Voice assistants are changing the way consumers shop. Guided by the anthropomorphism literature and parasocial interaction theory, this study investigated how the new unique relationship between consumers and artificial intelligence‐powered voice assistants may affect the way consumers evaluate the recommended products through two experiments. Study 1 (n = 85, students) employed a 2 (shopping medium type: voice assistant vs. website) × 2 (interaction style: task‐oriented vs. socially‐oriented) between‐subjects design lab experiment. Study 2 (n = 418, Mechanical Turk) employed a 2 (shopping medium type: voice assistant vs. website) × 2 (product type: search vs. experience) between‐subjects online experiment. The results suggested that consumers may perceive voice assistants as pseudohuman agents detached from the service provider while perceiving websites as a tool or interface used by the provider, resulting in a more positive perception and evaluation of websites. As one of the few studies investigating voice assistants from the consumer perspective, this study contributes to the growing body of research in voice assistants. The study also contributes to anthropomorphism literature and parasocial interaction theory by confirming the causal relationship between humanlikeness and parasocial relationships.

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Purpose The advance of technology creates new possibilities for enhancing shopper experience. The purpose of this paper is to gain understanding of a recent innovation found in retail environment, a recommender system (RS). Specifically, this study investigated how the retailer’s claims of RS affect consumers’ perception of personalization, and further, trusting beliefs and intentions. Additionally, the effect of sponsored recommendation (SR) on consumers’ perceived trust was explored. Design/methodology/approach A 2 (RS claim: personalized/non-personalized)×2 (SR: present/absent)×2 (involvement: high/low) between subject factorial design was employed. An online experiment was conducted. A total of 273 response collected through Amazon MTurk were used for the analysis. Findings The findings showed retailer’s claims for RS were enough to increase the perception of personalization. The increased perceived personalization of the RS increased trusting beliefs and trusting intention. For SR, mixed results were found. Disclosing SR increased trusting intentions under the low-involvement condition, but the opposite effect was found under high-involvement condition. Practical implications The findings highlight the importance of retailers’ articulating what RS does. This can impact trusting beliefs and trusting intention. Additionally, the findings indicate SRs should be presented in accordance to the decision-making stage. The presence of SRs during the searching stage may positively impact consumer’s perception, but their presence during purchase stage may have a negative impact. Originality/value This study is among the first to examine the effect of different retailer’s claims on how the recommendations are generated on shopper’s perception. Also, this is one of few studies to investigate how SRs in RSs impact a shopper’s perception. This research provides insights into how an RS found in retail environment influence shopping experience.

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PurposeThe authors conducted an action research study with the aim of understanding current commercial offerings in modular designs in virtual environments and to explore modularity development based on consumer input for the purpose of personalizing three-dimensional (3D) virtual fashion stores.Design/methodology/approachThrough five phases of diagnosing, action planning, action taking, evaluating and specifying learning, the authors attempted to diagnose the current commercial offerings of modular designs in virtual spaces and to identify the right type and the number of modules and modular options for personalizing 3D virtual stores based on consumers' actual designs and focus group input. The authors then further conceptualized modules to serve as an example for developing modularity in 3D virtual reality (VR) stores.FindingsIn the diagnosing phase, the authors investigated the modularity structure of cocreating a retail store in two popular virtual worlds: Second Life and The Sims 4. In the evaluation phase, the authors identified modules and modular options for personalizing 3D virtual stores based on a content analysis of consumers' post-design focus group discussions. In the last phase (specifying learning), the authors conceptualized a total of nine modules and 38 modular options for personalizing 3D virtual stores, including style, price point, product category, color, presence of avatar, virtual product try-on, music, product recommendation and product customization.Originality/valueThe significance of this study lies in the pioneering methodological work of identifying, creating and visualizing 3D VR modular store options based on consumer input and in improving the authors’ understanding of current commercial offerings. This study also enriches design theories on cocreation systems. The authors’ suggested modules for personalizing 3D virtual stores could inspire future evidence-based designs to be readily used by VR retailers as well extend the application of mass customization theory from the realm of product development to retail environments.