Virtual agents in retail web sites: Benefits of simulated social interaction for older users

Chattaraman, Veena; Kwon, Wi‐Suk; Gilbert, Juan E.

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.06.009

Cited by 102 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…It has also been suggested that the integration of talking avatars in online stores can help resolve the lack of social cues in e-commerce sites [4][5][6][7].…”

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confidence: 99%

Exploring the effects of a non-interactive talking avatar on social presence, credibility, trust, and patronage intention in an e-commerce website

Liew

Tan

Ismail

2017

Hum. Cent. Comput. Inf. Sci.

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While prior research has examined the effects of interactive e-commerce avatars that simulate the roles of virtual assistants and recommender agents, there is lack of empirical study that investigates the effects of non-interactive talking avatars in e-commerce. This is unfortunate, as many websites today utilize non-interactive talking avatars that provide one-way dialogue in the forms of greetings, introduction of the company, and description of products and services offered. To bridge this gap, our study aims to investigate the effects of non-interactive talking avatar on perceptions of social presence, credibility, website trust, and patronage intention in an online store. Comparing between the experimental (website with avatar) and control (website without avatar) conditions, the experimental results showed that perceived social presence was significantly enhanced by the presence of the non-interactive talking avatar. Furthermore, the presence of the avatar had positive effects on website trust and patronage intention among male participants; but had negative effects on perceptions of information credibility and website patronage intention among females. Analysis based on participants’ comments suggests that females were more critical towards certain shortcomings of the non-interactive talking avatar; citing limited interactivity and artificial dialogue from text-to-speech engine. Additionally, the comment analysis suggests that females preferred processing textual over auditory information (as spoken by the avatar) about the products in the online store. Theoretical and managerial implications related to non-interactive talking avatars are discussed in this paper.

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“…It has also been suggested that the integration of talking avatars in online stores can help resolve the lack of social cues in e-commerce sites [4][5][6][7].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the effects of a non-interactive talking avatar on social presence, credibility, trust, and patronage intention in an e-commerce website

Liew

Tan

Ismail

2017

Hum. Cent. Comput. Inf. Sci.

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“…Truel et al (2013) discuss live chat technology that allows website users to seek 'service related information' from a real human representative who provide answers through the synchronous media (Truel;Connelly, 2013). Additionally, Chattaraman et al (2012) highlight three key purposes of live chat technology, firstly to serve as a search support function, secondly to serve as a basic decision support function and thirdly to serve as a navigational/procedural support function. Such support as highlighted by Tombs and McColl-Kennedy (2003) is often required in the offline environment and subsequently has an effect on the customer's experience.…”

Section: Customer Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolving the online customer experience … is there a role for online customer support?

McLean

Wilson

2016

Computers in Human Behavior

116

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This paper explores the online customer experience (OCE) in relation to a utilitarian search for government provided business support services. The aim of this research is to understand the variables that can influence customers searching for business support services online and to explore the potential role of online customer support via social interaction during a customer's online experience. Through the use of indepth interviews and structural equation modeling, this study establishes a theoretical framework outlining the variables that have the potential to influence the online customer experience within the business support environment. This paper provides further theoretical understanding of the OCE through the introduction of information quality, website credibility and the length of time spent on the website, as variables influencing the OCE. In addition, this paper establishes the need for online customer support during a utilitarian search for business support information and services.

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confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, the authors found that taskoriented communications is more effective for search goods/services (books), whereas socialoriented communication style contributes more to credence goods/services (insurance). The purpose of the current study was: 1) to examine effectiveness of social-and task-oriented interaction styles for older consumers and 2) to examine the moderating role of gender on the effects of social vs. task-oriented interactional style.Older users experience greater distrust and need greater social support, social presence, and interaction in online transactions than do their younger counterparts (Chattaraman et al, 2012). Relational intelligence has been defined as "knowledge of when and how to use language to achieve social goals" (Bickmore & Cassell, 2001, p. 402).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Interaction Style of Virtual Shopping Agents: Effects on Social Presence and Older Consumers’ Experience in E-tail Sites

Chattaraman¹,

Kwon

Gilbert

2013

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A growing stream of research has emphasized the important role played by virtual shopping agents in consumer experience in e-tail environments, particularly in the context of older consumers (Chattaraman et al., 2012). In a recent study, Keeling et al. (2010) found that style of agent communication (task-vs. social-oriented) is an important factor influencing user trust and patronage intention for online shopping. Specifically, the authors found that taskoriented communications is more effective for search goods/services (books), whereas socialoriented communication style contributes more to credence goods/services (insurance). The purpose of the current study was: 1) to examine effectiveness of social-and task-oriented interaction styles for older consumers and 2) to examine the moderating role of gender on the effects of social vs. task-oriented interactional style.Older users experience greater distrust and need greater social support, social presence, and interaction in online transactions than do their younger counterparts (Chattaraman et al., 2012). Relational intelligence has been defined as "knowledge of when and how to use language to achieve social goals" (Bickmore & Cassell, 2001, p. 402). It has been argued that relational conversational strategies that employ social dialogue and small talk go a long way in building trust in agent-based interfaces (Bickmore & Cassell, 2001). The task-oriented functional approach to conversation offers an alternative strategy to the socially-oriented relational approach. Studies have indicated that task-oriented functional dialog requires higher cognitive load than socially-oriented relational dialog (Bickmore & Cassell, 2005). However, an important aspect that remains to be explored is whether gender plays a moderating role on the effects of social-versus task-oriented interactional style. This study hypothesizes the following: Older users will experience greater social presence in the e-tail site for social-rather than task-oriented agent interaction style (H1), and this effect will be mediated by perceptions of the agent's engagement (H2). Social presence will positively influence older consumers' trust (H3a), social support (H3b), and perceived interactivity (H3c) in the e-tail site. Older users will have greater patronage intent for an e-tail site with social rather than task-oriented agent interaction style (H4), and this effect will be moderated by gender such that the effects of interaction style on purchase intent will be stronger for females than males (H5).The virtual agent was created using SitePal and employed in a mock e-tail site modeled similar to Amazon.com. A laboratory experiment was conducted with a 2-condition (social-vs. task-oriented interactions) between-subjects design, manipulated through the use of small talk in context to the task. A total of 114 (male = 54, female = 60) older consumers (61-86 years old, M = 71.2) participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to a condition and performed the task of purchasing a pair of ath...

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Virtual agents in retail web sites: Benefits of simulated social interaction for older users

Cited by 102 publications

References 58 publications

Exploring the effects of a non-interactive talking avatar on social presence, credibility, trust, and patronage intention in an e-commerce website

Exploring the effects of a non-interactive talking avatar on social presence, credibility, trust, and patronage intention in an e-commerce website

Evolving the online customer experience … is there a role for online customer support?

Interaction Style of Virtual Shopping Agents: Effects on Social Presence and Older Consumers’ Experience in E-tail Sites

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