The role of chatbots' human-like characteristics in online shopping

Despite their importance for online shopping, little is known about what motivates customers to trust and use chatbots. This study fills this gap by investigating factors leading customers to trust chatbots, eventually leading to a willingness to use them. We examined the antecedents of trust from two perspectives: first, the customer perspective, represented by innovativeness and optimism, and second, the chatbots' human-like characteristics, represented by anthropomorphism, empathy, and social presence. The model was examined using a represen-tative sample of 395 online shopping customers. Our findings show that customer's readiness characteristics (optimism and innovativeness), and the human-like characteristics of chatbots (empathy and social presence) have a positive influence on customers' trust in chatbots, while perceived anthropomorphism has a negative influence on trust. In addition, our results indicate that customers' trust significantly affects their willingness to use this new technology. The results of the study provide key insights for chatbot developers and marketing managers on how to build trust in chatbots, which will, in turn, lead to an increase in customers' willingness to use this technology in the online shopping context.

Automated summary

This study fills the knowledge gap regarding what motivates customers to trust and use chatbots. The findings show that customer's readiness characteristics and the human-like characteristics of chatbots have a positive influence on customers' trust in chatbots, while perceived anthropomorphism has a negative influence on trust. Additionally, customers' trust significantly affects their willingness to use this technology.