• Information Systems Review
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.205-227
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• 2023

Recently, Virtual Human(VH) has begun to appear in various media, not only on social media, but also in advertisements, music sources, and dramas. Virtual human has become a primary marketing tool for companies, but there also exist concerns when the companies do not disclose the identities of virtual humans. Accordingly, it is necessary to examine users' responses toward content that features virtual humans. This study aimed to examine how the exposure of virtual humans in the content affects users' perceptions. Therefore, the study defined the concept of 'VH Disclosure(VHD)', referring to the exposure of the virtual human's identity, and explored the impact of VH disclosure on attitude toward the ad (Hedonism, Utilitarianism, and Interestingness) and source credibility (Trustworthiness and Expertise). The study conducted an experimental survey with 302 respondents. Regardless of when the ad featured a VH or a human, the results showed that there was no significant difference between users' attitudes and source credibility. The results revealed that it was more effective to disclose the VH in social media feeds than directly reveal the VH's identity in the content. Therefore, this study utilizes a new concept of 'VH Disclosure(VHD)' to enhance the understanding of VH and contributes to establishing marketing strategies optimized for consumers in the creation of virtual human-related content.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.45-59
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• 2020

This study is to examine the effects of personal media influencer's source credibility (attractiveness, trustworthiness, expertise) and content authenticity on brand authenticity and product purchase intention. An online survey was conducted, on which the respondents were asked to watch the embedded contents of the influencer provided on YouTube before answering the questionnaire. The results of the regression analysis showed that both influencer expertise and content authenticity had a positive effect on brand authenticity. Moreover, brand authenticity had a positive effect on purchase intention and had a mediating effect between purchase intention and content authenticity. The findings are meaningful in that they not only analyze empirical advertising effects of personal media and media contents but also expand the scope of research on authenticity. This study also provides strategic implications for personal media influencers and companies which want to collaborate with influencers.