{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T23:20:34Z","timestamp":1780960834832,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,23]],"date-time":"2023-03-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1679529600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100017899","name":"Masason Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100017899","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002241","name":"Japan Science and Technology Agency","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002241","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Comput. Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>With the recent advances in motion tracking technologies and three-dimensional computer graphics software, communication through avatars has become increasingly popular. Can avatars be sufficiently persuasive, when compared to traditional forms of interpersonal communication? What factors contribute to the persuasiveness of virtual influencers? Existing literature has studied the differences in persuasiveness between human and virtual speakers extensively, particularly in education. However, few studies have been conducted on product promotion. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the characteristics of persuasiveness for humans and virtual influencers, as well as the differences between them in this regard in a more modern and practical situation: product introduction videos used in influencer marketing. Specifically, we recruited participants to watch product introduction videos on YouTube, presented by either humans or avatars. The videos were similar, except for the appearance of the presenter. Before and after watching the videos, the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about their willingness to purchase the products and the characteristics of presenters' persuasiveness. The results show that although promotion <jats:italic>via<\/jats:italic> avatars can increase the participants' willingness to purchase, human influencers were more persuasive. However, the virtual YouTubers (VTubers) were more persuasive in certain product domains. VTubers who can change their appearance to match the product domain have potential for future applications. We also attempted to construct a model of persuasiveness in this pragmatic context based on Dyson's persuasiveness rating scale and the overall impression of the video. The degree of persuasiveness was found to be related to the presenters' likability, whether the presenter was a human or an avatar, the degree of familiarity between the presenter and the audience, the presenters' trustworthiness, and the quality as well as the entertainment level of the video. This model may be helpful for running successful promotions on YouTube. Our findings verify that avatars can be fairly persuasive in some situations, including promotional videos. These findings contribute to the future development of communication through avatars.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcomp.2023.1043342","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,23]],"date-time":"2023-03-23T05:32:00Z","timestamp":1679549520000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":25,"title":["YouTubers vs. VTubers: Persuasiveness of human and virtual presenters in promotional videos"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Hiroshi","family":"Sakuma","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ao","family":"Hori","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Minami","family":"Murashita","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chisa","family":"Kondo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yoshinori","family":"Hijikata","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","unstructured":"AlloccaK.\n          Analyzing Pop Culture with YouTube's Culture and Trends Report2020"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"596","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.63.4.596","article-title":"Inclusion of other in the self scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness","volume":"63","author":"Aron","year":"1992","journal-title":"J. Pers. Soc. Psychol"},{"key":"B3","unstructured":"ArshadM. S.\n            AslamT.\n          The Impact of Advertisement on Consumer's Purchase Intentions2015"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0178126","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0178126","article-title":"Robot education peers in a situated primary school study: personalisation promotes child learning","volume":"12","author":"Baxter","year":"2017","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4324\/9780080557700","author":"Brown","year":"2008","journal-title":"Influencer Marketing: Who Really Influences your Customer?"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"293","DOI":"10.1145\/2157689.2157798","article-title":"\u201cDesigning persuasive robots: how robots might persuade people using vocal and nonverbal cues,\u201d","author":"Chidambaram","year":"2012","journal-title":"Proceedings of the Seventh Annual ACM\/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1080\/15252019.2001.10722055","article-title":"The effects of anthropomorphic agents on advertising effectiveness and the mediating role of presence","volume":"2","author":"Choi","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. Interact. Mark"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"207","DOI":"10.1136\/tc.2007.020024","article-title":"Is \u201cYouTube\u201d telling or selling you something? Tobacco content on the YouTube video-sharing website","volume":"16","author":"Freeman","year":"2007","journal-title":"Tob. Control"},{"key":"B9","article-title":"A study on the influences of advertisement on consumer buying behavior","author":"Haider","year":"2018","journal-title":"Bus. Stud. J"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"479","DOI":"10.1007\/s12369-015-0280-4","article-title":"Combining robotic persuasive strategies: the persuasive power of a storytelling robot that uses gazing and gestures","volume":"7","author":"Ham","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Soc. Robot"},{"key":"B11","first-page":"1","article-title":"\u201cThe power to persuade: a study of social power in human-robot interaction,\u201d","author":"Hashemian","year":"2019","journal-title":"Proceedings of the 28th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1509\/jmkg.70.4.019","article-title":"The influence of avatars on online consumer shopping behavior","volume":"70","author":"Holzwarth","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Mark"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"137","DOI":"10.1177\/1470593104044090","article-title":"Consumer