Persuasive differences between human and virtual influencers in health supplement advertising: evidence from eye-tracking.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Attention is scarce in fast-paced, visually saturated feeds-especially for trust-sensitive categories such as health supplements, where credibility relies on source cues. Eye-tracking shows how viewers engage with advertising elements, yet authenticity and perceived human-likeness vary between human and virtual endorsers. We posit that source type moderates whether attention translates into evaluation. To examine these effects, we investigate whether source type influences effectiveness, whether attention drives outcomes, and whether these relationships depend on source type.

Methods

In a laboratory experiment with an East Asian university student sample (N = 120), an Instagram-style vitamin C advertisement was displayed using a 2 × 2 design (human vs. vi

SUBMITTER: Du M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12816186 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature