Percorrer por autor "Cicco, Roberta De"
A mostrar 1 - 9 de 9
Resultados por página
Opções de ordenação
- How gamifying AI shapes customer motivation, engagement, and purchase behaviorPublication . Elmashhara, Maher Georges; Cicco, Roberta De; Silva, Susana C.; Hammerschmidt, Maik; Silva, Maria LeviRecently, firms started to gamify conversational artificial intelligence (AI) agents, such as chatbots, to improve purchase outcomes. This article explores strategies for incorporating gamification into AI systems by investigating the impact of utilitarian and hedonic motivations facilitated by gamified chatbots on various dimensions of customer engagement (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral), as well as the subsequent effects of these dimensions on customers' purchase behavior. By conducting one cross-sectional and two experimental studies involving real interactions with gamified chatbots, this research identifies two crucial paths that warrant attention: an optimal path from hedonic motivation to behavioral engagement, resulting in enhanced purchase, and a detrimental path from utilitarian motivation to emotional engagement, which reduces purchase. Furthermore, the research compares the effects of two types of gamified chatbots and reveals that a game-of-chance-based chatbot, as opposed to a knowledge-sharing gamified chatbot, aligns with the optimal path, leading to higher purchasing while at the same time avoiding that customers feel obligated to play the game. Based on these findings, the article provides actionable insights for eliciting favorable psychological and behavioral responses through gamified AI interactions.
- The impact of providing non-human identity cues about sales agents on consumer responses: the role of social presence and speciesism activationPublication . Cicco, Roberta De; Elmashhara, Maher Georges; Silva, Susana C.; Hammerschmidt, MaikPurpose This work investigates how different strategies for providing cues about the non-human identity of a sales agent influence consumers’ perceptions and purchase-related outcomes, and how a social interaction style shapes these responses. Additionally, the authors explore the role of consumers’ speciesism against non-human entities in eliciting unfavourable responses to the disclosure of the agent’s artificial nature. Design/methodology/approach Three experimental studies were conducted using real chatbot interactions. Study 1 investigates how non-human identity cues impact consumer trust and, subsequently, attitude towards the firm and intention to purchase the product offered. Study 2 tests these effects across different levels of social presence. Study 3 examines consumer responses to different non-human identity disclosure strategies, considering speciesism’s moderating role. Findings Study 1 proves that disclosing (vs not disclosing) the artificial nature of a sales agent leads to a decline in trust towards the firm, which in turn negatively influences both attitude towards the firm and purchase intention. This finding reveals discrimination against disclosed (vs non-disclosed) artificial sales agents despite identical, flawless performance. However, Study 2 proves that the negative effects vanish when perceived social presence is high. Study 3 underlines that high speciesism leads to a trust decline if non-human identity cues are presented during the interaction but not if presented earlier in the journey before the interaction. Research limitations/implications The study highlights the negative effects of disclosure on important, firm-related outcomes. These insights advance current literature by showing that disclosing cues about the non-human nature of a sales agent can undermine psychological and behavioural responses–even when the disclosed agent performs just as effectively as its undisclosed counterpart. This result is noteworthy, as most prior research has linked aversive reactions to artificial agents with situations in which algorithms underperform, whereas this study examines agents that function flawlessly. Furthermore, the study reveals that these adverse effects are driven by speciesism–prejudices against non-human entities–offering a novel explanation for consumers’ negative responses. Practical implications The findings stress that transparency about the artificial nature of sales agents is penalised by customers and comes at a high cost for business-relevant outcomes. However, by transforming an artificial agent into a social actor through subtle design modifications, firms can overcome the unfavourable prejudice against artificial agents. By creating a social appearance, firms can harness the potential of automated sales services–even when disclosure of the agent’s artificial identity is required. As firms may soon be obliged to disclose the artificial identity of their sales agents, the critical question shifts from whether to disclose to how to disclose in order to mitigate negative consequences. Finally, we offer guidance on targeting the right consumers with artificial agents–specifically, those with lower levels of speciesism-related prejudices. Originality/value This work addresses pressing issues for managers concerned with the implementation of artificial sales agents. Results extend knowledge on speciesism towards digital agents, inform which consumers are particularly prone to respond negatively to such agents, and present levers for designing chat-based social interactions that prevent non-human-related prejudices that could undermine the effectiveness of conversational technologies.
