A Bibliometric Analysis of Virtual Influencers as a Trend in Digital Marketing: Insights from WOS
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26 jul 2025
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Categoría del artículo: Review
Publicado en línea: 26 jul 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32676/n.11.1.4
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© 2025 Iva Gregurec et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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Papers published in the Web of Science core collection database on the topic of virtual influencers as a trend in digital marketing - according to the citations of the paper
| 1 | Almost human? A comparative case study on the social media presence of virtual influencers | ( |
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies | 2021 | 81 |
| 2 | Towards an Ontology and Ethics of Virtual Influencers | ( |
Australasian Journal of Information Systems | 2020 | 39 |
| 3 | Parasocial interactions with real and virtual influencers: The role of perceived similarity and human-likeness | ( |
New Media & Society | 2022 | 36 |
| 4 | Virtual Influencers in Online Social Media | ( |
Communications Magazine | 2022 | 27 |
| 5 | Effects of human versus virtual human influencers on the appearance anxiety of social media users | ( |
Journal of Retailing And Consumer Services | 2023 | 26 |
| 6 | Virtual influencers? Attractiveness effect on purchase intention: A moderated mediation model of the Product-Endorser fit with the brand | ( |
Computers in Human Behavior | 2023 | 21 |
| 7 | Sweet escape: The role of empathy in social media engagement with human versus virtual influencers | ( |
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies | 2023 | 17 |
| 8 | All hype or the real deal? Investigating user engagement with virtual influencers in tourism | ( |
Tourism Management | 2023 | 16 |
| 9 | I am a virtual girl from Tokyo: Virtual influencers, digital-orientalism and the (Im)materiality of race and gender | ( |
Journal of Consumer Culture | 2023 | 15 |
| 10 | Computers as Social Actors? Examining How Users Perceive and Interact with Virtual Influencers on Social Media | ( |
15th International Conference on Ubiquitous Information Management and Communication (IMCOM) | 2021 | 15 |
| 11 | Can you sense without being human? Comparing virtual and human influencers endorsement effectiveness | ( |
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services | 2023 | 14 |
| 12 | The next hype in social media advertising: Examining virtual influencers' brand endorsement effectiveness | ( |
Frontiers in Psychology | 2023 | 13 |
| 13 | Stereotyping human-like virtual influencers in retailing: Does warmth prevail over competence? | ( |
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services | 2023 | 11 |
| 14 | Virtual influencer marketing: the good, the bad and the unreal | ( |
European Journal of Marketing | 2024 | 8 |
| 15 | Artificial intelligence-generated virtual influencer: Examining the effects of emotional display on user engagement | ( |
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services | 2024 | 7 |
| 16 | The emergence of virtual influencers: a shift in the influencer marketing paradigm | ( |
Young Consumers | 2023 | 7 |
| 17 | Unveiling Behind-the-Scenes Human Interventions and Examining Source Orientation in Virtual Influencer Endorsements | ( |
ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences (IMX) | 2022 | 7 |
| 18 | “You are a virtual influencer!”: Understanding the impact of origin disclosure and emotional narratives on parasocial relationships and virtual influencer credibility | ( |
Computers in Human Behavior | 2023 | 6 |
| 19 | The authentic virtual influencer: Authenticity manifestations in the metaverse | ( |
Journal of Business Research | 2024 | 5 |
| 20 | The ethics of virtuality: navigating the complexities of human-like virtual influencers in the social media marketing realm | ( |
Frontiers in Communication | 2023 | 5 |
| 21 | Impact of Celebrity, Micro-Celebrity, and Virtual Influencers on Chinese Gen Z's Purchase Intention Through Social Media | ( |
Sage Open | 2023 | 5 |
| 22 | Wildlife Watcher Kylie: co-designing a virtual ambassador for the Koala Watch programme | ( |
Studies in Australasian Cinema | 2022 | 5 |
| 23 | "Digital Influencer": Development and Coexistence with Digital Social Groups | ( |
International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications | 2021 | 5 |
| 24 | Mere copycat? The effects of human versus human-like virtual influencers on brand endorsement effectiveness: A moderated serial-mediation model | ( |
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services | 2024 | 4 |
| 25 | Let virtual creatures stay virtual: tactics to increase trust in virtual influencers | ( |
Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing | 2024 | 4 |
