The Role of Materialism and Social Judgment in Human-Chatbot Service Interactions

Purpose: Chatbots are increasingly deployed in services and marketing applications, although they are often met with scepticism. To explore how such scepticism can be reduced, this study aims to examine how materialism and social judgment influence human–chatbot interactions. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conduct one pre-test, two laboratory experiments and one simulated study conducted in the field, to test the premises. Findings: The studies show that when material pursuit is guided by positive (negative) values, subjects prefer a chatbot that is perceived warm (competent) versus perceived competent (warm). This, in turn, leads to favourable purchase decisions for services with perceived homophily mediating this effect. Research limitations/implications: The work addresses the call for more research on how human–robot interactions can be improved applied to a services context. While the findings are novel, they are not without limitations which in turn lay a path for future research. Practical implications: The findings have implications for driving more strategic value out of how marketing and service managers can improve the interface design in human–chatbot interactions. Originality/value: The propositions demonstrate a novel framing in suggesting that positive (vs negative) values underpinning material pursuit can lead to a preference for perceived warm (vs competent) chatbots, which further guide favourable decision-making.