Enhancing Trust and Empathy in Marketing: Strategic <scp>AI</scp> and Human Influencer Selection for Optimized Content Persuasion

ABSTRACT Compared to human influencers, AI influencers offer advantages such as low cost, high efficiency, and fairer handling of objective tasks. However, they are believed to have shortcomings in perception and empathy abilities. How can companies select the more appropriate promoter between AI influencers and human influencers based on their marketing content? How can enterprises design more persuasive marketing content according to the type of influencer? Three behavioral experiments were conducted in this paper. The results indicate that when AI influencers post marketing content with functional advertising appeal, they can significantly enhance people's perceived trust. When human influencers share marketing content with experiential advertising appeal, they can significantly improve people's perceived empathy. Consumers with lower levels of knowledge are more susceptible to the matching effect of influencer type and advertising appeal type on the persuasive effect of marketing content than those with higher levels of knowledge. The conclusions of this study assist enterprises in scientifically matching influencer types with advertising appeals. By choosing influencers based on the nature of the marketing content or designing suitable marketing content based on the influencer type, companies can maximize marketing effectiveness. This refined marketing strategy not only improves the persuasive effect of the marketing content but also strengthens the brand's market competitiveness.