing so, we present a case for the substitution of human influencers by "lesser human" counterparts in the context of social media.

AB - Virtual Influencers (VIs) are digital influencers that can look and behave like human beings but project themselves as "robots". They influence people's attitudes and behaviors through their presence and interaction. While human-like design can lead to acceptance, additional information about machine-like description (robot) can create conflict about the influencer's identity and lead to unfavorable social responses. Social perceptions are also subjective. In this study, we examine the influence of human-like design, knowledge cues, and user disposition on user perceptions of VI credibility. In doing so, we present a case for the substitution of human influencers by "lesser human" counterparts in the context of social media.

KW - Credibility

KW - Disposition

KW - Humanness

KW - Knowledge

KW - Virtual influencers

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85152141966

UR - https://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1698&context=hicss-56

M3 - Conference Paper

AN - SCOPUS:85152141966

T3 - Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

SP - 3401

EP - 3410

BT - Proceedings of the 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

A2 - Bui, Tung X.

PB - Association for Information Systems

Y2 - 3 January 2023 through 6 January 2023

ER -

Cornelius S, Leidner DE, Benbya H. Credibility of Virtual Influencers: the role of design stimuli, knowledge cues, and user disposition. In Bui TX, editor, Proceedings of the 56th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Association for Information Systems. 2023. p. 3401-3410. (Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences).

Credibility of Virtual Influencers: the role of design stimuli, knowledge cues, and user disposition

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this