Tourist-virtual assistant communication: the power of attachment and authenticity

ABSTRACT

This study analyses tourist-virtual assistant communication by demonstrating the effect of authenticity and attachment as drivers of engagement. A Qualtrics panel sample of 200 users of intelligent virtual assistants (IVA) for the purpose of tourism was recruited to fulfil a survey. Findings show that when users view their communication with IVA as authentic, they become engaged. Yet, the strength of the relationship between attachment and engagement tends to be higher than the relationship between authenticity and engagement. Prominence is more important in creating attachment than self-connection. Tourists who are closer to their IVA, thinking, feeling, and using it to interact with brands are also more related to the information and recommendations given by the IVA and establish a stronger interaction.

KEYWORDS:

• Authenticity
• self-connection
• intelligence virtual assistant
• tourist-IVA engagement

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mónica Ferreira

Mónica Ferreira is an invited assistant professor and a PhD candidate at Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. Previously she worked as marketeer in diverse enterprises in Portugal. Her research interest is in tourism and hospitality, mainly how tourists engage with artificial intelligence agents and how tourism managers view the use of artificial intelligence algorithms.

Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro

Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro is an associate professor at Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. She is in the Stanford University’s ranking of the 2% of the best scientists in the world in Economics & Business (Marketing and Sport, Leisure & Tourism). She is director of the specialization in marketing of the PhD in Management and the director of the PhD in Tourism Management. Her current research interests include relationship marketing, tourism marketing and the connection between marketing and VR, AR and AI issues. Her papers have been published in a variety of peer reviewed journals that include Journal of Marketing, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Retailing and Consumer services, Journal of Service Management, Anatolia. Her work has also been presented at respected international conferences such as EMAC, ANZMAC, and KAMS-GMC. Sandra serves as a reviewer for several international journals and conferences and has participated in several research projects funded by the EU and FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology). She recently won several awards, such as: the 2012 Best Paper Premier Award presented by the Global Marketing Conference (comprised of EMAC, ANZMAC, KSMS, and the Japanese Association of Marketing), Highly Commended paper Award 2014 - 7^th EuroMed Conference and EuroMed Research Business Institute (EMRBI), Highly Commended paper Award 2016 - 9^th EuroMed Conference and EuroMed Research Business Institute (EMRBI), Best Paper Award 2016- ICCMI 2016, Best Paper Award TomiWorld 2017 and Highly Commended paper in the 2017 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence for paper ’Exploring behavioural branding, brand love and brand co-creation’ published in Journal of Product & Brand Management, Best Paper Honour Award at 2019 Global Fashion Management conference-GAMMA (among others).

Muhammad Ashfaq

Muhammad Ashfaq is a post-doctorate researcher at Shenzhen University, China. In 2020, he obtained his Ph.D. in Marketing from Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, China. His work has been published in different SSCI-ranked journals. His research includes AI, consumer behaviour, technology adoption, and digital marketing.

Hélia Pereira

Hélia Pereira, is an associated professor at Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. She has been a coordinator of Master in tourism and hospitality. She embraced the rector coordinator position at University Europeia. Her research interest is in tourism and hospitality.