Virtual Influencer Credibility and Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Consumer Skepticism in China

Xueting Luo; Wan Mohd Hirwani Wan Hussain

doi:10.32870/myn.vi58.8091

Autores/as

Xueting Luo Universiti Kebangsaan
Wan Mohd Hirwani Wan Hussain Universiti Kebangsaan https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5048-6251

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32870/myn.vi58.8091

Palabras clave:

Influencers virtuales, Credibilidad de la fuente, Escepticismo del consumidor, Intención de compra, Marketing digital, Persuasión

Resumen

Este estudio investiga cómo la credibilidad de la fuente de los influencers virtuales incide en la intención de compra, prestando especial atención al papel mediador del escepticismo del consumidor. Se realizó una encuesta en línea entre consumidores chinos con exposición previa al contenido de influencers virtuales. Los datos de la encuesta, recopilados de 350 participantes válidos, se analizaron mediante el modelado de ecuaciones estructurales con AMOS 24.0. Los resultados confirman que la credibilidad de la fuente influye positivamente en la intención de compra y negativamente en el escepticismo del consumidor, lo que, a su vez, afecta negativamente la intención de compra. El análisis bootstrap con 5000 remuestreos revela que el escepticismo del consumidor media parcialmente la relación entre credibilidad e intención, con un efecto indirecto que representa el 26,53 % del efecto total. Estos hallazgos extienden la teoría de la credibilidad de la fuente al contexto de los influencers virtuales y resaltan el papel fundamental de la reducción del escepticismo en los procesos de persuasión digital. El estudio contribuye a la literatura emergente sobre el marketing de influencers virtuales al identificar el escepticismo del consumidor como un mecanismo psicológico clave. Se discuten las implicaciones prácticas para los gerentes de marca en la selección, el diseño y la gestión de influencers virtuales, así como las líneas de investigación futuras

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