Online discussion forums are an essential and standard setup in online courses to facilitate interactions among learners. However, learners’ inadequate participation in online discussion forums is a long-standing challenge, which necessitates instructor intervention and the design consideration of online learning platforms. This research proposes and studies the role of mandatory participation, i.e., learners’ participation in online course forums by instructors’ requirements, in fostering their voluntary participation and boosting their learning performance. This novel effect link between mandatory participation and voluntary participation has not been assessed in previous research. An empirical study is conducted using a large-scale dataset of 27,767 learners from a leading massive open online course (MOOC) platform in China. The findings indicate that besides its direct effect on learning performance, learners’ mandatory participation has a significant positive effect on their voluntary participation in online course forums, enhancing learning performance. Moreover, the effect of mandatory participation on voluntary participation varies across learner groups, being more prominent for early registrants than late registrants and part-time learners than full-time learners. This research contributes to the online learning literature by introducing mandatory participation as a viable approach to foster voluntary participation and boost learning performance through enhanced voluntary participation. It provides evidence on the effectiveness of the novel design feature of MOOC platforms that enables and facilitates the mandatory participation mechanism in online learning.

Purpose: Virtual influencers are emerging as prominent digital brand endorsers on social media; however, their perceived authenticity remains a critical challenge to their marketing effectiveness. This research addresses this gap and investigates how the anthropomorphism of virtual influencers – in appearance and behavior – differentially affects perceived authenticity through the mechanism of social presence, ultimately shaping audiences’ purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing from social presence theory and anthropomorphism literature, we developed a theoretical framework to examine how two dimensions of anthropomorphism – appearance and behavior – translate into perceived authenticity through social presence. Additionally, we explore how these relationships vary across virtual influencer types, such as human-like and animal-like personas. An online survey was conducted via Credamo. A dataset of responses from 415 followers of virtual influencers was analyzed using SmartPLS 4.0. Findings: The empirical findings reveal that both anthropomorphic appearance and behavior positively impact perceived authenticity via social presence, driving purchase intentions. Notably, anthropomorphic behavior plays a more significant role than appearance, influencing perceived authenticity both directly and indirectly via social presence. In contrast, anthropomorphic appearance affects perceived authenticity only indirectly, with a weaker effect than anthropomorphic behavior. Additionally, the strengths of these relationships vary across influencer types, such as human-like and animal-like virtual influencers. Originality/value: This research pioneers scholarly efforts to address the authenticity challenges associated with virtual influencers, emphasizing that the authenticity gap is not a fixed limitation but a dynamic issue that can be addressed through deliberate design and operational strategies for virtual influencers. It advances virtual influencer research by investigating two key dimensions of anthropomorphism – appearance and behavior – and elucidating the relationship between anthropomorphism and authenticity through the lens of social presence. It uncovers variations in the effects of anthropomorphism across different types of virtual influencers, offering a sound framework to understand the dynamic interactions among factors studied.

Augmented reality (AR) offers a transforming user experience and has been increasingly integrated into entertainment and service contexts. Drawing on experience economy theory and employing a mixed‐methods approach, this research evaluates the antecedents and consequences of four realms of viewer experiences: entertainment, educational, aesthetic, and escapist experiences, in AR‐infused sports videos. A qualitative study of semi‐structured interviews highlights three critical AR features in sports videos (i.e., novelty, vividness, and informativeness) in shaping viewer experiences. Subsequently, a research model is formulated to elucidate the relationships among AR features, four realms of viewer experiences, and behavioral intentions. A quantitative analysis based on survey data reveals that AR features exert varying effects on viewers' entertainment, educational, and aesthetic experiences, yet none significantly affects escapist experience, which is relatively trivial in viewers' overall experience. Entertainment, educational, aesthetic, and escapist experiences have various influences on viewers' intentions to watch again, to recommend, and to pay, except that entertainment and educational experiences do not significantly affect intention to pay. This research stresses the importance of understanding multiple aspects of user experiences in AR research and provides useful guidelines for AR features and viewer experience design in sports videos.