TY - THES A1 - Celik, Sizel T1 - Virtual Influencers in Brand Management: A comparison between human and artificial Influencers N2 - This Bachelor Thesis examines the impact of Virtual Influencers (VIs) on Brand Management by comparing them with Human Influencers (HIs) in various dimensions. The research question is: "What impact can Virtual Influencers have on Brand Management?". The aim is to identify the advantages and disadvantages of VIs from a Brand Management perspective. The research utilizes a literature review and comparison to evaluate key dimensions such as authenticity, credibility, engagement, diversity, flexibility and Marketing effectiveness. The results show that VIs offer significant benefits, including flexibility, adaptability, diversity, high engagement rates, increased brand awareness and cost-effectiveness. VIs can operate without time, location or health restrictions and can be precisely customized to the brand strategy. They also achieve higher engagement rates, especially with sponsored posts, and can effectively increase brand visibility and recognition. However, the study also identifies several challenges associated with VIs. These include authenticity issues, as VIs do not have real-life experiences, making it difficult to develop real emotional connections with followers. In addition, VIs may struggle to gain credibility when promoting physical products and may not be as effective at generating purchase intention as HIs. The reduced parasocial interactions and initial distrust of users are also notable drawbacks. Overall, the research concludes that while VIs offer great potential for Brand Management and bring unique benefits, brands need to carefully consider the challenges associated with them. Integrating VIs into Marketing strategies requires addressing authenticity and emotional connection issues to maximize their effectiveness in influencing consumer behavior and building trust-based relationships. KW - Virtual Influencers KW - Brand Management KW - Human Influencers KW - Marketing effectiveness KW - Influencer Marketing Y1 - 2024 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:1383-opus4-20735 ER -