| 26 | Are Virtual Influencers Friends or Foes? Uncovering the Perceived Creepiness and Authenticity of Virtual Influencers in Social Media Marketing in the United States | ( |
International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction | 2023 | 4 |
| 27 | Keep it #Unreal: Exploring Instagram Users' Engagement With Virtual Influencers in Tourism Contexts User engagement with virtual influencers | ( |
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research | 2023 | 4 |
| 28 | What Causes Social Media Users to Engage and Mimic Virtual Influencers? The Role of Self-Congruity | ( |
Innovative Marketing | 2022 | 4 |
| 29 | Making Sense? The Sensory-Specific Nature of Virtual Influencer Effectiveness | ( |
Journal of Marketing | 2023 | 3 |
| 30 | Investigating the Effect of Self-Congruity on Attitudes toward Virtual Influencers: Mediating the Effect of Emotional Attachment | ( |
International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction | 2023 | 3 |
| 31 | Predictors Affecting Effects of Virtual Influencer Advertising among College Students | ( |
Sustainability | 2023 | 3 |
| 32 | Diversity in the digital age: how consumers respond to diverse virtual influencers | ( |
International Journal of Advertising | 2024 | 2 |
| 33 | A bibliometric analysis of virtual influencers in the Web of Science | ( |
Journal of Marketing Analytics | 2023 | 2 |
| 34 | Are they humans or are they robots? The effect of virtual influencer disclosure on brand trust | ( |
Journal of Consumer Behaviour | 2023 | 2 |
| 35 | When digital celebrity talks to you: How human-like virtual influencers satisfy consumer's experience through social presence on social media endorsements | ( |
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services | 2024 | 2 |
| 36 | Gen Z Travelers in the Instagram Marketplace: Trust, Influencer Type, Post Type, and Purchase Intention | ( |
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research | 2023 | 2 |
| 37 | Virtual influencers as an emerging marketing theory: A systematic literature review | ( |
International Journal of Consumer Studies | 2023 | 2 |
| 38 | Green power of virtual influencer: The role of virtual influencer image, emotional appeal, and product involvement | ( |
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services | 2024 | 1 |
| 39 | A Study on the Regulatory Fit Effects of Influencer Types and Message Types | ( |
International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction | 2023 | 1 |
| 40 | Factors of virtual influencer marketing influencing Generation Y consumers' purchase intention in Malaysia | ( |
International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising | 2022 | 1 |
| 41 | Virtual Influencers: The Effects of Controlling Entity, Appearance Realism and Product Type on Advertising Effect | ( |
3rd International Conference on Design, Operation and Evaluation of Mobile Communications (MOBILE) | 2022 | 1 |
| 42 | Fake human but real influencer: the interplay of authenticity and humanlikeness in Virtual Influencer communication? | ( |
Fashion and Textiles | 2024 | 0 |
| 43 | Virtual influencers and data privacy: Introducing the multi-privacy paradox | ( |
Journal of Business Research | 2024 | 0 |
| 44 | Virtual humans as social actors: Investigating user perceptions of virtual humans' emotional expression on social media | ( |
Computers in Human Behavior | 2024 | 0 |
| 45 | Virtually authentic: examining the match-up hypothesis between human vs virtual influencers and product types | ( |
Journal of Product and Brand Management | 2024 | 0 |
| 46 | Virtual influencers and pro-environmental causes: The roles of message warmth and trust in experts | ( |
Journal of Business Research | 2024 | 0 |
| 47 | Virtual influencer marketing: a study of millennials and gen Z consumer behaviour | ( |
Qualitative Market Research | 2024 | 0 |
| 48 | How to engage and attract virtual influencers' followers: a new non-human approach in the age of influencer marketing | ( |
Marketing Intelligence and Planning | 2024 | 0 |
| 49 | Human versus virtual influences, a comparative study | ( |
Journal of Business Research | 2024 | 0 |
| 50 | Unlocking Trust Dynamics: An Exploration of Playfulness, Expertise, and Consumer Behavior in Virtual Influencer Marketing | ( |
International Journal Of Human-Computer Interaction | 2024 | 0 |
| 51 | Revisiting the elaboration likelihood model in the context of a virtual influencer: A comparison between high- and low-involvement products | (S. (Steven) |
Journal of Consumer Behaviour | 2023 | 0 |
| 52 | The Interplay Between Human Likeness and Agency on Virtual Influencer Credibility | ( |
Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking | 2023 | 0 |
| 53 | Why You Should Give Your Virtual Influencer a Friend | ( |
Harvard Business Review | 2023 | 0 |
| 54 | Real or Not, Doesn't Matter, As Long As You Are Hot: Exploring the Perceived Credibility of an Instagram Virtual Influencer | ( |
Regional Conference of the European-Marketing-Academy | 2022 | 0 |