The market of digital voice has grown significantly over the recent years. Big players like Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Samsung are focusing on the development and expansion of their assistants. Especially smart speakers are on the rise but also in smartphone integrated voice applications are getting more popular. The main characteristics of this new technology are both elements of human-computerinteraction and especially the attribution of human characteristics. Although there is an increase of the number of current users as well as of consumers intending to use digital voice assistants in the future, drivers and barriers of digital voice assistants have not yet been sufficiently empirically investigated, especially concerning the phenomenon of anthropomorphism. This study points to additional key factors that are important to foster broader acceptance. Our empirical study is based on the UTAUT2 and highlights the importance of anthropomorphism in relation to other determinants known from the literature.

No abstract

ESports is a rising phenomenon that attracts followers worldwide. Recently, big eSports events are hosted regularly as a counterpart to the "traditional" online streams. However, the differences between offline and online consumption have not been scientifically addressed. Based on the Motivation Scale for Sports Consumption (MSSC), on-site visitors and stream followers (N = 637) of a big eSports event were surveyed. By analyzing the motives for eSports consumption of these two groups, insights about users following one specific broadcast form were derived and success factors (e.g. intention to visit) were assessed. While on-site attendees are motivated by social aspects, online participants seek knowledge gain and are interested in details of the gameplay. Escape and drama motivation are equally important for both groups. The findings give new insights in the field of eSports and help practitioners develop live experiences of eSports online as well as offline.

To distinguish from other competitors, companies have to establish good quality and price but also an excellent service policy. Especially the after-sales service should guarantee that customers having problems are supported and satisfied. Following, good complaint management is important. With the increase of economically profitable chatbots, there is a possibility to provide a 24/7 service to customers. To investigate what kind of chatbot avatar, which compensation, and what kind of reaction lead to a higher behavioral intention, a 2x2x2 between-subject design was conducted (N=389). The results show that the choice of the avatar, the reaction, as well as the compensation, play a decisive role in influencing user behavior and, thus, increase the probability that the customer, despite a complaint, returns and buys again from the retailer. Further, the behavioral intention can be explained by the mediating influences of anthropomorphism and the evaluation of redress.

No abstract