How to Engage Users with Virtual Influencers' Branded Fashion Content?
(A2025-130317)

AUTHORS

Kinga Forró, Babeș-Bolyai University; Zsuzsa Săplăcan, Babeș-Bolyai University; Andor Darvas, Babeș-Bolyai University; Mónika Alt, Babeș-Bolyai University

ABSTRACT

Virtual influencers (VI) are AI-generated personas operating on social media and diffused into fashion marketing theory and practice. The present study aims to investigate how the VI fashion-related characteristics and the professional genre of their posts influence consumers' engagement in branded fashion posts based on 115 Instagram-scraped posts from four VIs. The findings support that anime-like VIs generate higher engagement, while fashion professionals perform well on branded fashion posts. Emotional tones are predominantly neutral or positive, with common feelings such as admiration, or approval. VI type, content relevance, and emotional tone significantly impact engagement, with individual strategies playing a key role. Accordingly, brands should focus on aligning content with the VI’s identity and emotional appeal. This study expands CASA theory by introducing the VI occupation variable and offers practical implications for fashion marketing.