• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.795-807
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• 2019

This qualitative study delves into consumers' meanings, perceptions, and behaviors toward the anthropomorphism of fashion goods based on personal experiences. Previous studies focused on consumer responses to the marketer-driven anthropomorphism of products, messages, and brands; however, the present study examines consumers' spontaneous anthropomorphism focusing on personal meanings as a possessor and meanings in their social relationships. A qualitative methodology is adopted that involves in-depth interviews with eleven males and females in their 20s and 30s. Participants stated that were engaged in the anthropomorphic practice of fashion goods on a daily basis. Data analysis was based on grounded theory. Findings on consumer-driven anthropomorphism are discussed at personal and interpersonal levels. At the personal level, anthropomorphic objects are their companions that are often called "baby." Interestingly, anthropomorphism reduces the stigmas of materialism from the participants' side. At the interpersonal level, anthropomorphic practice is a ritual of sharing a common interest and assuring intimacy. Implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.1-10
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the impact of Brand Anthropomorphism and Intimacy on Brand Engagement, and at the same time analyze the regulatory effect of Brand Reputation on the relationship between Brand Anthropomorphism and Intimacy and the relationship between Intimacy and Brand Engagement in terms of distribution brand. Results: The findings show that Brand Anthropomorphism, Intimacy, and Brand Reputation are important value factors in customers' minds toward their behavior, and from there, they will contribute to creating positive emotions and interactions between consumers and brands. Research design, data, and methodology: This article used the quantitative technique utilizing PLS-SEM software to test the hypothesis with 1,060 samples. Collected data shows that consumers in Ho Chi Minh City have positive emotions and interactive and social behaviors toward smartphone brands. Conclusion: The study has demonstrated the conclusions and proposed solutions to help smartphone brands build Brand Anthropomorphism while enhancing Brand Reputation thereby achieving Intimacy, which leads to consumer Brand Engagement. In addition, this study complements the concept of Brand Anthropomorphism which is lacking in theoretical background and is the first study in Vietnam to explore the prefixes and suffixes of the concept of Brand Anthropomorphism and the regulatory role of Brand Reputation.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.211-229
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• 2022

In this study, we aimed to define the effects of anthropomorphism and conversational relevance of chatbots on user experience. In specific, the chatbot designed for this study was an online shopping assistant that recommends items for consumers. Levels of anthropomorphism was manipulated by the name, profile picture, word choices, and emojis, while conversational relevance was adjusted by the depth and accuracy of the recommendation. Three categories of user experience were measured: psychological distance, usability, and purchase intentions. The results implied a significant main effect of conversational relevance on all variables for the high anthropomorphized conditions, while all but psychological distance was significant for low anthropomorphized conditions. Although there was no significant main effect of anthropomorphism observed for the variables, the main effect of anthropomorphism on responsibility was marginally significant for a specific item. The results of this study may function as a guidance for future studies regarding usage of chatbots within a marketing setting.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.129-149
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• 2021

Recently, interest in social robots that can socially interact with humans is increasing. Thanks to the development of ICT technology, social robots have become easier to provide personalized services and emotional connection to individuals, and the role of social robots is drawing attention as a means to solve modern social problems and the resulting decline in the quality of individual lives. Along with the interest in social robots, the spread of social robots is also increasing significantly. Many companies are introducing robot products to the market to target various target markets, but so far there is no clear trend leading the market. Accordingly, there are more and more attempts to differentiate robots through the design of social robots. In particular, anthropomorphism has been studied importantly in social robot design, and many approaches have been attempted to anthropomorphize social robots to produce positive effects. However, there is a lack of research that systematically describes the mechanism by which anthropomorphism for social robots is formed. Most of the existing studies have focused on verifying the positive effects of the anthropomorphism of social robots on consumers. In addition, the formation of anthropomorphism of social robots may vary depending on the individual's motivation or temperament, but there are not many studies examining this. A vague understanding of anthropomorphism makes it difficult to derive design optimal points for shaping the anthropomorphism of social robots. The purpose of this study is to verify the mechanism by which the anthropomorphism of social robots is formed. This study confirmed the effect of the human-likeness of social robots(Within-subjects) and the construal level of consumers(Between-subjects) on the formation of anthropomorphism through an experimental study of 3×2 mixed design. Research hypotheses on the mechanism by which anthropomorphism is formed were presented, and the hypotheses were verified by analyzing data from a sample of 206 people. The first hypothesis in this study is that the higher the human-likeness of the robot, the higher the level of anthropomorphism for the robot. Hypothesis 1 was supported by a one-way repeated measures ANOVA and a post hoc test. The second hypothesis in this study is that depending on the construal level of consumers, the effect of human-likeness on the level of anthropomorphism will be different. First, this study predicts that the difference in the level of anthropomorphism as human-likeness increases will be greater under high construal condition than under low construal condition.Second, If the robot has no human-likeness, there will be no difference in the level of anthropomorphism according to the construal level. Thirdly,If the robot has low human-likeness, the low construal level condition will make the robot more anthropomorphic than the high construal level condition. Finally, If the robot has high human-likeness, the high construal levelcondition will make the robot more anthropomorphic than the low construal level condition. We performed two-way repeated measures ANOVA to test these hypotheses, and confirmed that the interaction effect of human-likeness and construal level was significant. Further analysis to specifically confirm interaction effect has also provided results in support of our hypotheses. The analysis shows that the human-likeness of the robot increases the level of anthropomorphism of social robots, and the effect of human-likeness on anthropomorphism varies depending on the construal level of consumers. This study has implications in that it explains the mechanism by which anthropomorphism is formed by considering the human-likeness, which is the design attribute of social robots, and the construal level of consumers, which is the way of thinking of individuals. We expect to use the findings of this study as the basis for design optimization for the formation of anthropomorphism in social robots.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.229-240
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• 2022

