How virtual influencers’ identities are shaped on Chinese social media: A case study of Ling

Virtual influencers (VIs) have become a powerful marketing tool for brands to promote their products, due trouble-free experiences, compared with human influencers. However, uncanny valley, theory that describes the negative psychological responses triggered by humanoid robots or avatars, suggests VIs might exert from social media audiences. Thus, this study aims investigate how audiences perceive Ling, first computer-generated VI in China. Four research questions were proposed: 1) Ling builds its persona on Weibo, 2) consumers Ling’s identity, 3) respond strategies, 4) express intimacy towards Ling. As an exploratory qualitative method, textual analysis was employed reveal underlying meaning audiences’ perceptions of VI, and 79 Weibo posts 8442 comments collected as text. The results showed users’ response can be summarized into three dimensions: (1) identity CGI character, (2) endorser tool, (3) national cultural ambassador.