  In the midst of the influencer marketing boom, more and more companies are
shifting resources from real to virtual (or computer-generated) influencers.
But while virtual influencers have the potential to engage consumers and drive
action, some posts resonate and boost sales, while others do not. What makes
some virtual influencer posts more impactful? This work examines how including
someone else in photos shapes consumer responses to virtual influencers' posts.
A multimethod investigation, combining automated image and text analysis of
thousands of social media posts with controlled experiments, demonstrates that
companion presence boosts impact. These effects are driven by trust. Companion
presence makes virtual influencers seem more human, which makes them seem more
trustworthy, and thus increases the impact of their posts. Taken together, the
findings shed light on how others' presence shapes responses to virtual
influencer content, reveal a psychological mechanism through which companions
affect consumer perceptions, and provide actionable insights for designing more
impactful social media content.
