Abstract: With the development of social media, the types of endorsers are becoming more and more abundant, and the development of virtual influencers has brought a new choice to enterprises. However, how to choose between real endorsers and virtual endorsers has become a critical problem for enterprises. This study explored the applicable situations of virtual endorsers based on the Processing Fluency Theory. We conducted two experiments to show (1) the interaction between brand concept and the types of celebrity endorsers on the purchase intention, which is when consumers faced with the open brand concept, the choice of virtual celebrity endorsers makes them have higher purchase intention; When consumers face conservative brand concept, choosing real celebrity endorsers will make them have higher purchase intention; (2) processing fluency plays a mediating role in this interaction.

Key words: virtual endorser, real endorser, brand concept, consumer attitude, processing fluency