Must smart objects look human? Study of the impact of anthropomorphism on the acceptance of companion robots

Abstract

Smart products will play a central role in consumer living in years to come. Close to humans because of their “intelligence,” should they also look like humans? The aim of this research is to test the impact of anatomical anthropomorphism on the acceptance of an autonomous product, the companion robot, measured by its perceived usefulness, ease of use, and use intentions. Our results show that, unlike previous marketing research on traditional product anthropomorphism, the human appearance of a companion robot does not increase its acceptance by consumers. However, we show that a partially anthropomorphic appearance improves acceptance by people with practical experience of similar technology (the smartphone), while it reduces acceptance by other people. Our results also emphasize the difficulty of extending research on the impact of anthropomorphism on consumers. They also highlight the need to integrate appearance in acceptance models, and they show how experience with products similar to the new one influences the impact of appearance. Finally, we show the role of the categorization process in the impact of appearance.