Who stands with the virtual influencer? Trust in nonprofit versus corporate partnerships in social advocacy

Purpose This research investigates whether collaborations between virtual influencers (VIs) and organizations can reduce consumers' perceptions of opportunism and cynicism in social advocacy. It further examines the mediating role of trust and whether vulnerability disclosure moderates these relationships. Design/methodology/approach Two preregistered experiments (N = 640) examined responses to social advocacy campaigns. Study 1 compared three conditions: a VI advocating alone, a VI collaborating with a company, and a VI collaborating with a nonprofit organization (NPO). Study 2 used a 2 × 2 design crossing collaboration type (VI-company vs. VI-NPO) with vulnerability disclosure (budget constraints disclosed vs. not disclosed) to test whether disclosure moderated the indirect effects through trust. Findings In Study 1, VI-NPO collaboration generated higher trust and lower opportunism and cynicism than VI-only advocacy, whereas the corresponding VI-company comparisons were not significant. Study 2 found the same nonprofit advantage over company collaboration. Trust mediated these differences in negative perceptions. Vulnerability disclosure reduced opportunism and cynicism but did not significantly increase trust or moderate the indirect effects through trust. Originality/value This research advances understanding of how organizational partnerships shape consumer responses to VIs in social advocacy. The findings highlight the importance of the organizational partner's identity and the role of trust in consumers' evaluations of advocacy actors. They also extend research on vulnerability disclosure by showing that acknowledging organizational constraints can reduce negative evaluations even when its proposed effects on trust are not supported.