{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,2]],"date-time":"2026-08-02T03:56:51Z","timestamp":1785643011617,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,7]],"date-time":"2025-07-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1751846400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Social Science Foundation of China","award":["24AGL016"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["24AGL016"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JTAER"],"abstract":"<jats:p>With the rise of live-streaming services on e-commerce platforms, AI-powered virtual idols have demonstrated tremendous application potential and thus possess high commercial value. From the perspective of psychological distance, this study adopts the Stimulus\u2013Organism\u2013Response (S\u2013O\u2013R) theoretical framework to construct a research model of \u201cAI-powered virtual idols\u2013psychological distance\u2013impulsive buying intention\u201d. The model aims to explore how AI-powered virtual idols promote digital natives\u2019 impulsive buying intention in the context of e-commerce live streaming. Furthermore, this study examines the moderating effect of technology readiness on the relationship between AI-powered virtual idols and psychological distance. The findings reveal that the level of intelligence of AI-powered virtual idols\u2014including interactivity, anthropomorphism, homogeneity, and reputation\u2014enhances digital natives\u2019 impulsive buying intention by reducing psychological distance. For digital natives with lower technology readiness, the effect of AI-powered virtual idols in narrowing psychological distance is more pronounced. These findings enrich AI-driven consumer behavior models from a theoretical perspective and offer theoretical support and practical insights for developing AI-empowered digital marketing strategies tailored to the psychological traits and technological adaptability of digital natives.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jtaer20030173","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,7]],"date-time":"2025-07-07T02:53:07Z","timestamp":1751856787000},"page":"173","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Exploring the Mechanism of AI-Powered Virtual Idols\u2019 Intelligence Level on Digital Natives\u2019 Impulsive Buying Intention in E-Commerce Live Streaming: A Perspective of Psychological Distance"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1914-9388","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Honglei","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Business School, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, Beijing 102200, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wenshu","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Business School, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, Beijing 102200, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tianliang","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Business School, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, Beijing 102200, China"},{"name":"School of Business Administration, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing 100071, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"115024","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbusres.2024.115024","article-title":"Fostering parasocial relationships with virtual influencers in the uncanny valley: Anthropomorphism, autonomy, and a multigroup comparison","volume":"186","author":"Liu","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. 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