Voice Commerce: Anthropomorphism Using Voice Assistants

Voice assistants comprehend and use complex natural language and have become more pervasive in people's homes. Many effects of these technologies on consumer behaviour and their implications for manufacturers and businesses are still unexplored in literature. This paper aims to understand the impact of anthropomorphism on consumer attitudes and behavioural intentions. More specifically, the paper intends to investigate 1) whether and 2) how anthropomorphism in voice assistants influences the manner consumers evaluate products and establish purchase intentions when shopping with voice assistants. Hence, the paper concludes that anthropomorphism plays a notable role in changing the consumer's attitude and behavioural intentions. However, its impact could be easily manipulated by other technical constraints such as interaction fluency, intent classification, lack of visual display etc. Multiple interpretation attempts are presented and possible implications for manufacturers and e-retailers discussed.