Figure 1
The path diagram includes three vertically labeled sections at the bottom: “Cognition”, “Affect”, and “Conation”. In the “Cognition” section, a dashed box labeled “Characteristics of Virtual Influencer” contains two rectangular text boxes arranged vertically and labeled “Friendship” and “Connectivity”. The “Affect” section contains a dashed box labeled “Consumer–influencer Relationship” that includes two vertically arranged text boxes labeled “Consumer Commitment” at the top and “Trust Propensity” at the bottom. To the right of this box, in the “Conation” section, two rectangular boxes appear in sequence, labeled “Active Engagement with the Influencer” and “Active Engagement with the Brand”. A rightward arrow labeled “H 4” connects “Active Engagement with the Influencer” to “Active Engagement with the Brand”. Four arrows emerge from the “Characteristics of Virtual Influencer” box and point toward the two rectangles in the “Affect” section. A rightward arrow labeled “H 1 a” emerges from “Friendship” and points to “Consumer Commitment”, and a rightward arrow labeled “H 1 b” emerges from “Friendship” and points to “Trust Propensity”. A rightward arrow labeled “H 2 a” emerges from “Connectivity” and points to “Consumer Commitment”, and a rightward arrow labeled “H 2 b” emerges from “Connectivity” and points to “Trust Propensity”. Two rightward arrows labeled “H 3 a” and “H 3 b” emerge from the two text boxes inside the “Affect” section. The arrow labeled “H 3 a” connects “Consumer Commitment” to “Active Engagement with the Influencer”, and the arrow labeled “H 3 b” connects “Trust Propensity” to “Active Engagement with the Influencer”.Research framework. Source: Authors’ own work