Summary of prior literature and research gap
| Literature stream | Theoretical focus | Potential limitations | Present study |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parasocial research | Prior work distinguishes parasocial interaction as a situational response during bonding with a specific media figure (Auter and Palmgreen, 2000; Möri et al., 2026; Schramm and Hartmann, 2008; Stever, 2017; Tukachinsky et al., 2020) | The literature is clearer on process and relationship states than on a stable predisposition that exists before a target-specific bond forms. As a result, less is known about how predisposition or trait-based parasocial tendency shapes early-stage evaluations before a target-specific relationship has developed | Rather than examining established parasocial relationship, the present study focuses on whether predisposition or trait-based parasocial tendency predicts early-stage evaluations of unfamiliar influencers |
| Influencer marketing | Studies on influencers show that parasocial interaction or parasocial relationship can strengthen trust, credibility and purchase intention toward a focal influencer (Chung and Cho, 2017; Lim and Lee, 2023; Reinikainen et al., 2020; Sokolova and Kefi, 2020) | These studies are largely target-specific and post-exposure. They provide less insight into how consumers respond when the influencer is unfamiliar and a parasocial bond has not yet formed | The present study examines whether parasocial tendency shapes early-stage endorsement trust and purchase intention even when consumers encounter unfamiliar influencers |
| Virtual influencer research | Prior work compares human and virtual influencers and shows that social response depend on human-likeliness, similarity, authenticity and related cues (Allal-Chérif et al., 2024; Lee et al., 2025; Liu and Lee, 2024; Lou et al., 2022; Qu and Baek, 2023; Rejón‐Guardia et al., 2026; Stein et al., 2022) | This stream is strong on stimulus cues but weaker on audience predispositions. It explains which cues matter, but less clearly for whom such cues activate trust | The present study introduces parasocial tendency as the audience-side predisposition that may be differently activated across human versus virtual influencer contexts |
| Trust research in AI mediated contexts | Research shows that anthropomorphism, social presence, realism and authenticity shape reactions to CGI influencers, virtual agents and AI endorsers (Ahn et al., 2022; Dabiran et al., 2024; Mouritzen et al., 2023; Sands et al., 2022) | These variables are typically modelled as direct predictors or mediators, but not as boundary conditions that determine when a pre-existing parasocial tendency becomes consequential | Following TAT, the present study treats anthropomorphism as a higher-order boundary condition that shapes whether parasocial tendency is activated and therefore translated into endorsement trust |
| Trust in artificial agents and recommendation contexts | Prior work shows that trust in artificial agents can arise from competence, credibility and informational reliability even in the absence of a mature interpersonal bond (Kim and Wang, 2024; Sharp and Sebrechts, 2020) | Influencer research often leaves unclear whether the relevant trust mechanism is interpersonal, relational trust or source-based endorsement trust. This ambiguity is especially problematic for virtual influencers | The present study clarifies that the focal mediating pathway is endorsement trust, allowing consumers to trust a recommendation without assuming reciprocal care from the influencer |
| Literature stream | Theoretical focus | Potential limitations | Present study |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prior work distinguishes parasocial interaction as a situational response during bonding with a specific media figure ( | The literature is clearer on process and relationship states than on a stable predisposition that exists before a target-specific bond forms. As a result, less is known about how predisposition or trait-based parasocial tendency shapes early-stage evaluations before a target-specific relationship has developed | Rather than examining established parasocial relationship, the present study focuses on whether predisposition or trait-based parasocial tendency predicts early-stage evaluations of unfamiliar influencers | |
| Studies on influencers show that parasocial interaction or parasocial relationship can strengthen trust, credibility and purchase intention toward a focal influencer ( | These studies are largely target-specific and post-exposure. They provide less insight into how consumers respond when the influencer is unfamiliar and a parasocial bond has not yet formed | The present study examines whether parasocial tendency shapes early-stage endorsement trust and purchase intention even when consumers encounter unfamiliar influencers | |
| Prior work compares human and virtual influencers and shows that social response depend on human-likeliness, similarity, authenticity and related cues ( | This stream is strong on stimulus cues but weaker on audience predispositions. It explains which cues matter, but less clearly for whom such cues activate trust | The present study introduces parasocial tendency as the audience-side predisposition that may be differently activated across human versus virtual influencer contexts | |
| Research shows that anthropomorphism, social presence, realism and authenticity shape reactions to | These variables are typically modelled as direct predictors or mediators, but not as boundary conditions that determine when a pre-existing parasocial tendency becomes consequential | Following TAT, the present study treats anthropomorphism as a higher-order boundary condition that shapes whether parasocial tendency is activated and therefore translated into endorsement trust | |
| Prior work shows that trust in artificial agents can arise from competence, credibility and informational reliability even in the absence of a mature interpersonal bond ( | Influencer research often leaves unclear whether the relevant trust mechanism is interpersonal, relational trust or source-based endorsement trust. This ambiguity is especially problematic for virtual influencers | The present study clarifies that the focal mediating pathway is endorsement trust, allowing consumers to trust a recommendation without assuming reciprocal care from the influencer |
Sharing content requires targeting cookies to be enabled. Please update your cookie preferences to use this feature.