Purpose: This study investigated consumers’ emotional responses to virtual humans and examined how these responses influenced attitudes toward virtual humans. Specifically, the study focused on the roles of familiarity and self-image congruence as antecedent factors affecting emotional responses.

Methodology: A research model was developed incorporating familiarity and self-image congruence as independent variables, emotional responses (pleasure, arousal, and dominance (PAD)) as mediating variables, and attitude toward the virtual human as the dependent variable. A survey was conducted with 263 female college students, and the proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings: The results showed that familiarity with virtual humans had a significant positive effect on all three emotional dimensions: pleasure, arousal, and dominance (PAD). Self-image congruence significantly influenced pleasure and dominance, but not arousal. Among the emotional responses, only pleasure had a significant positive effect on attitudes toward the virtual human, whereas arousal and dominance did not show significant effects. Practical

Implications: The findings suggested that practitioners should prioritize strategies that enhance users’ familiarity with virtual humans and design virtual human images that align with consumers’ self-image to elicit positive emotional responses. In particular, inducing pleasure was critical, as it directly influences attitudes toward virtual humans.

Originality: This study contributed to the literature by integrating antecedents and consequences of emotional responses into a single research model in the context of virtual humans, highlighting the differential roles of emotional dimensions in shaping attitudes.

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