Human vs. virtual influencers in Crisis: How attribution and crisis response shape brand trust

Despite increasing concerns about misinformation in influencer marketing, limited research explores how consumers assign responsibility and restore brand trust when misinformation originates from human or virtual influencers. Addressing this gap, this study investigates the effects of misinformation (human vs. virtual), attribution style (internal vs. external), and brand response (emotional vs. informational) on perceived brand responsibility and brand trust. Grounded in attribution theory and situational crisis communication theory, two experimental studies using manipulated Xiaohongshu posts and brand responses were conducted with 220 and 240 participants, respectively. Study 1 found that human influencers triggered greater perceived brand responsibility, particularly under internal attribution. Study 2 revealed that emotional responses were more effective for human influencers, while informational responses were better suited for virtual influencers. Perceived brand responsibility mediated the link between influencer type and trust. Theoretically, this study extends attribution frameworks into AI-driven branding. Practically, it provides actionable strategies for aligning crisis responses with influencer type to preserve consumer trust in digital ecosystems.