Task type's effect on attitudes towards voice assistants

There is an emerging interest in examining user attitudes towards voice assistants (VAs); however, there is limited research on how user attitudes are formulated in different contexts. Drawing from the stereotype content models, the current study attempts to investigate how users perceive and evaluate voice assistants (VAs) in different contexts (i.e., functional vs. social tasks) based on warmth, competence and trustworthiness. Study 1 (N = 123) employs a within-subjects design to examine how task type (functional vs. social) affects user perceptions and attitudes towards a VA (i.e., Google Assistant). Study 2 (N = 116) and Study 3 (N = 61) examine the boundary effect of perceived psychological power and ease of use. The findings show that attitude is significantly more positive in functional tasks (vs. social), and this effect is mediated by perceived competence. This indirect effect is also significantly moderated by perceived ease of use. Perceived warmth does not mediate the effect of social tasks on attitude, and trust in VAs is a direct outcome of functional tasks. Taken together, this study contributes to both theory and practice in many ways. Specifically, the findings are the first to demonstrate a direct effect of task type on consumer perceptions and attitudes. Additionally, the findings indicate that user evaluations of VAs are still dominated by user perceptions of the competence of the VAs.     

品牌与国家联结、品牌刻板印象与消费者购买意愿的研究

基于品牌全球化背景，文章探究了品牌与国家联结核心构念的两个维度对消费者购买意愿的影响机制。实证结果表明，从国家联想到品牌的维度显著影响消费者购买意愿，并显著影响品牌能力，同时品牌能力在该维度对购买意愿的影响路径中起到部分中介作用：从品牌联想到国家的维度显著影响品牌温暖，并通过品牌温暖的完全中介作用对购买意愿产生促进效应。另外，品牌典型性正向调节了从国家联想到品牌的维度对品牌能力的影响路径。上述发现在理论上洞察了品牌刻板印象内容的两个维度如何受到品牌与国家联结的影响，厘清了品牌与国家联结以及品牌刻板印象如何作用于消费者购买意愿。在实践上为中国提升国家品牌形象，中国品牌推进全球化战略提供策略参考。