@article{db9dd748c9db4cf4afb11a5633fbd905,
title = "Rapport with a chatbot? The underlying role of anthropomorphism in socio-cognitive perceptions of rapport and e-word of mouth",
abstract = "This study examines the impact of rapport with chatbots on electronic word of mouth (e-WOM), in the first phase, by considering several antecedents including anthropomorphism. In the second phase, deeper insights are provided into the moderated mediation role of rapport and the moderated moderation effect of value creation and hedonic motivation on e-WOM engagement. With tourism services as the research context, a survey was conducted among 257 visitors from three countries (China, India and New Zealand), selected due to their diverse cultural backgrounds and higher number of inbound visitors to Australia. The partial least squares method was used for data analysis along with multi-group analysis. Findings report the positive role of anthropomorphism in developing rapport with chatbots in digital interactions. Interestingly, rapport had the highest moderated mediation impact in the data from China followed by the data from India. The moderated moderation impact of hedonic motivation was only significant in the data from China, whereas value creation was a significant moderator in the data from both China and New Zealand. The study extends social exchange theory in a human–chatbot or artificial intelligence (AI) interaction context with cultural implications. The findings are useful for organizations relying on customer rapport with AI-based chatbots to ensure long-term customer service through digital interactions.",
keywords = "RapportAnthropomorphismAI interactionSurveyCustomer serviceDigital interaction, Rapport, Survey, Digital interaction, AI interaction, Customer service, Anthropomorphism",
author = "Johra Fatima and Irfan Khan and Somayeh Bahmanni and Chatrath, {Sarvjeet Kaur} and Dale, {Naomi F} and Raechel Johns",
note = "Funding Information: The current study's Phase 2 results support findings of previous studies on the mediation role of rapport (Delcourt et al., 2013; Kim and Ok, 2010; Macintosh, 2009), indicating the significant impact of rapport in mediating the relationship between anthropomorphism and e-WOM among participants from all three countries (China, India, and NZ). However, participants from China demonstrated the highest mediation effect (86.11%), followed by those from India (32.42%) and those from NZ (13.48%), on the relationship between anthropomorphism and e-word of mouth (e-WOM). As the creation of an emotional connection through personalized communication can foster positive e-WOM (Konya-Baumbach et al., 2023), individuals in a highly collectivist country like China can share their memorable experiences with friends and online communities. This finding is consistent with China's high collectivism indicator (score = 80) (Hofstede Insights, n.d.).Similarly, value creation is found to be a significant moderator in the relationship between rapport with chatbots and e-word of mouth (e-WOM). Supporting a previous claim that intangible experience encourages informal ways of spreading communication (Taheri et al., 2021), the current study finds a stronger moderation impact on the low value creation group of participants from both China and New Zealand (NZ). Prior findings report that value creation acts like a cultural prism through the lens of the masculinity/femininity indicator (Hofstede Insights, n.d.), with both these countries having a moderate masculinity score (meaning that the cultures of these countries are also femininity motivated). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Author(s)",
year = "2024",
month = mar,
doi = "10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103666",
language = "English",
volume = "77",
pages = "1--10",
journal = "Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services",
issn = "0969-6989",
publisher = "Elsevier Limited",
}