似人不是人？聊天機器人之性別特徵、對話風格與表情符號透過知覺擬人化影響購買意圖機制之研究

Just Human-Like! Gender, Conversation Styles and Emojis in the Perceived Anthropomorphism of Chatbots and Purchase Intention

本研究探討聊天機器人不採用人類外觀圖像時，聊天機器人知覺擬人化的關鍵因素在於性別、對話風格以及表情符號的使用搭配，而知覺擬人化與社會臨場感的機制將進一步的影響消費者購買意圖。本研究共執行三個組間實驗，實驗結果發現，性別特徵並無法有效提升知覺擬人化，但相較能力對話風格，溫暖對話風格有較高的知覺擬人化。若再進一步的加入表情符號的使用，聊天機器人性別為女性時，相較未使用表情符號，使用表情符號的溫暖對話風格會有較高的知覺擬人化；但為男性時，使用表情符號加上能力的對話風格要比未使用表情符號有較高的知覺擬人化。此外，本研究也證實了知覺擬人化與社會臨場感的序列中介效果，意即，聊天機器人性別、對話風格與表情符號的搭配需透過知覺擬人化與社會臨場感才能影響購買意圖。本研究的發現也能提供給業者許多的實質建議。

This study investigates key factors in the perceived anthropomorphism of a chatbot via gender, conversation style and emoji use. Perceived anthropomorphism and social presence are the mechanisms by which chatbots influence consumers’purchase intentions. Three between-subject experiments were performed to test the research arguments. The results confirmed that gender features alone do not increase perceived anthropomorphism; however, a warm conversation style was more closely associated with higher perceived anthropomorphism. Moreover, in terms of the moderating effect of emoji use, when the chatbot is perceived as female, compared with not using emoji, the warm conversation style with emoji use will increase perceived anthropomorphism. In contrast, when the chatbot’s gender is male, using emojis with a competence style elicits higher perceived anthropomorphism than those that do not use emojis. In addition, experiments confirmed a series mediation effect from perceived anthropomorphism and social presence. That is, the interaction effect of gender features, conversation styles, and emoji use influence behavioral intention through perceived anthropomorphism and social presence. The findings of this study have several valuable implications for marketing professionals and chatbot developers.