responses to perceived telepresence in the online advertising environment: the moderating role of involvement","volume":"4","author":"Hopkins","year":"2004","journal-title":"Mark. Theory"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"327","DOI":"10.1080\/02650487.2020.1836925","article-title":"The commercialization of social media stars: a literature review and conceptual framework on the strategic use of social media influencers","volume":"40","author":"Hudders","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. J. Advert"},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhcs.2015.01.001","article-title":"The benefit of being physically present: a survey of experimental works comparing copresent robots, telepresent robots and virtual agents","volume":"77","author":"Jamy","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Hum. Comput"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.1080\/15252019.2009.10722162","article-title":"Avatar-based advertising in second life","volume":"10","author":"Jin","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Interact. Advert"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"567","DOI":"10.1108\/MIP-09-2018-0375","article-title":"Instafamous and social media influencer marketing","volume":"37","author":"Jin","year":"2019","journal-title":"Mark. Intell. Plan"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"793","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbusres.2008.12.015","article-title":"Avatars as salespeople: communication style, trust, and intentions","volume":"63","author":"Keeling","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Bus. Res"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"142","DOI":"10.1080\/10447318.2013.839904","article-title":"Attractive agents are more persuasive","volume":"30","author":"Khan","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. J. Hum. Comput"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"349","DOI":"10.1086\/267335","article-title":"The impact of television advertising: learning without involvement","volume":"29","author":"Krugman","year":"1965","journal-title":"Public Opin. Q."},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1011","DOI":"10.1108\/IMDS-06-2016-0229","article-title":"The influences of advertisement attitude and brand attitude on purchase intention of smartphone advertising","volume":"117","author":"Lee","year":"2017","journal-title":"Ind. Manag. Data Syst"},{"key":"B22","article-title":"\u201cDesigning identity in VTuber era,\u201d","author":"Liudmila","year":"2020","journal-title":"ConVRgence (VRIC) Virtual Reality International Conference Proceedings"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"433","DOI":"10.1362\/026725708X306176","article-title":"A typology of roles for avatars in online retailing","volume":"24","author":"McGoldrick","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Mark. Manag."},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1080\/15252019.2013.768051","article-title":"Keep the social in social media: the role of social interaction in avatar-based virtual shopping","volume":"13","author":"Moon","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Interact. Advert"},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"407","DOI":"10.1016\/S0747-5632(02)00081-X","article-title":"Social perception of male and female computer synthesized speech","volume":"19","author":"Mullennix","year":"2003","journal-title":"Comput. Hum. Behav"},{"key":"B26","first-page":"553","article-title":"\u201cCan an android persuade you?\u201d","author":"Ogawa","year":"2009","journal-title":"Proceedings of the 18th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication"},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.1177\/002224378602300102","article-title":"Consumer response to television commercials: the impact of involvement and background music on brand attitude formation","volume":"23","author":"Park","year":"1986","journal-title":"J. Mark. Res"},{"key":"B28","unstructured":"Most Super Chatted Channels in Worldwide2022"},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"741","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2010.10.018","article-title":"Facial expression of emotion and perception of the Uncanny Valley in virtual characters","volume":"27","author":"Tinwell","year":"2011","journal-title":"Comput. Hum. Behav"},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"234","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-37157-8_28","article-title":"\u201cTrusting digital chameleons: the effect of mimicry by a virtual social agent on user trust,\u201d","author":"Verberne","year":"2013","journal-title":"Proceedings of the International Conference on Persuasive Technology"},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"617","DOI":"10.1111\/ijcs.12647","article-title":"Social media influencer marketing: a systematic review, integrative framework and future research agenda","volume":"45","author":"Vrontis","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Consum. Stud"},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"188","DOI":"10.1080\/16522354.2018.1501146","article-title":"Factors affecting YouTube influencer marketing credibility: a heuristic-systematic model","volume":"15","author":"Xiao","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Media Bus. Stud"},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1153","DOI":"10.1145\/1124772.1124945","article-title":"\u201cCan a virtual cat persuade you? The role of gender and realism in speaker persuasiveness,\u201d","author":"Zanbaka","year":"2006","journal-title":"Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems"},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1561","DOI":"10.1145\/1240624.1240861","article-title":"\u201cSocial responses to virtual humans: implications for future interface design,\u201d","author":"Zanbaka","year":"2007","journal-title":"Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Computer Science"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fcomp.2023.1043342\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,23]],"date-time":"2023-03-23T05:32:17Z","timestamp":1679549537000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fcomp.2023.1043342\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,23]]},"references-count":34,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fcomp.2023.1043342"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fcomp.2023.1043342","relation":{},"ISSN":["2624-9898"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2624-9898","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,23]]},"article-number":"1043342"}}