Virtual influencers in advertising and marketing communication: mapping the intellectual landscape of research on consumer psychology and human-AI interaction

Abstract

This study examines the psychological foundations of virtual influencer research within the broader context of artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven personalization, advertising, marketing communication, and human–AI interaction. As AI-generated social actors become increasingly embedded in digitally mediated environments, research on virtual influencers has expanded rapidly across psychology, communication, marketing, and media studies. However, the field remains conceptually fragmented, limiting understanding of its dominant psychological themes, intellectual structure, and future research directions. This study employed the SPAR-4-SLR protocol to conduct a systematic literature review of virtual influencer research. Articles were retrieved from four major databases and screened using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, resulting in a final sample of 116 peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2025. Bibliometric techniques, including performance analysis and science mapping using VOSviewer, were applied to examine publication trends, collaboration patterns, influential contributors, and thematic structures within the field. The findings indicate that virtual influencer research has expanded rapidly since 2021 and has evolved into an increasingly interdisciplinary field. China emerged as the leading contributor in terms of publication output, while analyses of publications, citations, and co-authorships revealed a fragmented intellectual structure, with influence distributed across multiple research teams. Keyword co-occurrence analysis identified seven thematic clusters, highlighting authenticity, trust, anthropomorphism, consumer engagement, artificial intelligence, and digital marketing as the dominant research themes. This study integrates systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis to provide a comprehensive overview of the intellectual development of virtual influencer research. The findings indicate that the field is increasingly shaped by the convergence of consumer psychology, artificial intelligence, advertising, and marketing communication, with authenticity, trust, anthropomorphism, and consumer engagement emerging as its principal research themes. By synthesizing fragmented evidence, this study provides a structured roadmap for future research on human–AI interaction, digital identity, parasocial relationships, and virtual influencer marketing. The findings also contribute to advertising and marketing communication by clarifying the dominant research directions, identifying emerging knowledge gaps, and highlighting opportunities for future theoretical and empirical development.