This study explores the effect of anthropomorphism on fashion chatbot reliability, mediated by perceived intelligence and cognitive evaluation. The moderating effects of individuals' need for human interaction between chatbot anthropomorphism and perceived intelligence, cognitive evaluation, and chatbot reliability are also explored. Participants, who were recruited through the online research firm, responded to questions after watching a video clip showing a conversation with a fashion chatbot on a mobile screen. The data were collected through Mturk, a crowdsourcing platform with an online research panel. All responses (N = 212) were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 for the descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and PROCESS procedure. The results demonstrate that chatbot anthropomorphism increases chatbot reliability, and this is mediated by chatbot intelligence. Although chatbot anthropomorphism increases cognitive evaluation, the effect of cognitive evaluation on chatbot reliability is not significant; thereby, the effect of chatbot anthropomorphism on chatbot reliability is not mediated by the cognitive evaluation. The direct effect of anthropomorphism on chatbot reliability is also moderated by individuals' need for human interaction. For participants with a high need for human interaction, chatbot anthropomorphism increases chatbot reliability; however, anthropomorphism does not significantly affect chatbot reliability for participants with a low need for human interaction. The study's findings contribute to expanding the literature on consumers' new technology acceptance by testing the antecedents affecting service reliability.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.119-130
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• 2021

This study investigated the effects of the chatbot's level of anthropomorphism - closeness to the human form - and its self-disclosure - delivery of emotional exchange with the chatbot through its facial expressions and chatting message on the user's intention to accept the service. A 2 (anthropomorphism: High vs. Low) × 2 (self-disclosure through facial expressions: High vs. Low) × 2 (self-disclosure through conversation: High vs. Low) between-subject factorial design was employed for this study. An online survey was conducted and a total of 234 questionnaires were used in the analysis. The results showed that consumers used chatbot service more when emotions were disclosed through facial expressions, than when it disclosed fewer facial expressions. There was statistically significant interaction effect, indicating the relationship between chatbot's self-disclosure through facial expression and the consumers' intention to use chatbot service differs depending on the extent of anthropomorphism. In the case of "robot chatbots" with low anthropomorphism levels, there was no difference in intention to use chatbot service depending on the level of self-disclosure through facial expression. When the "human-like chatbot" with high anthropomorphism levels discloses itself more through facial expressions, consumer's intention to use the chatbot service increased much more than when the human-like chatbot disclosed fewer facial expressions. The findings suggest that chatbots' self-disclosure plays an important role in the formation of consumer perception.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.79-91
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• 2021

Currently, chatbot, a conversational platform based on artificial intelligence, is drawing attention as a new marketing channel. This study attempted to verify the effect of the anthropomorphism, message type, and media self-efficacy level on purchase intention. The experimental design of this study was a 2 (anthropomorphism level of shopping chatbot: low vs. high) × 2 (message type: factual vs. evaluative) × 2 (media self-efficacy: low vs. high) three-way mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA). This study conducted a survey by the convenience sampling method of 402 women in their 20s and 30s living in Seoul and the Gyeonggi area who were aware of chatbot services. For the final analysis, 388 questionnaires were used. Data were analyzed with the SPSS 23 program and three-way ANOVA. Simple main effects analysis was conducted. The results of this study were as follows. First, there were statistically significant differences in purchase intention according to anthropomorphism level, message type, and media self-efficacy. Second, message type and media self-efficacy showed statistically significant interaction effects on purchase intention. Lastly, anthropomorphism and the media self-efficacy level and the message type of the shopping chatbots showed significant three-way interaction effects on purchase intention.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.163-188
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• 2023

