Background: Chatbots are increasingly used to support COVID-19 vaccination programs. Their persuasiveness may depend on the conversation-related context. Objective: This study aims to investigate the moderating role of the conversation quality and chatbot expertise cues in the effects of expressing empathy/autonomy support using COVID-19 vaccination chatbots. Methods: This experiment with 196 Dutch-speaking adults living in Belgium, who engaged in a conversation with a chatbot providing vaccination information, used a 2 (empathy/autonomy support expression: present vs absent) × 2 (chatbot expertise cues: expert endorser vs layperson endorser) between-subject design. Chatbot conversation quality was assessed through actual conversation logs. Perceived user autonomy (PUA), chatbot patronage intention (CPI), and vaccination intention shift (VIS) were measured after the conversation, coded from 1 to 5 (PUA, CPI) and from –5 to 5 (VIS). Results: There was a negative interaction effect of chatbot empathy/autonomy support expression and conversation fallback (CF; the percentage of chatbot answers “I do not understand” in a conversation) on PUA (PROCESS macro, model 1, B=–3.358, SE 1.235, t186=2.718, P=.007). Specifically, empathy/autonomy support expression had a more negative effect on PUA when the CF was higher (conditional effect of empathy/autonomy support expression at the CF level of +1SD: B=–.405, SE 0.158, t186=2.564, P=.011; conditional effects nonsignificant for the mean level: B=–0.103, SE 0.113, t186=0.914, P=.36; conditional effects nonsignificant for the –1SD level: B=0.031, SE=0.123, t186=0.252, P=.80). Moreover, an indirect effect of empathy/autonomy support expression on CPI via PUA was more negative when CF was higher (PROCESS macro, model 7, 5000 bootstrap samples, moderated mediation index=–3.676, BootSE 1.614, 95% CI –6.697 to –0.102; conditional indirect effect at the CF level of +1SD: B=–0.443, BootSE 0.202, 95% CI –0.809 to –0.005; conditional indirect effects nonsignificant for the mean level: B=–0.113, BootSE 0.124, 95% CI –0.346 to 0.137; conditional indirect effects nonsignificant for the –1SD level: B=0.034, BootSE 0.132, 95% CI –0.224 to 0.305). Indirect effects of empathy/autonomy support expression on VIS via PUA were marginally more negative when CF was higher. No effects of chatbot expertise cues were found. Conclusions: The findings suggest that expressing empathy/autonomy support using a chatbot may harm its evaluation and persuasiveness when the chatbot fails to answer its users’ questions. The paper adds to the literature on vaccination chatbots by exploring the conditional effects of chatbot empathy/autonomy support expression. The results will guide policy makers and chatbot developers dealing with vaccination promotion in designing the way chatbots express their empathy and support for user autonomy.

Previous studies reveal the limited effectiveness of benefit-based and hedonic-based product recommendations provided by online recommenders, and recommender anthropomorphism is considered a remedy. This paper aims to investigate the positive effect of anthropomorphism by involving the online recommender’s perceived ability to learn as a mediator. Based on schema congruity theory, perceived benefit/hedonic appeals appropriateness is considered a dependent variable. In Study 1, subtle anthropomorphic cues within an online recommender had a positive effect on perceived benefit-appeals appropriateness through the perceived ability to learn. Study 2 demonstrated the positive relationship between perceived anthropomorphism and perceived hedonic-appeal appropriateness, with the mediating role of the perceived ability to learn. The results advance the knowledge about consumer response to online recommenders from the perspective of anthropomorphism and schema congruity theory. Marketers and consumer organizations are advised on how to deal with online recommender systems providing benefit and hedonic appeals.

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the effect of product-related description abstractness/concreteness on perceived trustworthiness and the role of consumer product expertise and shopping-stage mindset in the persuasiveness of abstract vs concrete product descriptions. Design/methodology/approach: Two online experiments were conducted: Study 1 (description abstractness – manipulated between-subject; consumer product expertise, perceived trustworthiness, purchase intent – measured), Study 2 (consumer shopping-stage mindset – manipulated between-subject; description abstractness – manipulated within-subject; consumer product expertise, perceived trustworthiness, abstract/concrete description preference – measured). Findings: The negative effect of the abstractness (abstract descriptions vs the ones supplemented with relevant product details) on description trustworthiness was evidenced in Study 1. Trustworthiness was positively related to purchase intent, especially for high product expertise. Study 2 replicated the effect of product description abstractness on its trustworthiness in terms of two other forms of abstractness (abstract descriptions vs the ones supplemented with irrelevant product details and product benefits vs attributes). The goal-oriented (vs comparative) mindset had a positive effect on the benefit (vs attribute) description preference, especially for high product expertise. Practical implications: For marketers, the results suggest the positive consequences of presenting concrete information on product attributes and the conditions enhancing the effectiveness of presenting product benefits. Originality/value: The paper integrates the existing views on consumer response to abstract vs concrete information (lexical abstractness/concreteness, means-end chain theory) and links them to consumer product expertise and shopping-stage mindset.

The paper aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and possible future global epidemic events on shopping behavioral patterns. Specifically, the paper investigates consumer pandemic-related isolation behavior (which manifests itself via preference for shopping without leaving home, and avoiding contact with other people while shopping offline) as a consequence of consumer interdependent self-construal, with the mediating role of consumer pandemic-related emotions of disgust, fear for oneself, fear for others, and sadness. The results of two surveys conducted in different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland (October 2020, and January 2021, respectively) suggest two opposing indirect effects of interdependent self-construal on isolation behavior: a positive effect through disgust, and a negative effect through sadness. Additionally, a positive indirect effect through fear was visible in the second study. Moreover, two dimensions of interdependent self-construal (i.e., vertical and horizontal) are demonstrated to have opposing effects (a positive effect and a negative one, respectively) on pandemic-related disgust, and in turn on isolation behavior. The above results indicate that, in the context of the pandemic, consumer self-construal influences pandemic-related emotions, and in turn consumers’ tendency to isolate themselves. Implications for marketers and society were discussed from the perspective of economic and sustainability goals.