- Is the united intelligence response, the end of speciesism and the emergence of new avatarism?Publication . Silva, Susana C.; Stibe, Agnis; Cicco, Roberta DeWith the advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) research, the "algorithm aversion" concept has become evident, referring to situations in which an algorithm consistently beats human judgment, despite people's preference for interaction with humans. Moreover, another idea following this one emerged: the concept of "uncanny valley" referring to people feeling comfortable dealing with AI for solving more cognitive-oriented tasks and less prone to condescend to, share feelings with, and feel less proximity to it, for more emotional experiences. Despite this visible aversion but apparent reliability in AI mechanisms, the truth is that AI seems to be inescapable in different fields, inclusively in the interaction with the public. Thus, it is probably time to ask ourselves if living along with these forms of intelligence is not inevitable, with full respect for each other's idiosyncrasies. And, if it is not about time either to start foreseeing the world as a place where a united intelligence response would eventually emerge and give space for a new avatarism era. This manuscript aims to start immersing in this quest.
- Millennials' attitude toward chatbots: an experimental study in a social relationship perspectivePublication . Cicco, Roberta De; Silva, Susana Costa e; Alparone, Francesca RomanaPurpose – Chatbots represent an innovative channel for retailers tomeet young customers’ needs anywhere and at any time. Being an emergent technology, however, it is important to investigate more thoroughly how users perceive it, and which are the variables that enhance a positive attitude towards this technology. On this premise, this study applies a social relationship perspective to the design of chatbots addressed to younger consumers. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts a between-participants factorial design to investigate the effects of visual cues (avatar presence vs avatar absence) and interaction styles (social-oriented vs taskoriented) on social presence and how this, in turn, enhances millennials’ perceived enjoyment, trust and, ultimately, attitude towards the chatbot. A survey experiment was employed to conduct the study on data collected from 193 Italian millennials. Findings – The results show that applying a social-oriented interaction style increases users’ perception of social presence, while an insignificant effect was found for avatar presence. The partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis further confirms the hypothesised model. Originality/value – The adoption of new digital technologies such as chatbots is likely to have a far reaching effect on retailers, consumers, employees and society. For this reason, a broad understanding of the phenomenon is needed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to provide results from an experimental design in which both interaction style (social- vs task-oriented) and avatar (presence vs absence) of a chatbot are manipulated to directly explore social presence and its effect on trust, perceived enjoyment and millennials’ attitude towards a chatbot applied for retailing purposes.
- Revolutionizing customer engagement via gamified chatbots: a paradigm shiftPublication . Elmashhara, Maher Georges; Cicco, Roberta De; Silva, Susana C.; Hammerschmidt, Maik; Silva, Maria LeviIn today’s fast-paced marketplace, companies are using AI, particularly chatbots, to enhance customer experiences and boost sales. Despite advancements, many consumers are still hesitant to use chatbots for purchases, often abandoning them after initial interactions. To address this, businesses are adding gamification elements like rewards and discounts to chatbot interactions. This research examines how gamified chatbots influence customer engagement and sales, focusing on two motivations: utilitarian (practical) and hedonic (pleasure-based). Through three empirical studies, the findings reveal that emotional engagement can decrease purchase intent for utilitarian motivations, while hedonic motivation more effectively drives purchases. Different types of gamification, such as knowledge-based and chance-based rewards, also affect buying behavior. The study highlights the importance of consumer autonomy, showing that chatbots with chance-based rewards are more effective. These insights help businesses improve engagement and sales through gamified chatbot strategies.
