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Empowering Consumers: The Role of Avatar Choice in Consumer-Chatbot Interaction and Psychological Ownership

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Hu, Xiaohan, Xu, Xiaoyu, Chen, Chen (Crystal)·2025·International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction
DOI 10.1080/10447318.2025.2495845
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Abstract

Due to the advancements in artificial intelligence technology, chatbots have become essential tools in digital communication practices. Within the realm of e-commerce, many brands have already deployed chatbots as virtual agents to deliver consumer services and replace human service agents. Drawing on the theoretical framework of psychological ownership, the present study seeks to shed light on how consumers interact with chatbots by examining the effects of choosing chatbot avatars in an online shopping process. In our experiment, we discovered that participants who made active choices regarding their chatbot avatars experienced an increased feeling of psychological ownership. This enhanced ownership significantly boosted their trust and sense of autonomy, which in turn affected various e-commerce results. These findings emphasized consumers’ active control in affecting e-commerce effectiveness. We further discuss the theoretical and practical implications for chatbot marketing, as well as the broader impact of AI-driven e-commerce and digital communication.

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  • Design can also boost perceived autonomy and psychological ownership, which can boost trust and sometimes attitudes toward the product.

    “Other research, however, shows that design can also boost perceived autonomy and psychological ownership, which can boost trust and sometimes attitudes toward the product [38].”

    From From Recommendations to Delegation: A Systematic Review Mapping Agentic AI in E-Commerce and Its Consumer Effects (2026) · cites this paper as [38]

    The Results (section 4.2; page unavailable) support an effect of chatbot-avatar choice on psychological ownership and perceived autonomy, and a positive indirect effect on product attitude through ownership and trust. They do not establish that autonomy itself boosts trust or product attitude; the autonomy-mediated effect on product attitude was not significant. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • This helps explain why marketing outcomes change from one context to another.

    “This helps explain why marketing outcomes change from one context to another (for example, [38,40,46]).”

    From From Recommendations to Delegation: A Systematic Review Mapping Agentic AI in E-Commerce and Its Consumer Effects (2026) · cites this paper as [38]

    The Conclusions and Discussion (§5.2) report that allowing consumers to choose a chatbot avatar changed psychological ownership, autonomy, and consumer attitudes—a specific reason marketing outcomes can differ. The Limitations (§5.3) say effects across other products, consumer groups, and shopping situations remain to be tested, so the paper does not establish a general explanation for variation across contexts. The supplied copy gives no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Lab experiments often manipulate assistant design or autonomy but measure intentions or simulated choice instead of actual checkout/payment.

    “For instance, lab experiments often manipulate the design of the assistant or give them more freedom, but they measure the results as intentions or simulated choice instead of actual checkout/payment [7,8,24,38,43,52,54,63].”

    From From Recommendations to Delegation: A Systematic Review Mapping Agentic AI in E-Commerce and Its Consumer Effects (2026) · cites this paper as [38]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Hu, X., Xu, X., & Chen, C. (.
Affiliations
  • San Diego State University (US)
  • State University of New York (US)
  • University of Miami (US)
Corresponding author
Hu, Xiaohan
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2025-05-08
Volume
41
Issue
24
Pages
15311-15322
ISSN
  • 1044-7318 (ISSN-L)
  • 1532-7590
DOI
10.1080/10447318.2025.2495845
OpenAlex
W4410213587
Cited by
14
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 4
FWCI
5.66
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › AI in Service Interactions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Marketing and Social Media
Keywords
chatbots, psychological ownership, online shopping, consumer trust, consumer autonomy, chatbot marketing, virtual agents

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