Table 1.

Studies examining the interaction between consumers and AI

Authors, Theoretical foundation and research aimContext and key variablesFindingsLimitations
Canbek and Mutlu (2016) examine the potential use of intelligent personal assistants for learningEducation context UseIntelligent personal assistants such as Siri, Cortana and Google Now can be used to support learning in educational contextFocus on smartphone-based assistants only
Based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), Moriuchi (2019) examines the effect of AI integration into e-commerce on customer engagement and loyaltyOnline shopping context
Perceived ease of use Perceived usefulness
Strong support for the TAM variables perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on loyalty. Engagement serves as mediator in this relationshipFunctional antecedents only
Based on expectations confirmation theory, Brill et al. (2019) examine customer satisfaction with digital assistantsNo context specified Expectations
Satisfaction
Expectations and confirmed expectations have a positive influence on satisfaction with digital assistantsStudy only included consumers who continued to use digital assistants or had no experience. Discontinuance was not considered. Impact on consumer behaviour is not examined
Buhalis and Sinarta (2019) analyse value co-creation through big data, real-time data mining and contextual data by smart technology and its effect on customer experienceTourism context
Interaction
Co-creation
Interaction based on real-time data and contextual information as well as nowness are ways to co-create value with the consumer. Real-time service adds to a firm’s competitivenessResearch is based on “best practices” within tourism context
Based on the uncanny valley theory, Kim et al. (2019) examine the effects of anthropomorphism of robots on consumer judgements and attitudesConsumer robots
Anthropomorphism Attitude Uncanniness
Anthropomorphism positively influences perceptions of warmth. Study also supports the uncanny valley theory by showing that too-humanlike features lead to uncanniness and negative evaluationsStudy only examines the effect on attitudes, not how this attitude influences behaviour
Based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2), Lu et al. (2019) conceptualise and test a service robot integration willingness scale to determine key dimensions in consumer willingness to adopt AI-based technology into service encountersService context
Adoption
Anthropomorphism
Performance efficacy, intrinsic motivation, facilitating conditions and emotions are positive determinants of acceptance Anthropomorphism is a barrier to adoption of service robots due to perceived threat to human identityStudy does not consider cultural or individual differences.
Study relies on “overused” adoption theory
Based on the service robot acceptance model (sRAM), Fernandes and Oliveira (2021) examine consumer motivations to adopt AI-based digital voice assistants into service encountersService context
Adoption
Functional, social and relational elements are drivers for adoption of AI-based digital voice assistants. Experience has a moderating role on acceptanceConvenience sample focused on young users of the Millennial generation.
Potential inhibitors of acceptance are not included
Based on UTAUT2 and privacy calculus, Vilmakumar et al. (2021) examine the perception of consumers towards privacy concerns and its influence on the adoption of voice based digital assistantsIndian consumer context
Privacy Adoption
Consumer perceived privacy risk does not influence adoption intentions directly but indirectly through trustNo individual consumer variables considered
Limited to Indian consumers
Belanche et al. (2021) validate the humanness-value-loyalty model to examine how a robot’s perceived human likeness, competence and warmth affect service value expectations and loyaltyRestaurant service context
Human likeness Competence
Human likeness positively affects utilitarian, social, monetary and emotional value expectations. Competence influences utilitarian value expectationsLimited to specific service robots within restaurant context

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