In recent years, artificial intelligence has changed the way people interact with each other or with technology. The discussion on the spectacular evolution of this phenomenon is more actual and present than ever because of the fact that devices equipped with artificial intelligence are more frequently present in lives of consumers, impacting their daily activities. The objective of this paper is to examine the gender specific perceptions and preferences towards anthropomorphic and empathetic characteristics of AI devices and robots. Anthropomorphic characteristics of an AI device or robot can have a positive influence on consumer's perception towards them and towards the decision of buying these products. This paper presents the way in which AI impacts the emotional perception of consumers and the differences of attitude between men and women towards the interaction with robots and AI devices. The empirical part of this paper includes the results of a research regarding the differences of perception and preference of consumers, towards the anthropomorphic characteristics of AI devices and robots, depending on gender. Using the discriminant analysis in SPSS 20, we have shown that men consider AI devices and robots more entertaining, while women appreciate more their empathetic human-like interaction and behavior. This result is important for the marketing communication when AI devices and robots are marketed. In the marketing communication addressed to men, features like the entertaining role of AI devices should be addressed, while in women specific communication channels the empathetic human-like interaction should be emphasized.

Anthropomorphic characteristics at AI devices and robots are an important topic for the development and their future acceptance in the business environment and society. Human like characteristics at AI devices can increase their friendliness and social acceptance, but at the same time the interaction with a human like AI device can be unnatural. In this paper we focus on the empirical comparative analysis of the perception of physical anthropomorphic characteristics at AI devices between genders. Based on an online survey with two conditions (anthropomorphic vs non-anthropomorphic) we measured the perception of men and women towards human like features at AI devices. In comparison to previous research the analysis has been done within the gender groups, so we analyzed the two conditions for women and men separately. The results show that men are more sensitive to physical anthropomorphic characteristics of AI devices. While for women no significant differences for the two conditions have been observed, for men there are significant differences for the two conditions. Men perceive a higher emotional involvement for the anthropomorphic AI device, but they rather trust and are willing to buy the robot with less anthropomorphic features.

The new internet technologies have changed radically the communication between consumers and companies and they had an important role in changing the way consumer data is gathered. In comparison to the traditional way in which several surveys and experiments have been done, nowadays the consumer data is stored with the help of different technologies. Nowadays the consumer is online most of the time and his/her entire activity is monitored by the intelligent systems and applications installed on his mobile device. This storage of consumer data gives companies the possibility to personalize the interaction to the consumer, but in the same time it gives an insight in the private life of the consumer. In our research we investigate the attitude and awareness of consumers towards the advantages and disadvantages of the storage of cookies and browsing history. The results show that there is an average perception on the advantages and a higher awareness on the disadvantages.

Artificial intelligence is one of the main topics characterizing the 21st century. The quick development of these new intelligent systems brings challenges into the daily life of consumers and companies. Even though artificial intelligence contributes to an increased quality of life, by simplifying the life of its users and the processes of companies, in the same time it can affect the cognitive abilities of humans. By taking over different tasks and having access to information, the AI will influence human decision-making and the human will be somehow dependent on the actions and decisions of the AI. In this paper we focus on the impact of the social appreciation on the consumers’ perception regarding anthropomorphic AI. We have investigated the extent to which anthropomorphic AI devices impact human capabilities and the social appreciation of owning an AI. The results show that AI with human-like physical appearance are perceived with higher anthropomorphic characteristics, but the physical appearance of the AI does not affect the social appreciation and the human capabilities of the owner. The average values of the items, measuring the direct perception show that consumers rather believe that AI does not affect their human abilities and owning a robot is not strongly influenced by the social reference group. This result has to be further investigated in a third person perspective and in a different social context.