The cuter, the better? The impact of cuteness on intention to purchase AI voice assistants: A moderated serial-mediation model (original) (raw)
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2021
A voice assistant (VA), a type of voice-enabled artificial intelligence, is no longer just a character in science fiction movies. Currently, voice is embedded in a variety of products such as smartphones (mobile applications) and smart speakers in consumers’ homes. Furthermore, voice assistants are becoming integral to our daily lives. While human personalities shape the way we interact with the world, voice assistant personalities can also impact everyday interactions with our environment. This study identifies seven voice assistant personality traits (VAP) of three commonly used mobile applications: Microsoft’s Cortana, Google’s Assistant, and Amazon’s Alexa. To examine the effect of VAP on consumer experience, this study applies and extends flow theory to uncover why VAP has the effects it has and what facets of VAP drive the voice interaction flow experience that can influence consumers’ attitudes and behavioral intentions. Our study shows that voice interaction with a VA that incorporates functional intelligence, sincerity, and creativity empowers consumers to take control of their voice interactions with the VA, focus on their voice interaction, and engage in exploratory behavior. Consumers’ exploratory behavior leads to consumer satisfaction and consumers’ willingness to continue using voice assistant.
Purchase intentions in a chatbot environment: An examination of the effects of customer experience
Oeconomia Copernicana, 2024
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Psychology & Marketing, 2021
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Internet Research, 2021
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Journal of Global Information Management (JGIM), 2023
A long-standing debate exists on whether robots need personality. With voice assistants (VAs) (i.e., Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri) as the research context, this study employed the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model and the theory of reasoned action to investigate how the personalities that VAs display (i.e., humanlike traits and behavior traits) influence perceived risk, perceived enjoyment, trust, attitude to use, and continued usage intention. The results show that when VAs have more humanlike linguistic traits, such as tone and phrasing, and more positive behavior traits, such as politeness and helpfulness, users enjoy using VAs more, have more trust in VAs, and display a greater willingness to continue using VAs. Unlike past studies focusing on technical aspects, the results of this study provide decision-makers with a new perspective, showing that using more humanlike designs and giving VAs unique personalities can build user trust and increase willingness to use VAs.
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