Tailored Avatar Presence Increases Satisfaction for Lonely E-commerce Shoppers

Abstract

One key factor that enhances the customer experience in retail settings is the presence of sales staff. However, in e-commerce environments where human sales staff are absent, it is unclear how an avatar-like assistant might impact customer satisfaction with the shopping experience. Prior research demonstrates how anthropomorphic avatars can enhance consumers’ purchasing intentions and attitudes toward products in online environments such as online shopping sites. However, it is unclear how the presence of avatars affects customer experience satisfaction throughout the purchasing process through which consumers visit e-commerce sites. Some studies have revealed that consumers feel a sense of interference when interference manifests in their online shopping experiences. Therefore, depending on the context and personal characteristics of consumers, the presence of avatars may be beneficial. This study conducted two experiments on a simulated online shopping site to examine customer experiences. The results suggest that the evaluation of an avatar’s presence varies depending on the stage of the purchasing process. Furthermore, it was found that for consumers with a high level of loneliness, higher frequencies of avatar appearances enhance customer satisfaction, whereas for consumers with a low level of loneliness, lower frequencies of avatar appearances lead to greater satisfaction. These findings may be beneficial for designing customer journeys to enhance satisfaction in e-commerce shopping experiences.

Translated Abstract

小売り環境において顧客経験（CX）を向上させる重要な要素の一つは，販売員の存在である。Eコマース環境では通常，人間の販売員は不在であり，代わりにアバターのようなアシスタントが存在する場合がある。先行研究では，オンライン・ショッピング・サイトなどのオンライン環境において，擬人化されたアバターが消費者の購買意欲や製品に対する態度を向上させることが示唆されている。しかしながら，アバターの存在がEコマース・サイトを訪れて行われる購買プロセス全体を通じて，顧客経験の満足にどのような影響を与えるのかについては明らかになっていない。先行研究では，アバターがオンラインでの体験において介入感を消費者に与え，ネガティブな反応を得ることが示されている。したがって，購買状況や消費者の個人的な特性によって，アバターの存在が有益である場合とそうではない場合が想定される。本研究では，架空のオンライン・ショッピング・サイトで模擬的な顧客経験を行う2つの実験を実施した。その結果，アバターの存在に対する評価は購買プロセスの段階によって異なる可能性が示された。さらに，消費者の孤独感が高い場合，アバターの出現頻度が高い方が顧客経験の満足度が向上する一方で，孤独感の低い消費者では，アバターの出現頻度が低い方が顧客経験の満足度が高くなることが明らかになった。本研究の知見は，Eコマース・サイトでの顧客経験の満足度を高める顧客経験の設計に役立つものである。

I.  Introduction

As global internet usage and digital services continue to expand, e-commerce platforms like Amazon are experiencing significant growth (Boston Consulting Group, 2023). To enhance customer satisfaction, retail companies must improve the shopping experience on their e-commerce sites, making it more comfortable and enjoyable for users. To improve the quality of customer experience (CX), greater emphasis should be placed on the emotional aspects of customer relationships (Verhoef & Lemon, 2015) and the necessity of intimacy provided by the service provider (Yim et al., 2008). However, the absence of in-store staff to assist customers is a significant challenge that can negatively impact their satisfaction.

Avatars, which can take on anthropomorphic or robotic forms (e.g., Qiu & Benbasat, 2005), offer a valuable solution in digital environments. They can support consumer’s shopping experiences in e-commerce settings, similar to in-store staff. Research shows that avatars can improve consumer attitudes (Holzwarth et al., 2006), increase trust in online shopping (Zhu et al., 2023), and enhance consumer engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction (Elsharnouby et al., 2023; Esmark Jones et al., 2022).

However, two aspects remain unresolved: Whether avatars impact all stages of the e-commerce purchasing process, and, how individual characteristics, particularly feelings of loneliness, influence their effectiveness. While avatars may have positive effects, they may also be perceived as intrusive, much like in-store staff. Thus, individual differences are critical in determining whether avatars enhance or diminish the shopping experience. This study addresses these gaps with the following research questions (RQs): “How does the presence of avatars at each stage of the purchasing process affect the buying experience in e-commerce?” and “What individual characteristics account for variations in the influence of avatars on the consumer shopping experience?”

This study examines how avatars affect customer satisfaction in online shopping, focusing on how their impact varies based on a user’s level of loneliness.

II.  Theoretical Background

Consumers are increasingly using e-commerce (Boston Consulting Group, 2023). However, research on the impact of virtual support on CX satisfaction remains scarce. CX is a core element of the customer journey (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016), and improving customer satisfaction in this area is a key challenge for a company’s marketing strategy. In retail, the quality of the CX is attributed to the involvement of store staff (Palmer, 2010). However, in e-commerce, where human staff are absent, avatars—illustrated, human-like assistants—are increasingly used to simulate this role (Moon et al., 2013).