Purpose The study examines the impact of the level of anthropomorphism (both in appearance and behavior) of virtual humans on user liking. It investigates whether this relationship is mediated by social comparison experiences, with the moderated mediation effect of users' desire for self-improvement. Design/methodology/approach A between-groups experimental design was employed to examine the impact of different levels of appearance(low/mid/high) and behavior(low/high) anthropomorphism on user liking of virtual humans. The experiment was conducted in an online environment, and participants were randomly exposed to one of six stimuli, which were Instagram-like posts. Findings The results indicate that as virtual humans become more anthropomorphic, they have a positive impact on user liking. However, once the level of anthropomorphism in appearance reaches a certain point (mid vs high), there is no significant difference in user liking. Users who perceive virtual humans as highly anthropomorphic tend to engage in more social comparison experiences, which positively affects their liking for these virtual humans. Conversely, individuals with a high desire for self-improvement found that the positive effect of appearance anthropomorphism on liking through social comparison experiences was reduced. The study extends the application of social comparison theory by examining its impact on influencer marketing with virtual beings. It provides valuable insights for the formulation of influencer marketing strategies using virtual humans.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.15-32
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• 2022

This study seeks to clarify the mechanisms of anthropomorphism and positive user experience. This study adopts the "computers are social actors" (CASA) paradigm to verify the causal relationship between social response and anthropomorphism and correctly explicate this paradigm. The intimacy-forming and anthropomorphizing effects of deep self-disclosure in interpersonal relationships were replicated in relationships between humans and conversational agents to induce both social response and anthropomorphism. Then, the mediating effect of intimacy on the anthropomorphizing effect of deep self-disclosure was explored with psychological models that revealed the causal relationships between social connections, including intimacy and anthropomorphism. Furthermore, we explored how intimacy and anthropomorphism trigger positive user experiences. The results demonstrated that the deeper the self-disclosure depth was, the more intimate and humanly the agent was perceived and the more positive the user experience was. In addition, the effect of self-disclosure depth on anthropomorphism and positive user experience was completely mediated by intimacy. This means that when using a computer with interpersonal characteristics, people anthropomorphize it and have a positive experience because people react socially to objects with social cues. This study bridges the gap between the CASA paradigm and anthropomorphism research, suggesting the possibility of psychological explanations for the principle of human-computer interactions. In addition, it explicates the mechanism of anthropomorphism and positive user experience, emphasizing the importance of social response-that is, intimacy.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.41-53
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to review the previous studies on the characteristics of the image search service provided by using artificial intelligence, the social impact characteristics, and the moderating effect of perceived anthropomorphism, and conduct empirical analysis to identify the constituent factors affecting purchase intention. To clarify. Through this, I tried to present theoretical and practical implications. Research design, data, and methodology: Research design was that characteristics of image search service (ubiquity and information quality) and social impact characteristics (subjective norms, electronic word of mouth marketing) are affected by mediation of satisfaction and flow, therefore, control of perceived anthropomorphism have an effect on purchase intention to increase. For analysis, research conducted literature review, and developed questionnaires, so that EM firm which is a specialized research institute has collected data. This was conducted on 410 people between the 20s and 50s who have mobile shopping experiences. SPSS Statistics 23 and AMOS 23 had been used to perform necessary analysis such as exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, feasibility analysis, and structural equation modeling based on this data. Results: first, ubiquity, information quality and subjective norms were found to have a positive effect on purchase intention through satisfaction and flow parameters. Second, satisfaction and flow were found to have a mediating effect between ubiquity, information quality, and subjective norms and purchase intentions. However, there was no mediating effect between eWOM information and purchase intention. Third, perceived anthropomorphism was found to have a moderating effect between information quality and satisfaction, and it was found that there was no moderating effect on the relationship between information quality and flow. Conclusions: The information quality of image search services using artificial intelligence has a positive effect on satisfaction, and it has been found that there is a positive moderate effect of perceived anthropomorphism in this relationship, which may be an academic contribution to the distribution science utilizing artificial intelligence. Therefore, it is possible to propose a distribution strategy that improves purchase intention by utilizing image search service and anthropomorphism in practical business and providing a more enjoyable immersive experience to customers.