How Virtual Youtubers Affect People's Purchase Intention: The Case of Kizuna A.I.

Abstract

Social media has been becoming a ubiquitous and important platform for the people for social networking and content sharing (Asur & Huberman, 2010). It happened because social media has become the new platform for the people to find information. Furthermore, the ability of online platforms, such as social media caters to consumer psychology (Zhang, 2020). These changes also shift the things on how to become a well-known person. In the past people were well-known because of their accomplishments, yet nowadays because of their daily life issues. Meanwhile, these people are known as celebrities, and could be the new innovation for businesses in marketing their products and services. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to see the effect of these celebrities on people's purchase intention. In the analysis, 133 data orf consumers located in Indonesia are analyzed with Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS. The findings mentioned that Kizuna A.I. does not directly affect people's purchase intention. However, she is indirectly affecting people's purchase intention through consumer's perception of quality, as well as brand loyalty.

Keywords:

Celebrity Endorsement, People's Purchase Intention, Consumer's Perception of Quality, Brand Loyalty.