Human-Machine Socio-Emotional Relationship Formation and Development

Artificial intelligence (AI) is challenging traditional structures of customer interaction and interfaces, especially within the service sector. Customers increasingly interact with machines that, whilst not human, display intelligence and other human-like behaviors. AI is blurring the distinction between human-human and human-machine touchpoints (De Keyser et al., 2020) and, by adopting the role of an employee, is transforming frontline service encounters (Robinson et al., 2020) This challenges organizational understanding of how customers experience services when interacting with AI agents such as virtual conversational assistants (VCAs). As customers consider AI technologies anthropomorphized entities, marketers use anthropomorphic perspectives to increase their attractiveness (Smith, 2020). However, extant research suggests the effects of anthropomorphism on customer experience are not only controversial but also ambiguous and even contradictory (Uysal et al., 2023). Additionally, research has focused on understanding customers’ perceptions of cognitive and behavioral visual and physical anthropomorphic features with, less attention placed on embedded AI (i.e., VCAs that do not have any physical characteristics). While previous studies have explored physical/sensorial, social/relational, cognitive/mental, affective/emotional and behavioral/pragmatic dimensions of customer experience (Batra, 2018; Bleier et al., 2019; Mende et al., 2019; Nambisan & Watt,2011), there is a need for further investigation into how behavioral, social, and sensorial dimensions interact with cognitive and emotional elements of customer experience (De Keyser et al., 2020; Mahr et al., 2019).The social/relational aspects of customer experiences increases in importance, as humans can form and maintain relationships with AI (Uysal et al., 2022). In a H-H context, humans form emotional relationships with frontline employees after a positive social experience (Croes & Antheunis, 2021). Given that VCAs increasingly have the ability for socially interacting with consumers, it is crucial to study consumers’ social and emotional responses to these VCAs capabilities. To this end, this research examines consumers’ social and motional responses to embedded VCAs as touchpoints. It combines anthropomorphism theory with social exchange theory and gratification theory to understand the positive and negative effects of AI, focusing on the emotional dimension and satisfying psychological and social needs.Adopting a multi-method approach, the research program encompassed three studies including in-depth interviews,text mining of over 12K comments on YouTube videos, and a quantitative survey. Results suggest that anthropomorphic features of VCAs evoke socio-hedonic gratification in customers, which lead to the formation and development of human-machine (H-M) socio-emotional relationships (i.e., emotional affinity and rapport) similar to human-human (H-H) socio-emotional relationships. This research contributes to anthropomorphism theory by introducing the concept of mannerism, a new behavioral anthropomorphic feature. It also contributes to H-M relationship literature responding to calls regarding how AI can be leveraged to build strong relational bonds (Huang & Rust, 2021, p. 45). Finally, this research theorized how cognitive and behavioral anthropomorphic features affect socio-emotional relationship of CX in embedded AI-based service encounters through boosting perceived socio-hedonic gratification; even with the presence of privacy risks and uncertainty in interacting with VCAs.