BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH TẾ TP. HỎ CHÍ MINH BÁO CẤO TỐNG KẾT ĐÈ TÀI NGHIÊN cứu KHOA HỌC THAM GIA XÉT GIẢI THƯỞNG ‘’NHÀ NGHIÊN CỨU TRẺ UEH” NĂM 2024 AI INFLUENCERS IN MARKETING: HOW AI INFLUENCERS’ ANTHROPOMORPHISM IMPACTS ON CONSUMER INTENTION AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE IN HO CHI MINH CITY Thuộc nhóm chuyên ngành: Marketing TP. HỒ Chí Minh, tháng 02/2024 1 ABSTRACT Research Purpose: Businesses around the world are increasingly changing their marketing campaigns using AI influencers. Availability, effortless control, decreased risk of scandals and easily tailored to specific needs are the characteristics that make AI influencers more attractive in the eyes of brand marketers.
Furthermore, previous studies have compared endorsement effectiveness between AI and human influencers. However, the research results cannot prove that AI influencers are more effective than human influencers. Moreover, although businesses in Vietnam are aware of AI influencers, currently the number of research articles on this topic is quite limited, so there are very few businesses using this form of marketing. Therefore, to promote businesses to use AI influencers, in this research paper, the authors investigated the relationships between AI influencers' anthropomorphism and purchase intention, the mediating effect of social presence, parasocial interaction, AI influencers' credibility, mimetic desire and brand trust among young people in Ho Chi Minh city.
Scientific Research Method: Cronbach's Alpha, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) are the analyses that the authors performed in the study with 300 people who have known about AI influencers. Research Result: The results showed that AI influencers' anthropomorphism had a positive impact on consumer's purchase intention through other factors in the study model except social presence. Specifically, social presence has no impact on mediating the relationship between AI influencers' anthropomorphism and AI influencers' credibility. Conclusion: This study suggests managerial implications for brand marketers, including the finding that a more anthropomorphised AI influencer is a crucial factor in stimulating purchase intention among young people in Ho Chi Minh city.
Keyword: AI Influencers ’ Anthropomorphism, AI Influencers ’ Credibility, Purchase Intention, Young People, The consumer's doppelganger effect. Computers are Social Actors theory (CASA theory) 2 Table of Contents ABSTRACT. 1 LIST OF TABLES. 5 LIST OF FIGURES.
5 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.1 Research background and statement of the problem.2 Scope of study.11 CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT 12 2. Computers are Social Actors Theory. The consumer's doppelganger effect. The rise of AI Influencers.1 AI Influencer’s Anthropomorphism.
AI Influencer’s Credibility. PRIOR relevant studies. Research framework and hypothesis development. The relationship between AI Influencers’ Anthropomorphism and Social Presence.
The relationship between AI Influencers' Anthropomorphism and Parasocial Interaction. The Relationship between Social Presence and AI Influencers' Credibility. The relationship between AI Influencers’ Anthropomorphism and AI Influencers’ Credibility. The Relationship between Parasocial Interaction and AI Influencers’ Credibility.
The Relationship between AI Influencers' Credibility and Mimetic Desire. The Relationship between AI Influencers' Credibility and Brand Trust. The Relationship between Mimetic Desire and Purchase Intention. rhe Relationship between AI Influencers' Credibility and Purchase Intention26 2.
The Relationship between Brand Trust and Purchase Intention. The research framework. 28 CHAPTER 03: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Method of data analysis.
Data analysis process.39 CHAPTER 04: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS. The features of sample size. Testing of scales. The results of Assessing the reliability of scales with Cronbach’s Alpha.2 The results of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA).
CONFIRMATORY Factor Analysis (CFA). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).49 CHAPTER 05: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION.1 DISCUSSION of research.3 Limitations and further research. 59 Journals and Newspapers.74 APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE - VIETNAMESE VERSION. 74 APPENDIX B: RESPONDENTS DEMOGRAPHIC.79 APPENDIX C: THE RESULTS OF ASSESSING THE RELIABILITY OF SCALES WITH CRONBACH’S ALPHA.
