Is it real or not? construction of meaning and identity in virtual influencer marketing

• Study of how consumers create meaning for artificial Instagram virtual influencers. • Consumers interact based on their understanding for virtual influencers’ identity. • Consumers value the anthropomorphic personality and cognition of a virtual influencer. • Positive consumer engagement results from shared reality with a virtual influencer. Virtual influencers (VIs) are an emerging type of social media influencer. Through a sequential mixed-method research design, this research employs the theoretical lens of symbolic interactionism to explain how social media users construct meaning for the identity of VIs and how this guides their interactions and engagement with VIs. Study 1 explores the construction of meaning by analysis of 573 posts and 57,086 social media comments. Based on the symbolic interactionism and shared reality theories, Study 2 tests the relationship between key concepts (i.e., anthropomorphism, shared reality, digital escapism, and positive affect) using an online survey collected from 209 VI followers. This study shows that consumers negotiate the reality of VIs in the comments section with an emphasis on anthropomorphizing. Furthermore, the results of structural equation modelling suggest that followers’ perceptions of VIs’ moral and cognitive anthropomorphism influence perceived shared reality, which ultimately results in positive affect and VI engagement.