Behind the Scenes: An Empirical Exploration of Virtual Influencers’ Leveraging on Immersive Platforms
(A2025-126317)

AUTHORS

Henrietta Batinovic, University of Goettingen; Fabian Tingelhoff, University of St.Gallen; Maik Hammerschmidt, University of Goettingen; Sofia Schöbel, University of Osnabrueck

ABSTRACT

As immersive platforms reshape virtual influencers’ roles, more brands are adopting them in these spaces. So far, research has focused on virtual influencers’ use on social media. Our study explores virtual influencers’ leveraging on immersive platforms and the associated goals brands aim to pursue. Based on expert interviews, we show that virtual influencers are mainly used on immersive platforms to create brand experiences that, in turn, encourage consumers to spend more time on such platforms (immersive time). We reveal two brand experience dimensions unique to these spaces evoked by virtual influencers and introduce three dimensions of immersive time, shaped by both new and established brand experience dimensions. Our findings offer valuable implications for brands, emphasizing the need for safe, interoperable experiences through regulated, responsive virtual influencers alongside the established experience dimensions to foster temporal engagement, exploration, and escapism.