TY - JOUR
T1 - Chatbot ads with a human touch
T2 - A test of anthropomorphism, interactivity, and narrativity
AU - Sun, Yuan
AU - Chen, Jin
AU - Sundar, S. Shyam
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2024/2
Y1 - 2024/2
N2 - Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots are increasingly capable of simulating human-like conversations. But, is this desirable for strategic communications? Will chatbots be more persuasive if they are more human-like, not only in their appearance but also in their interaction and delivery of advertising content? We explored these questions with a 2 (chatbot profile: human-like vs. machine-like) x 2 (message interactivity: high vs. low) x 2 (ad type: narrative vs. factual) experiment (N = 414). Data reveal that high message interactivity fosters positive attitudes toward the chatbot and the ad by mitigating violated expectancy. Narrative ads promote chatbot advertising through perceived transportation. A three-way interaction revealed that when a chatbot is machine-like in appearance, higher interactivity and adoption of a narrative style of delivery serve to increase ad persuasiveness by heightening social presence. Theoretical and practical implications for chatbot advertising are discussed.
AB - Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots are increasingly capable of simulating human-like conversations. But, is this desirable for strategic communications? Will chatbots be more persuasive if they are more human-like, not only in their appearance but also in their interaction and delivery of advertising content? We explored these questions with a 2 (chatbot profile: human-like vs. machine-like) x 2 (message interactivity: high vs. low) x 2 (ad type: narrative vs. factual) experiment (N = 414). Data reveal that high message interactivity fosters positive attitudes toward the chatbot and the ad by mitigating violated expectancy. Narrative ads promote chatbot advertising through perceived transportation. A three-way interaction revealed that when a chatbot is machine-like in appearance, higher interactivity and adoption of a narrative style of delivery serve to increase ad persuasiveness by heightening social presence. Theoretical and practical implications for chatbot advertising are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114403
DO - 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114403
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85178161084
SN - 0148-2963
VL - 172
JO - Journal of Business Research
JF - Journal of Business Research
M1 - 114403
ER -