Considerable discussion surrounds avatar’s design characteristics that appeal to consumers, such as gender (Zhang et al., 2017) and human resemblance (Kim et al., 2022). However, from a marketing communication perspective, the impact of avatar presence on consumer purchasing experiences must be examined across the entire customer journey. Avatars are likely to appear throughout online shopping journeys, yet research has not clarified at which stages avatars are most effective in fostering positive consumer responses. Findings from previous research indicate that consumers may respond more favorably when avatars are either absent or strategically placed at specific purchase stages.

Anthropomorphic avatars can improve service quality and increase usage intentions (Garvey et al., 2023; Kao, 2019). Anthropomorphism refers to things that vaguely resemble humans with eyes and mouths, even if they are not living creatures (Aggarwal & McGill, 2007). For instance, anthropomorphic “characters” can often be recognized in advertisements (e.g., M&Ms, n.d.). Perceiving the anthropomorphic nature of an object generates the same effect on a person as interacting with another individual of the same race (e.g., Miller et al., 2019). For instance, if a product’s design is anthropomorphic, consumers perceive an interpersonal familiarity with the product, improving their attitudes to become more favorable (Mourey et al., 2017). By contrast, the presence of shop staff when a consumer is considering a purchase may elicit negative reactions. Shopping on e-commerce (EC) sites allows consumers to enjoy shopping without hesitation because they generally do so from places such as the relaxed spaces of their homes. In online spaces, interference from others may reduce user satisfaction with a service (Kim et al., 2016). Therefore, the current study first conducts a preliminary investigation into whether the presence of an avatar at each purchase step of the customer journey has a positive or negative effect on purchase experience satisfaction (Study 1).

The main purpose of this study is to clarify how consumers’ loneliness affects their satisfaction with the CX in the presence of an avatar. Loneliness broadly influences consumer behavior, including product selection scenarios and the intention to dispose of owned products (Hu et al., 2024). Notably, consumers experiencing higher loneliness levels tend to prefer anthropomorphic objects (Mourey et al., 2017). Since online shopping is generally a solitary activity (Luo, 2005), the presence of an anthropomorphic avatar may offer a comforting presence for lonely consumers. In this regard, avatars could either enhance shopping experience (when minimally intrusive) or detract from it (when overly present), depending on consumer loneliness. Anthropomorphic interactions in digital spaces have been shown to reduce loneliness (Oh et al., 2023). For highly lonely consumers, an avatar acting as a virtual store clerk may alleviate loneliness and increase satisfaction. Conversely, those who choose online shopping to avoid others may find avatar interactions intrusive, especially during decision-making stages, leading to decreased satisfaction with frequent avatar appearances.

The following hypotheses are thus proposed:

Hypothesis 1 (H1): Consumers with higher levels of loneliness exhibit greater satisfaction with the shopping experience on EC sites when avatar frequency is high. Conversely, consumers with lower levels of loneliness exhibit greater satisfaction when avatar frequency is low.

Hypothesis 2 (H2): The level of consumer loneliness moderates the effect of the avatar frequency on satisfaction with the shopping experience on EC sites.

Two studies were conducted to test these hypotheses. Study 1 identified the purchasing steps at which avatars are deemed more desirable in the customer journey on an EC site were identified. Based on the results, Study 2 identified three customer journey patterns: less frequent avatar presence, frequent avatar presence, and a control group (no avatar). Participants then engaged in a simulated shopping experience on an e-commerce site, and it was assessed whether variations in these patterns affected satisfaction with the purchase experience.

For testing Hypothesis 1, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine how the relationship between avatar frequency and loneliness affected satisfaction with the customer experience. Additionally, to test Hypothesis 2, SPSS PROCESS macro Model 1 (Hayes, 2022) was used to examine whether the levels of loneliness significantly moderates the effect of avatar frequency on satisfaction with the customer experience on EC sites.

III.  Study 1

1.  Pre-test

A pretest was conducted to select an avatar for the survey. The author recruited 100 participants (M_age=40.53, 49.00% men, 51.00% women) using CrowdWorks, an online participant recruitment service. After viewing the EC site screen used in Study 1, the respondents were shown 16 illustrations varying in age, gender, and clothing. They were then asked to select the most suitable illustration for the EC site. Based on the results, the most frequently chosen avatar was an illustration of a smiling female (18.00%). Hence, the author decided to use this avatar illustration for study 1.

