Despite the growing significance of virtual influencers (VIs) on social media, the utilisation of VIs in the tourism sector remains underexplored. Underpinned by the “computers are social actors” (CASA) paradigm and the Uncanny Valley theory, this study employed five focus groups with photo elicitation to investigate the key factors that inhibit audience engagement with VIs in tourism contexts. Embodiment (poor visual narrative, humanised content, and spillover effect from VI to content), the role of agency (ethical concerns and lack of relatability) and agent feature (uncanny appearance) were identified as primary impediments. While VIs are found to be alternative tourism endorsers in prevailing research, this study contributes to the literature by delineating the limitations of VIs in engaging with audiences, thereby providing critical insights for both scholars and practitioners. The findings consolidate the CASA paradigm by elucidating its boundary conditions, discerning the relationship between the CASA paradigm and the Uncanny Valley theory, and enabling practitioners to avoid pitfalls and adopt VIs more effectively.

中文翻译：

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瞬间成名还是瞬间失败？在旅游营销中使用虚拟影响者的陷阱


尽管虚拟影响者 (VI) 在社交媒体上的重要性日益增强，但 VI 在旅游业中的利用仍未得到充分探索。在“计算机是社会参与者”（CASA）范式和恐怖谷理论的基础上，本研究采用了五个焦点小组并通过照片启发来调查在旅游环境中阻碍受众与虚拟机互动的关键因素。体现（糟糕的视觉叙事、人性化的内容以及从VI到内容的溢出效应）、代理的角色（道德问题和缺乏相关性）和代理特征（怪异的外表）被认为是主要障碍。虽然在流行的研究中，VI 被认为是替代性的旅游认可者，但本研究通过描述 VI 在吸引受众方面的局限性，为文献做出了贡献，从而为学者和从业者提供了重要的见解。研究结果通过阐明CASA范式的边界条件、辨别CASA范式与恐怖谷理论之间的关系来巩固CASA范式，并使实践者能够避免陷阱并更有效地采用VI。