Anthropomorphism in Artificial Intelligence: A Review of Empirical Work Across Domains and Insights for Future Research

Anthropomorphism in AI-powered devices is being used increasingly frequently in consumer-facing situations (e.g., Artificial Intelligence Assistants such as Alexa, virtual agents in websites, call/chat bots, etc.) and therefore it is essential to understand anthropomorphism in AI both to understand consequences for consumers and to optimize firms’ product development and marketing. Extant literature is fragmented across several domains and is limited in the marketing domain. In this review, we aim to bring together the insights from different fields and develop a parsimonious conceptual framework to guide future research in fields of marketing and consumer behavior.