Unveiling the influence of anthropomorphic chatbots on consumer behavioral intentions: evidence from China and Indonesia
Abstract
Purpose
Chatbots have been explored as a novel approach to enhancing consumer engagement by delivering more enjoyable, personalized services. This research aims to investigate the mechanism through which anthropomorphic elements of chatbots influence consumers' intentions to use the technology.
Design/methodology/approach
This research introduces five key concepts framed through the “computers-are-social-actors” (CASA) paradigm: form realism (FR), behavioral realism (BR), cognitive trust (CT), entertainment (EM) and chatbot usage intention (CUI). An online questionnaire garnered 280 responses from China and 207 responses from Indonesia. Data collection employed a combination of purposive and snowball sampling techniques. This research utilized structural equation modeling through the analysis of moment structures (AMOS) 27 software to test the hypotheses.
Findings
(1) FR positively predicts CT and EM, (2) FR negatively predicts CUI, (3) BR positively predicts CT and EM, (4) BR positively predicts CUI and (5) Both CT and EM mediate the relationship between FR and CUI, as well as between BR and CUI.
Originality/value
This research enriches the current literature on interactive marketing by exploring how the anthropomorphic features of chatbots enhance consumers' intentions to use such technology. It pioneers the exploration of CT and EM as mediating factors in the relationship between chatbot anthropomorphism and consumer behavioral intention. Moreover, this research makes a methodological contribution by developing and validating new measurement scales for measuring chatbot anthropomorphic elements.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: No funding to be reported.
The authors like to thank Professor Kenesei Zsófia and three reviewers for their insightful comments on previous versions of this manuscript.
Declaration of Competing Interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Citation
Wei, Y., Syahrivar, J. and Simay, A.E. (2024), "Unveiling the influence of anthropomorphic chatbots on consumer behavioral intentions: evidence from China and Indonesia", Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIM-09-2023-0295
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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