I’m Only Human? The Role of Racial Stereotypes, Humanness, and Satisfaction in [Home Rental] Transactions with Anthropomorphic Sales Bots

Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 8(1), 47-58

January 11, 2023

Female shrugging

Abstract

Prior research suggests that expectations and outcomes of marketplace transactions can vary by the race, ethnicity, and gender of an agent, and customer (Henderson, Hakstian, & Williams 2016; Lindridge, Henderson & Ekpo 2015). Specifically, there is evidence that when customers are demographically-similar to agents, customer satisfaction and agent performance increase. In this research, we examined whether race, as a proxy for culture, matters when consumers interact with artificially intelligent (AI) agents in the context of home rentals. Specifically, we examined whether consumers ascribe racial stereotypes to artificially-intelligent (AI) agents, and whether these stereotypes impact simulated negotiation outcomes.

Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 8(1), 47-58