- Should a chatbot disclose itself? Implications for an online conversational retailerPublication . Cicco, Roberta De; Silva, Susana Cristina Lima da Costa e; Palumbo, RiccardoToday many consumers prefer interactions with companies via chat and instant messaging, however, although in most cases it is now a virtual agent to handle the interactions, many of them feel it would be eerie if a chatbot pretended to be human. The present study aims at disentangling this sort of ambivalence people have for chatbots through an investigation on how the explicit disclosure of the chatbot identity, before the interaction, influences consumers’ perceptions. Specifically, this study compares the effects that the explicit disclosure of the chatbot identity has on social presence trust and users’ attitudes toward the online retailer. Findings from an online experiment with 160 participants show that interacting with the chatbot whose identity has been primed through a disclosure leads to less perceived social presence, trust, and attitude toward the online retailer, compared to interacting with the chatbot whose identity has not been disclosed before the interaction. The study further analyses a causal chain among the variables, proving that social presence and trust mediate the relationship between the chatbot identity disclosure and the attitude toward the online retailer.
- Using chatbots in e-retailing: how to mitigate perceived risk and enhance the flow experiencePublication . Silva, Susana C.; Cicco, Roberta De; Vlačić, Božidar; Elmashhara, Maher GeorgesPurpose: Chatbots represent an undeniable player between online retailers and customers as they boost operational efficiency and bring cost savings to businesses while offering convenience for customers in terms of timing and immediacy. However, as chatbots represent a new-born online touchpoint in retailing, especially when it comes to online pre-purchase and purchase experience, this study examines whether and how effort expectation, facilitating condition, performance expectancy, social influence, trust, perceived risk and flow affect consumers' intention to use chatbots for online shopping. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 226 respondents participated in an online survey. Participants were asked to try a new online service and interact with a chatbot designed using Chatfuel, a platform within the Facebook Messenger setting. Structural equation modelling was used to test the proposed research model regarding the intention to use chatbots. Findings: This study discusses the importance of offering useful and trustworthy conversational agents for online shopping and argues and explains the insignificant paths amongst other studied factors and intention to use chatbots concluding with the need to explore more drivers for such contemporary technologies. Moreover, the findings indicate that trust turns out to be an important predictor of behavioural intention towards chatbots, in addition to its role in mitigating perceived risk and enhancing flow experience. Originality/value: Given the lack of empirical evidence related to chatbots applied for business purposes, this paper fills a gap in this research field and provides a deeper understanding of what leverages consumers' intention to use chatbots for online shopping.
- Value creation in gamified chatbot interactions and its impact on brand engagementPublication . Silva, Susana C.; Cicco, Roberta De; Levi, Maria; Hammerschmidt, MaikGamification is a powerful instrument to motivate consumers to intensify their brand relationships. Though this potential, the effects of enriching chatbot interactions with gameful experiences on brand engagement has not been studied. To fill this gap, this study tries to understand how gamification contributes to customers’ value creation in a gamified conversational context and how this value creation relates to brand engagement. Specifically, we investigate whether and to what extent the hedonic and utilitarian values provided in interactions with gamified chatbots affect cognitive, emotional, and behavioral brand engagement. Based on an empirical study involving a fully functional gamified chatbot, we show that the perceived hedonic value has a major impact on all three brand engagement dimensions, and especially the cognitive dimension. Utilitarian values, though not related to the cognitive dimension of brand engagement, significantly boost the emotional and the behavioral engagement dimensions. These findings point to the potentials of extrinsic and utilitarian motivations for boosting brand engagement also in entertainment-oriented settings like gamified chatbot interactions.
- What kind of Chatbot do Millennials prefer to interact with? The role of Communication Style and Avatar in predicting Millennials' Intention to use ChatbotsPublication . Cicco, Roberta De; Silva, Susana Cristina Lima da Costa e; Alparone, Francesca RomanaBeing a relatively new digital platform, perfectly meshing with the way in which young consumers socially interact with the world, chatbots’ perceptions knowledge turns out to be a key factor to address business efforts in enhancing young customers experience with companies’ technologies. This study applies a between-participants factorial design to explore the extent to which the conversational style (social-oriented vs task-oriented) and the visual cue (avatar presence vs avatar absence), influence perceived social presence of the interaction with the chatbot and how this perception, in turn, influences the Millennials’ intention to adopt them. To conduct the study, a survey method was employed, and data were collected from a snowball sample of 193 Millennials. Findings from the study reveal that a social-oriented communication style increases users’ perception of social presence, which in turn predicts the intention to use it via perceived enjoyment and attitude toward the chatbot.