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The Influence of Virtual Idol Characteristics on Consumers’ Clothing Purchase Intention

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  • Qian-Qian Huang

    (College of Textile and Fashion, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China)

  • Hong-Jian Qu

    (College of Textile and Fashion, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China)

  • Pei Li

    (College of Textile and Fashion, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China)

Abstract

In the context of a company actively using virtual idols to carry out marketing activities, it is very important to help the company understand the key factors affecting consumer purchase intention. In total, 459 eligible responses were collected via an online questionnaire survey. The psychometric properties of the model were examined by factor analysis, and the multiple regression method was applied to test the hypotheses. This paper empirically analyzes the influence of virtual idol characteristics on consumers’ willingness to buy brand clothing, with consumers’ attitudes as intermediary variables and clients’ involvement in virtual idolatry and adult playfulness as adjusting variables. A quasi-replication study method using both MRA and fsQCA found that the popularity, homogeneity, relevance and anthropomorphism of virtual idols enhance customers’ willingness to buy from big to small. Among them, attitude plays an intermediary role in the influence of popularity on purchase intention, and plays a complete intermediary role in the influence of relevance and homogeneity over purchase intention; consumer idolatry involvement positively regulates the relationship between professionalism, relevance and attitude; consumers’ adult playfulness positively regulates the relationship between popularity and consumer attitude. Finally, from the perspective of improving attitude and purchase intention, we provide suggestions for virtual idol creation applicable by operation teams and clothing brand companies.

Suggested Citation

  • Qian-Qian Huang & Hong-Jian Qu & Pei Li, 2022. "The Influence of Virtual Idol Characteristics on Consumers’ Clothing Purchase Intention," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-20, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8964-:d:868442
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Deng, Fengyi & Tuo, Muyuan & Chen, Si & Zhang, Zichen, 2024. "Born for marketing? The effects of virtual versus human influencers on brand endorsement effectiveness: The role of advertising recognition," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Kim, Inhwa & Ki, Chung-Wha & Lee, Hyunhwan & Kim, Youn-Kyung, 2024. "Virtual influencer marketing: Evaluating the influence of virtual influencers’ form realism and behavioral realism on consumer ambivalence and marketing performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).

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