With efforts to investigate the role of interactivity on user psychology in video games, scholars have demonstrated that interactivity may induce cognitive, emotional, physical (controller and exertional), and social demands of global gamers. However, existing studies are missing Latin American gamers as critical yet understudied gaming communities. Drawing on the interactivity-as-demand model, we conducted a mixed-method online survey to test measurement validity on localized versions of the video game demand scale (VGDS) for Spanish-speaking gamers (N = 195). Results showed that the Spanish-translated scale replicated the a priori five-factor structure of VGDS. Emergent themes from gamers’ comments mirrored VGDS factors, with additional insights into the cognitive demand of creative thinking, emotional demand of feeling nostalgia, physical demand of being precise, and social demand of interacting with non-player characters. These findings provide a pancultural perspective of Spanish-speaking gamers’ perceptions of their gaming while offering nuanced insights into their experiences for future research.

While the popularity of virtual influencers in influencer marketing is on the rise, little is known about the reasons behind their increasing popularity. Furthermore, there is also a dearth of research examining why and how virtual influencers could be more effective than human influencers in influencing consumer purchase decisions. Drawing on the concept of perceived authenticity of influencers and machine heuristic, this study investigates the effects of influencer type (virtual influencer vs. human influencer) on the perceived authenticity of consumers. In addition, we also explore if machine heuristic will moderate the perceived authenticity of consumers and whether trust in influencers and purchase intentions will be subsequently associated with the perceived authenticity of the influencer. Results from an online between-subjects designed experiment (N = 130) indicated that virtual influencers were unexpectedly perceived as more authentic than human influencers. Additionally, the perceived authenticity of virtual influencers significantly increased among those with a strong belief in the machine heuristic. Subsequently, we found a positive association between the perceived authenticity of influencers and the extent of consumers’ trust in them. Additionally, trust in influencers was positively associated with consumers’ intention to purchase the products they promoted by the influencers. These findings provide valuable insights into the use of virtual influencers for marketing purposes. Further theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The interactivity-as-demand model has been presented, which identifies the cognitive, emotional, physical (controller and exertion), and social demands of video games. These demands are presumed to apply to a broad set of video games and gaming technologies and are measured using the Video Game Demand Scale (VGDS). The current study fills a gap in the literature by translating the VGDS for use with Korean speakers, recognizing one of the largest global gaming populations, with a specific interest in and early innovation of mobile and online gaming. A sample of N = 524 self-identified Korean gamers was asked to recall a recent gaming experience, complete the VGDS-Korean, and then answer questions about the game. The results replicated the five-factor VGDS metric, and several measurement validity tests replicated from prior work. We also saw novel findings likely related to the dominance of mobile gaming in Korea (and in our sample).