Is beauty in the AI of the beholder? Exposure to human vs. virtual influencers and effects on appearance dissatisfaction and interest in cosmetic surgery

Social media influencers are online micro-celebrities who post niche content regarding their personal lives to their followers on social media. Recently, virtual influencers (digital creations designed to mimic humans) have been introduced to social media and are often used to interact with and influence social media users, yet little is known regarding their effects on followers. The current experimental study examined the effects of exposure to human influencers vs. virtual influencers in a sample of adult women (N = 303), ages 18-74 recruited via Prolific. Participants were randomly assigned to view Instagram images of human influencers, virtual influencers, or architectural images. Those assigned to the human and virtual influencer conditions reported increased body dissatisfaction but did not significantly differ in levels of facial dissatisfaction or interest in cosmetic surgery compared to a control group. No significant differences in any outcome variables were found between the human and virtual influencer conditions. Additionally, appearance comparisons and age did not moderate the relationship between the assigned condition and the outcome variables. Results suggest that women respond similarly to human and virtual influencers, regardless of age and tendency to engage in appearance comparisons.