Search

Research on the Impact of Anthropomorphism on User Engagement: Using Meta-Human as an Example

Author(s)

Zhifang Han

Affiliation(s)

School of Economics and Management, North China University of Technology, Beijing, China

Abstract

It has been demonstrated that user engagement is a useful predictor of a company's financial performance. As a result, marketers are engaging in the investigation of all kinds of innovative strategies for the improvement of user engagement. In light of the aforementioned considerations, this paper employs the emerging technology of meta-human as a starting point of investigation, with the objective of illustrating the process in which different categories of anthropomorphism influence user engagement, and the conditions that constrain this phenomenon. The findings indicated that both human nature traits and uniquely human traits can have a positive influence on user engagement, with affective presence exerts a partial mediating effect on the relationship between human nature traits and user engagement, and cognitive presence exerts the same influence between uniquely human traits and user engagement. Additionally, the study validated the moderating role of application scenarios in the process of anthropomorphism affecting social presence. These findings will not only enhance the comprehension of anthropomorphism in future research, but also furnish enterprises with direction on how to incorporate anthropomorphism in different scenarios.

Keywords

Anthropomorphism; User Engagement; Social Presence; Application Scenarios; Meta-Human

References

[1] Asante I O, Fang J, Darko D F. Consequences of Consumer Engagement on the Performance of E-Commerce Firms in Ghana: Moderating Effects of Consumer-owned Resources. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 2020, 30(5): 403-407. [2] Abou-Shouk M, Soliman M. The Impact of Gamification Adoption Intention on Brand Awareness and Loyalty in Tourism: The Mediating Effect of Customer Engagement. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 2021, 20(2): 100559. [3] Read W, Robertson N, McQuilken L, et al. Consumer Engagement on Twitter: Perceptions of the Brand Matter . European Journal of Marketing, 2019, 53(9): 1905-1933. [4] Epley N, Waytz A, Cacioppo J. On Seeing Human: a Three-factor Theory of Anthropomorphism. Psychological Review, 2007, 114(4): 864-886. [5] Huang Minxue, Lv Linxiang, Mao Wenxuan The Interactive Influence of Service Robot Personification Strategy and Consumption Task Types: A Dual Trust Perspective Journal of Marketing Science, 2023, 3(2): 115-136. [6] Yang L W, Aggarwal P, McGill A L. The 3 Cs of Anthropomorphism: Connection, Comprehension, and Competition. Consumer Psychology Review, 2020, 3(1): 3-19. [7] Waytz A, Epley N, Cacioppo J T. Social Cognition Unbound: Insights into Anthropomorphism and Dehumanization. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2010, 19(1): 58-62. [8] Moriuchi E. An Empirical Study on Anthropomorphism and Engagement with Disembodied AIs and Consumers Re-use Behavior. Psychology & Marketing, 2021, 38(1): 21-42. [9] Short J, Williams E, Christie B. The Social Psychology of Telecommunications. Wiley, 1976. [10] Shen K, Khalifa M. Exploring Multidimensional Conceptualization of Social Presence in the Context of Online Communities. International Journal of Human–computer Interaction, 2008, 24: 722-748. [11] Madrid H P. Leader Affective Presence and Feedback in Teams. Frontiers in Psychology, 2020, 11: 705. [12] Madrid H P, Vasquez C A, Escaffi‐Schwarz M. Leader Affective Presence, Psychological Safety and Team Proactive Problem Prevention. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 2023, 97(2): 1-20. [13] Jiang J, Dong Y, Li B, et al. Do Feelings Matter? The Effect of Leader Affective Presence on Employee Proactive Customer Service Performance. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 2020, 32(7): 2305-2323. [14] Liu Z, Kong X, Liu S, et al. Looking at MOOC Discussion Data to Uncover the Relationship between Discussion Pacings, Learners’ Cognitive Presence and Learning Achievements. Education and Information Technologies, 2022, 27(6): 8265-8288. [15] Mahajan N, Wynn K. Origins of “Us” versus “Them”: Prelinguistic Infants Prefer Similar Others. Cognition, 2012, 124: 227–233. [16] Doo M A-O, Bonk C J, Heo H. Examinations of the Relationships between Self-efficacy, Self-regulation, Teaching, Cognitive Presences, and Learning Engagement during COVID-19. Educational Technology Research and Development, 2023, 71(2): 481-504. [17] Yu Yiqi, Feng Yu, Gai Jia Consumers' Luck Perception and Relative Preference for Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Services in Uncertain Situations Nankai Management Review, 2022, 25 (4): 155-167+177. [18] Haslam N. Dehumanization: An Integrative Review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2006, 10(3): 252-264. [19] Chang C-M, Hsu M-H. Understanding the Determinants of Users’ Subjective Well-being in Social Networking Sites: an Integration of Social Capital Theory and Social Presence Theory. Behaviour and Information Technology, 2016, 35: 1-10. [20] Vander Schee B, Peltier J, Dahl A. Antecedent Consumer Factors, Consequential Branding Outcomes and Measures of Online Consumer Engagement: Current Research and Future Directions. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 2020, 14(2): 239-268.