The Mechanism of Intergenerational Emotional Identification with Virtual Idols in the Digital Era

— A Case Study of AI Sun Yanzi

Abstract

In the contemporary era, marked by the deep integration of artificial intelligence and digital media, virtual idols are emerging as a cultural phenomenon that profoundly reshapes the emotional bond between fans and idols. Taking AI Sun Yanzi as its research object, this study employs three core theories of communication psychology — the Uses and Gratifications Theory, Social Identity Theory, and Affect Transfer Theory — to conduct in-depth interviews with eight interviewees from different generational cohorts (from those born in the 1970s to those born after 2000), systematically examining differences in emotional identification with a digitized real-person idol across age groups and the underlying psychological construction mechanisms. The findings reveal that generational cognitive differences are fundamentally rooted in individuals' divergent media socialization experiences: those born in the 1970s and 1980s maintain a deep emotional commitment to real-person idols; those born in the 1990s exhibit attitudinal divergence and rational scrutiny; while those born after 2000, despite embracing technological novelty, still emphasize the irreplaceability of real-person idols at the emotional level. In the dimension of emotional projection, two typical patterns are identified: nostalgia-driven and entertainment-consumption-driven. The former treats the AI vocal timbre as a material carrier for activating collective memory, while the latter regards virtual idols as controllable technological entertainment products. Generational divergence in identity construction manifests as a cognitive conflict between 'instrumentalism' and 'symbiosis theory,' reflecting a deep psychological anxiety regarding the boundaries of technological simulation in the digital era. This study not only provides a new theoretical perspective for understanding intergenerational psychological differences in virtual idol communication, but also expands the empirical foundation for applying communication psychology theories in new technological contexts.