A new study has found that human attributes, message interactivity and narrativity are optimal for enhancing the persuasiveness of chatbot advertising.

The findings by Yuan Sun, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Advertising assistant professor, Grand Valley State University Assistant Professor Jin Chen and Penn State University Professor of Media Effects S. Shyam Sundar, are featured in “Chatbot Ads with a Human Touch: A Test of Anthropomorphism, Interactivity and Narrativity” published in the Journal of Business Research, Volume 172, February 2024.

According to the authors, “Data reveal that high message interactivity fosters positive attitudes toward the chatbot and the ad by mitigating violated expectancy. Narrative ads promote chatbot advertising through perceived transportation. A three-way interaction revealed that when a chatbot is machine-like in appearance, higher interactivity and adoption of a narrative style of delivery serve to increase ad persuasiveness by heightening social presence.”

They add, “This study contributes to our understanding of the role played by anthropomorphism, message interactivity, and narrative ads in the persuasiveness of chatbot advertising by examining the underlying psychological mechanisms. Our data revealed that two out of the three humanness attributes were optimal for promoting positive attitudes towards the ad: an interactive chatbot with a machine-like profile that engages users in narrative ads may be the best recipe for the success of chatbot advertising. This paves the way for future research to examine the conditions under which the combined effects of various humanness cues of chatbot advertising can produce optimal effects, and when such effects may reach a “plateau” or even become detrimental to achieving advertising objectives.”

Posted: December 19, 2023
Category: AI at CJC News, College News
Tagged as: Advertising, Anthropomorphism, Chatbots, Interactivity, Narrativity, Yuan Sun