Trustworthy Virtual Advisors and Enjoyable Interactions: Designing for Expressiveness and Transparency

Online virtual advisors have enjoyed an increased research attention and widespread use in the last several years. In investigating the determinants of their adoption, the majority of extant research has focused on a set of utilitarian variables that address some outcomes from their use. In contrast, this study focuses on users’ perceptions of these virtual advisors as interaction partners, and on beliefs users form during these interactions. Specifically, we propose and test for the effects of perceived advisor expressiveness and transparency on perceptions of their trustworthiness and interaction enjoyment. The latter two constructs are further proposed to act as antecedents to users’ reuse intentions. The results of an experimental study lend support to the proposed model, and highlight the importance of designing social and trustworthy advisors and enjoyable interactions.