82 APPENDIX E: THE RESULTS OF COMFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS. 89 APPENDIX F: THE RESULTS OF STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING. 92 5 LIST OF TABLES Tabic 2. Summary of prior research Table 3.
Summary of Cronbach's Alpha coefficient value ranges Tabic 3. Measurement Scale Table 4. Demographic characteristic of sample Table 4. Results of Assessing the Reliability of Scales with Cronbach’s Alpha Table 4.
KMO and Bartlett's test results Table 4. Pattern Matrix Table 4. Summary of key indicators in CFA analysis the second time Table 4. The results of the inspection of the reliability and validity Table 4.
Regression Weights Table 4. Standardized Regression Weights Table 4. Summarize the results of hypothesis testing LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2. The proposed research model Figure 3.
Research procedure 6 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AI Artificial Intelligence CASE Theory Computers are Social Actors Theory AIA AI Influencers’ Anthropomorphism SP Social Presence PSI Parasocial Interaction AIC AI Influencers' Credibility MD Mimetic Desire BT Brand Trust PI Purchase Intention EFA Exploratory Factor Analysis CFA Confirmatory Factor Analysis SEM Structural Equation Modeling CR Composite Reliability AVE Average Variance Extracted MSV Maximum Shared Variance SQRTAVE Square Root of AVE GFI Goodness-of-Fit Index CFI Comparative Fit Index RMSEA Root Mean Square Error of Approximation PCLOSE Probability Close to Zero 7 CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research background and statement of the problem In the 4.0 era, the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has fueled widespread digital transformation and ushered in a new wave of technologies like avatars, content-generation AI, and computer-generated world that foster unprecedented levels of social connection (Ahn et al. This era is also called “The era of Ar where people can see the application of AI potential in business, healthcare, transportation, and especially in the marketing field. Marketing is no longer just traditional advertising but has shifted towards leveraging the influence of famous individuals on social media platforms. Influencer Marketing is a marketing strategy where influencers are used for endorsing the products or services of a company.
Hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions have long recognized celebrity endorsement as an effective marketing strategy. It has a positive impact on brand image, customer purchase behavior, and also companies' financial performance (Zhang and Wei, 2021). In recent years Influencer Marketing has become increasingly popular especially with businesses targeting young people. A report from Brandsvietnam shows that 72% of Vietnamese youth said they trusted advice from Influencers.
Additionally, influencer marketing is now a $21.1 billion industry in 2023 according to a report by Influencer Marketing Hub compared to the previous year’s $16.4 billion which represented an increase of 29%. According to Vrontis’ research, around half of internet users were following one influencer account on social media in 2019 while four out of ten had purchased something after seeing it on Instagram or YouTube (Vrontis Ct al. Nowadays more and more enterprises as well as non-profit making organizations utilize influencers for promoting their products and services via social media. This practice is not only limited to multinational corporations alone but rather it also extends to other types of businesses such as SMEs and family-owned firms (Obermayer et al.
However, there's a twist. This industry grows but not without challenges. The Influencer Marketing Hub Report states that about 67% of brands are worried about influencer fraud while nearly 30% of marketers face difficulties measuring the ROI for their 8 campaigns. Additionally, even globally renowned celebrities with a good reputation can bring down the reputation of the brand they represent in one day through scandalous acts performed in public places.
Thus, due to the fast growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies and the new trend that is coming up concerning influencer marketing AI Influencers seems to be a new opportunity in the marketing field (Jang, 2022). AI Influencers - computer-generated personas have been increasing in number attracting many followers on online platforms in recent years (Miyake, 2023). These virtual personalities offer distinct advantages over their human counterparts (Ameen et al. From a management perspective, AI Influencers boast perpetual availability, effortless control (Drenten & Brooks, 2020), and a decreased risk of scandals (Duffy & Hund, 2019).
