Hey Siri… Are you human?

Intelligent Personal Assistants (IPAs) like Siri and Alexa have experienced a fast growth in recent years, becoming almost ubiquitous in our daily lives. These applications are developed to resemble human beings and to be perceived as human-like assistants, a concept known as anthropomorphism. However, the effects of this anthropomorphism on IPAs’ adoption intention has not been thoroughly investigated. In detail, the effects of IPAs’ anthropomorphism on their perceived creepiness and perceived ease of use, and how these perceptions influence adoption intention, remain unexplored. This thesis investigates this matter by starting from the research question: What is the effect of anthropomorphism on perceived creepiness and perceived ease of use of IPAs, and how do these factors influence consumers' adoption intention towards IPAs? To address this question, an experimental survey was conducted. Participants were randomly assigned to the description of one of three fictitious IPAs, each showcasing progressively higher levels of anthropomorphism. They were then asked questions about perceived creepiness, ease of use, usefulness, and privacy risks. Their responses were analyzed using Hayes’ PROCESS macro (Model 4). The results indicate that the level of anthropomorphism in IPAs does not significantly affect their perceived creepiness or perceived ease of use. Additionally, neither perceived creepiness nor perceived ease of use significantly impact people’s adoption intention of IPAs. These findings reveal that perceived creepiness and perceived ease of use do not mediate the relationship between IPAs’ anthropomorphism and adoption intention. However, perceived usefulness and perceived privacy risks were found to significantly affect adoption intention, with perceived usefulness having a positive effect and perceived privacy risks having a negative effect. These results reveal that factors such as perceived usefulness and privacy risks play a more crucial role in influencing adoption intention than perceived creepiness and ease of use. The thesis ends with theoretical reflections and implications for practitioners. Additionally, it proposes an overview of the main limitations of the study.