Persuasiveness of artificial intelligence versus human influencers: The interaction between agent knowledge and message construal through mentalizing

The recent emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) influencers has risen in prominence. As they gain popularity, it is expected that AI influencer marketing will shape the future of social media advertising. However, little empirical research has examined the persuasiveness of AI influencers compared to human influencers. To understand the nascent trend of AI influencer marketing, the present research examined the interplay between the types of influencers and persuasive messages by focusing on the concept of agent knowledge—lay beliefs that consumers hold about influencers as persuasion agents—and construal levels at which the agents and messages are mentally represented. Employing 2 (agent knowledge: AI influencer vs. human influencer) × 2 (message construal: low-level vs. high-level) between-subjects factorial experimental designs across two studies, the findings showed that AI influencers are as similarly effective in persuasion as human influencers when low-level messages are represented for utilitarian products, but human influencers outperformed their AI influencer counterparts when high-level messages are represented (Study 1). However, the interaction effects did not occur in hedonic products (Study 2). Additionally, the study revealed that mentalizing plays a mediating role between agent knowledge and persuasion coping outcomes, contingent on the levels of message construal. The moderated mediation analysis demonstrated that high-level messages facilitate, whereas low-level messages inhibit the underlying mentalizing mechanism. Based on the findings, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Advertising

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Lee, Dongchan

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ham, Chang-Dae
• Sar, Sela
• Su, Leona Yi-Fan

• Influencer Marketing
• Agent Knowledge
• Construal Level
• Mentalizing

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Dongchan Lee

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121321

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F121321