Article: Virtual influencer marketing: mediating roles of product involvement and brand familiarity Journal: International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing (IJEMR) 2026 Vol.17 No.6 pp.1 - 23 Abstract: Grounded in the stimulus-organism-response framework, this study addresses the limited research on the mediating roles of product involvement (PIN) and brand familiarity (BF) in virtual influencer marketing (VIM) outcomes. Virtual influencers (VIs) are an effective marketing tool, particularly on social media. This study examines how VIM affects purchase intention (PI) for sports goods in the Philippines, with PIN and BF as mediators. Data were collected from 319 Filipino consumers and analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling. The results reveal that VIM significantly affects PIN, BF, and PI; additionally, PIN and BF mediate the relationship between VIM and PI. These results highlight the effectiveness of VIs in the sports goods sector for building brand trust and creating emotional connections with consumers. VIs also drives PI by increasing PIN and BF. Marketers can use VIs to strategically increase PI by encouraging higher PIN and BF among consumers. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Virtual influencer marketing: mediating roles of product involvement and brand familiarity

Authors: Ricardo Biason; Ahmed K. Elnagar; Clarissa Tolete; Hala A.S. Elsaadany; Shahedul Hasan; Larissa Santos

Addresses: Faculty of Business Management, Majan University College, Muscat, Oman; Graduate School of Business Management, Philippine Christian University, Manila, Philippines ' Administrative and Financial Sciences and Technology Department, Applied College, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia ' Graduate School of Business Management, Philippine Christian University, Manila, Philippines ' Administrative and Financial Sciences and Technology Department, Applied College, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia ' Department of Marketing, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh ' Department of Marketing, College of Economics and Business Administration, University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Salalah, Oman; Graduate School of Business Management, Philippine Christian University, Manila, Philippines

Abstract: Grounded in the stimulus-organism-response framework, this study addresses the limited research on the mediating roles of product involvement (PIN) and brand familiarity (BF) in virtual influencer marketing (VIM) outcomes. Virtual influencers (VIs) are an effective marketing tool, particularly on social media. This study examines how VIM affects purchase intention (PI) for sports goods in the Philippines, with PIN and BF as mediators. Data were collected from 319 Filipino consumers and analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling. The results reveal that VIM significantly affects PIN, BF, and PI; additionally, PIN and BF mediate the relationship between VIM and PI. These results highlight the effectiveness of VIs in the sports goods sector for building brand trust and creating emotional connections with consumers. VIs also drives PI by increasing PIN and BF. Marketers can use VIs to strategically increase PI by encouraging higher PIN and BF among consumers.

Keywords: virtual influencer marketing; VIM; virtual influencers; purchase intention; product involvement; brand familiarity; brand trust; sports goods; social media; stimulus-organism-response framework; S-O-R framework; Philippines; partial least squares-structural equation modelling; PLS-SEM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEMR.2026.153272

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 2026 Vol.17 No.6, pp.1 - 23

Received: 07 Aug 2025
Accepted: 21 Jan 2026
Published online: 29 Apr 2026 *

Title: Virtual influencer marketing: mediating roles of product involvement and brand familiarity

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