Investigating the Effects of Perceived Autonomy in Chatbot Advertising

Abstract

The use of chatbots in advertising has gained significant attention recently due to the advancements in artificial intelligence. To obtain some insights on chatbot advertising effectiveness, this study examined the role of perceived autonomy on consumers’ perceptions with chatbot advertising interfaces. Through two experimental studies, results showed that chatbots elicited a lower level of perceived autonomy compared to the website interface, which decreased consumers’ perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of the chatbots, and further influenced satisfaction and product attitude. In addition, this negative effect could be mitigated by anthropomorphizing the chatbot as a servant to consumers. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings were discussed.

Keywords:

• Anthropomorphism
• chatbot advertising
• perceived autonomy
• technology acceptance

Disclosure Statement

No competing financial interests exist.

Ethics Statement

Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Protocol number: 23227). All participants agreed to the informed consent before participation.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the American Academy of Advertising (AAA) Research Fellowship Grants.

Notes on contributors

Xiaohan Hu

Xiaohan Hu (PhD, Universty of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism & Media Studies, San Diego State University.

Xiaoyu Xu

Xiaoyu Xu (PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is an assistant professor in Communication and Media Studies Department, State University of New York at Cortland.

Chen (Crystal) Chen

Chen (Crystal) Chen (PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) was a doctoral student in the Institute of Communications Research, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at the time of this research. She is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Strategic Communication, School of Communication, University of Miami.