Along with advancements in technologies, which include machine learning and artificial intelligence, chatbots are increasingly taking the place of employees that work as customer service agents and personal shoppers. Considering that the characteristics of employees can influence a consumer’s perception of brand personality (Aaker, 1997), this perception may also be affected by the chatbot’s personality. This paper aims to investigate the impact of a chatbot’s personality on a user’s perception of brand personality.
Two brands, and their chatbots, are used as case studies. The empirical study comprises of two stages, in which the qualitative and the quantitative data are both gathered and analyzed. Firstly, an online survey was conducted to investigate the personalities of two existing brands and their respective chatbots. As a result, a gap in personality between one of the brands and its chatbot was identified. Next, two prototypes were built and then tested in the interview. One was the emulator of the current brand chatbot, and the other was a new chatbot designed to have a personality closer to the brand personality.
The findings reveal that the chatbot’s personality may affect brand personality, even though the impact was smaller than expected because participants perceived that the two prototypes’ personalities were moderately close to the brand personality. Interestingly, interviewees revealed that the chatbot’s personality may have a greater influence if it is totally different from the brand personality. Based on the study findings, design considerations are suggested to help practitioners in designing brand chatbots