For brands, these AI Influencers unlock interesting possibilities. They possess superior adaptability and can be tailored to specific needs, build stronger brand communities (Sands, Ferraro, et al., 2022) and unlock limitless storytelling potential (Moustakas et al. Furthermore, AI Influencers outperform human influencers with an average engagement rate of 2. With the advantages listed above, we can conclude that AI Influencers ultimately represent innovative extensions to influencer marketing (Laszkiewicz et al.
Many brands such as Chanel, Calvin Klein, Prada have collaborated with Lil Miquela, the popular Brazilian-American lifestyle AI Influencers from Los Angeles for their advertising campaigns because of the above advantages. This AI Influencer has around 8 million followers across platforms, and has been named Time Magazine’s “The Most Influential People on the Internet” (TIME, 2018). Furthermore, some Vietnamese businesses have also used AI Influencers in their marketing campaigns. Specifically in 2020, Toe Tien A.I Clear Flead appeared - the first virtual brand ambassador in Vietnam Clear brand.
While other AI Influencers arc created entirely with lines of computer code, Toe Tien A.I Clear Head is completely based on real data, modeled after a real star - singer Toe Tien. The first virtual model of Vietnam - “E.M” was released al the end of 2020. In August 2022, Vic - was the first virtual finance expert in Vietnam of VIB International Bank. Thus, businesses have gradually caught up with the trend and realized the importance and benefits of using AI Influencers in their marketing campaigns.
9 In the context of virtual marketing, such as AI Influencers, which is growing rapidly today, brand marketers still face many challenges in finding how customers respond to the presence of AI Influencers in marketing strategy. Therefore, it is necessary to study the factors that influence Vietnamese customers' perceptions of Al Influencers. Moreover, there is little in-dcplh research about vis and many published studies have not looked into the connection of how customers' perception affects the vis marketing strategy. Furthermore, Vietnam is home to a growing number of tech-savvy that global corporations will increasingly seek to court (Nielsen & Demand Institute, 2017).
The authors selected young people, who are now 18-34 years old, as the survey participants for distinct reasons. First, according to a report from marketing (2023), they arc the largest segment of the online population, with 29.4% of the social media users being 25-34 years old and 24.7% being 18-24 years old. Furthermore, Gen Y and Gen z (from 18 to 34 years old) are tech-savvy and mobilc-oricntcd, as they access social media mostly through smartphones and apps. Therefore, the authors chose the topic: "AI Influencers in Marketing: How AI Influencers’ Anthropomorphism Impacts on Consumer Intention among Young People in Ho Chi Minh City" to analyze the potential opportunities, and challenges of Vis when developing in the Vietnamese market.
Research objectives Given the things above, the current study aims to contribute to the scarce literature on the customer’s perception of the effectiveness of AI Influences marketing. In particular, this empirical study attempts to: 1. Identify the relationships between AI Influencers Anthropomorphism and Purchase Intention. Measure the impact of AI Influencers’ Anthropomorphism and other mediators on young customers' Purchase Intention (18-34 years old) in Ho Chi Minh City.
Show the potential and provide recommendations for enterprises in Vietnam to apply AI Influencers in marketing strategy in the future.1 Research subjects Research subjects: How AI Influencers' Anthropomorphism Impacts on Consumer Intention through AI Influencers’ Credibility as a mediator. Survey subjects: Young people in Ho Chi Minh City already know about AI Influencers.2 Scope ofstudy About space: This survey was performed in Ho Chi Minh City. About lime: Data was collected in 7 days in 2024 ( 31st January & 6th February 2024). In total, the research was performed from the end of January 2024 to the middle of February 2024.
Research methods The topic is carried out by quantitative research. In the first step, the authors collected data for the research article through a questionnaire designed on Khaosat.mc and then proceeded to send it to our friends, and acquaintances in Ho Chi Minh City through social networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Zalo. After collecting the required number of samples, the data will be processed using SPSS 25 and AMOS 24 software.