What Makes People Feel Empathy for AI Chatbots? Assessing the Role of Competence and Warmth

Abstract

With the growth of contactless shopping, artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot services have become an effective tool for brands to interact with consumers. We investigate the effects of AI chatbots’ humanlike characteristics on consumers’ acceptance of chatbot services by mediating competence, warmth, and empathy based on the AI device use acceptance (AIDUA) model. Using structural equation modeling, we tested how the relationship between these variables differs depending on one’s need for human interaction. Findings suggest that AI chatbots’ personalization and anthropomorphism significantly increase perceived competence and warmth, leading to empathy. This positively affects consumers’ willingness to use AI chatbots. Consumers’ need for interaction moderates the relationship between anthropomorphism and competence. We applied a valid theoretical model to explore how the humanlike characteristics of AI chatbots affect consumers’ cognitive and emotional reactions, determining their service acceptance. The findings have practical value for online retailers who use AI chatbots as marketing communication tools.

Keywords:

• AI chatbots
• humanlike AI characteristics
• perception
• empathy
• service acceptance
• need for human interaction

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.co.kr) for English language editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the first author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Woo Bin Kim

Woo Bin Kim is a post-doctoral researcher at Chungnam National University in Daejeon, South Korea. She earned her Ph.D. in fashion marketing at the Department of Fashion and Textiles, Seoul National University. Dr. Kim’s current research interests lie in consumers’ creative experience in technology-driven retail settings.

Hee Jin Hur

Hee Jin Hur is an assistant professor at the Department of Fashion Design, Konkuk University Glocal Campus in Chungju, South Korea. She earned her Ph.D. in fashion marketing at the Department of Fashion and Textiles, Seoul National University. Her research interests include retail technology and tourism shopping.