Project duration: Aug 2025 – Jul 2027
Funded by: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) / Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia; University of Vaasa; University Consortium of Seinäjoki; Etelä-Pohjanmaan korkeakoulusäätiö.
Project background and summary
Virtual influencers have emerged alongside human influencers on social media. These are artificially created characters that publish text and images on social media. Importantly, each virtual influencer can have a distinct personality. New technical solutions, such as Artificial Intelligence, are being developed for implementing increasingly independently operating virtual influencers.
For businesses, the incentive with a virtual influencer is that it promotes products and services in social media. Furthermore, businesses can also collect feedback from their customers through virtual influencers, for example, by analysing followers’ reactions, such as comments and likes on the virtual influencer’s posts related to an actual product or a virtually proposed product.
The purpose of VIRPI-project is to help regional companies in circular economy value chains to develop their business by utilising virtual influencers in marketing their products and collecting customer feedback on social media. In the project, virtual influencers are implemented and piloted with the aim to study the challenges of promoting entire circular economy value chains’ operations in terms of social media marketing.
Our goal in South Ostrobothnia — co-operation with businesses for shared experiences and vision
The VIRPI project supports circular economy businesses in developing their digital marketing with the help of virtual influencers. We will carry out three demonstrations that test new solutions throughout circular value chains. Together with companies, we are building a vision of how virtual influencers can strengthen the circular economy in South Ostrobothnia, promote the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and bring smart technologies to the region.