"That is what we found in a study of consumer habits when it comes to products that traditionally have come with a degree of embarrassment-think acne cream, diarrhea medication, adult sex toys, or personal lubricant. While brands may assume consumers hate chatbots, our series of studies involving more than 6,000 participants found a clear pattern: When it comes to purchases that make people feel embarrassed, consumers prefer chatbots over human service reps."
"The medications were packaged identically, with the only difference being their labels for "diarrhea" or "hay fever." More than 80% of consumers looking for diarrhea treatment preferred a store with a clearly nonhuman chatbot. In comparison, just 9% of those shopping for hay fever medication preferred nonhuman chatbots. This is because, participants told us, they did not think chatbots have "minds"-that is, the ability to judge or feel."
"Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: an online drugstore with a human service rep, the same store with a humanlike chatbot with a profile photo and name, or the same store with a chatbot that was clearly botlike in both its name and icon. We then asked participants how likely they would be to seek help from the service agent."
A series of studies with over 6,000 participants measured preferences for assistance when buying potentially embarrassing products such as acne cream, diarrhea medication, adult sex toys, and personal lubricant. When products induced embarrassment, shoppers preferred clearly nonhuman chatbots to human service representatives. In an experiment contrasting diarrhea and hay fever medication, more than 80% preferred a nonhuman chatbot for diarrhea while just 9% did for hay fever. Participants reported that chatbots lack "minds" and therefore cannot judge. Humanlike chatbot cues (profile photo, name) lowered engagement, while machine-like chatbots produced the highest willingness to interact.
Read at Fast Company
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