Social relationship formation with virtual conversational assistants: The roles of anthropomorphism and gratification

Purpose - As virtual conversational assistants (VCAs) become more advanced and prevalent, the nature of interactions is evolving. Drawing on social exchange, anthropomorphism and gratification theories, this paper offers theoretical and empirical insights to increase understanding of human-machine (H-M) interactions. More specifically, this research examines the effect of users anthropomorphising a device (i.e., imbuing it with nonphysical behavioural and cognitive features) on H-M social relationship formation.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors employ a literature review, thematic content analysis of 31 semi-structured in-depth interviews, expert evaluation from 11 academics and three separate surveys (n=512, n=300, n=297) to validate and test the proposed effects.

Findings - Results indicate that users assigning cognitive and behavioural anthropomorphic features to VCAs experience different types of gratification. When users anthropomorphise their VCA interactions provoke hedonic and social gratification, stronger emotional connections (affinity and rapport) and feelings of friendship, as distinct from para-friendship.

Practical implications – Findings support the development of relationships between VCAs and users, meaning the adoption of VCAs by service managers is encouraged. VCAs appear to offer the social and hedonic gratification that brands often strive for. For VCA designers, findings support extending traditional anthropomorphic design to add behavioural and/or cognitive components, with the goal of triggering social and hedonic gratification from users. Finally, friendship has been linked with improvements in well-being, meaning VCAs could be a cost-effective alternative in health and social care domains.

Originality/Value - This research contributes to the H-M social relationship literature by demonstrating that cognitive and behavioural anthropomorphism influence the formation of feelings of real friendship with machines/VCAs (compared to para-friendship). This occurs via the mediating mechanisms of social and hedonic gratification and emotional connection (affinity and rapport). This extends the unidimensional model of anthropomorphism and highlights a new relational context for gratification, positioning it as a possible addition to the traditional relationship marketing framework of commitment and trust (and satisfaction).