Mindful and Mindless Anthropomorphism: How to Facilitate Consumer Comprehension Towards New Products

Mona Seyed Esfahani, Nina Reynolds () and Melanie Ashleigh ()
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Mona Seyed Esfahani: Marketing Communication, Weymouth House W427, Faculty of Media and Communication, Bournemouth University, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB, UK
Nina Reynolds: #x2020;Faculty of Business – School of Management, Operations and Marketing, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave, Wollongong, Australia, NSW 2522, Australia
Melanie Ashleigh: #x2021;Southampton Business School, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK

International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), 2020, vol. 17, issue 03, 1-39

Abstract: Individual’s perception of anthropomorphic platforms in promotion of really new products or novel innovations has not been examined fully. There are contradictions in the academic literature on how various presentations of social cues are perceived by audience mindlessly or mindfully. Perceived mindful and mindless anthropomorphism are explored in this study in order to understand its effect on individuals’ attitude, purchase intention and comprehension of new products. A single factor between-subject design using two innovative products and websites with four levels of social cues (voice, language, interactivity and social role) was used. Five hundred participants took part in the main experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to each experimental group. The analysis indicated that a human-like avatar is preferred by individuals over static avatar and perceived higher mindlessly. Interactive content didn’t improve individuals’ perceived mindless anthropomorphism. There was no significant increase in individuals’ mindful anthropomorphism in any condition. The study indicated perceived mindless anthropomorphism results into better comprehension, attitude and purchase intention towards really new products.

Keywords: Perceived anthropomorphism; innovation; avatars; social cues (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1142/S0219877020500169

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