2.  Materials and methods

In Study 1, a customer journey on an EC site was simulated. In the typical online shopping process, consumers follow instructions displayed on each page throughout the purchasing journey. Therefore, three scenarios were created: (1) webpages with navigation messages and avatars, (2) webpages with only messages, and (3) webpages without messages or avatars (control condition). An EC site was created to sell miscellaneous goods, allowing participants to navigate from the homepage to the product details screen. Three versions of each of the six purchase process screens were developed to correspond with the study conditions. The six purchase process screens included: “homepage,” “selected product details page,” “purchaser information input page” (displayed after adding a product to the cart), “payment selection page,” “final confirmation page,” and “return-to-homepage with cart items.” On the final top page, the cart displaying selected products appeared in the upper-right corner. The avatars used on each screen were consistent with those chosen in the pre-test.

The message displayed on each screen varied as follows: for instance, the homepage displayed, “Welcome to the XX site! Please click on any product image that interests you”; the product detail page displayed, “If you like the product, please click the purchase button”; and the purchased information input page displayed, “Please enter your purchaser information.” The final confirmation screen displayed, “You have one item in your cart.”

Participants aged 20 to 60 were randomly recruited through Crowd Works, an online research panel service, to complete a survey hosted on Qualtrics. Of the initial respondents, 28 participants who failed an attention-check question were excluded. A total of 141 participants (M_age=41.86, 53.90% men, 45.39% women, 0.71% not specified) provided their insights as individuals for designing customer journeys on e-commerce sites. Respondents rated each of the six purchase-step screens on a 100-point scale (0=highly undesirable; 100=highly desirable) regarding the desirability of the three conditions. Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to the survey, and the study was conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki.

3.  Results

Table 1 presents the average desirability values for each of the three conditions across the various purchase steps. Except for the purchaser information input screen (M_control=65.23, SD=22.46) and the return-to-homepage screen at the end of the process (M_avatar=72.55, SD=19.10), the message-only condition consistently received the highest average desirability ratings. On the final screen, however, the most desirable condition involved both a message and an avatar indicating that an item was added to the cart. Multiple comparisons revealed that the message-only condition was statistically significantly more desirable than the avatar condition on the initial homepage (p=.003). A statistically significant difference was also found between the message-only and control conditions on the product details screen (p<.001). On the purchaser information input screen, a statistically significant difference was found between the control condition and the avatar condition (p=.080). No statistically significant differences were observed between conditions on the payment method selection and final confirmation screens. Finally, on the top screen displaying items in the cart, the avatar condition was rated as significantly more desirable than both the message-only condition (p=.015) and the control condition (p<.001). These findings informed the design of Study 2, which was conducted to test Hypotheses 1 and 2.

Table 1

Mean Desirability Ratings for Each Condition

IV.  Study 2

1.  Materials and methods

Participants engaged in a simulated customer journey on a mock website. Based on the results of Study 1, 3 customer journey conditions (less frequent avatar presence, frequent avatar presence, and control (no avatar)) were employed in a one-way between-subjects factorial design. A total of 286 participants (M_age=41.44, 51.40% men, 48.60% women) were recruited online, like Study 1. Participants accessed a mock website through a Qualtrics survey and engaged in a simulated purchase experience.

Table 2 outlines the flow of each customer journey across the three conditions. In the desirably designed customer journey, an avatar appeared only on the final homepage, while messages were displayed on all other screens. In the undesirably designed journey, avatars were displayed from the first screen, with only messages shown on the last page (where the avatar was absent). In the control condition, neither avatars nor messages were displayed on any page (for detailed images, see Appendix A).

Table 2

Summary of the Three Conditions in Study 2

Respondents could freely navigate the simulated website, adding preferred products to their carts and proceeding to the final purchase confirmation screen. Upon returning to the top screen, they observed an indication that a product had been added to their cart. After completing the customer journey, respondents rated their satisfaction with the buying experience using a 7-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree).

Loneliness was measured using the Japanese version of the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Moroi, 1992; reliability and validity for Japanese subjects have been confirmed; see Appendix B for details), initially developed by Russell et al. (1980). Each item was measured on a 7-point scale (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree; M=72.05, SD=22.04, Cronbach’s α=.96). All participants provided informed consent before the survey, and the study was conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki.

2.  Results

Multiple comparisons revealed no statistically significant difference in experience satisfaction between the less frequently and frequently present conditions (M_{less frequently}=4.44, SD=1.21; M_{frequently present}=4.70, SD=1.25; p=.321). However, a statistically significant difference (p=.096, d=0.29) was found between the frequently present and control conditions (M_control=4.33, SD=1.30).

The author examined how loneliness affected experience satisfaction in each condition. The mean loneliness score was 72.05, with SD=22.04. Two groups were created based on loneliness scores using (72.05)±22.04: a high-loneliness group with scores ≥94.09 (N=40) and a low-loneliness group with scores<50.01 (N=46). Figure 1 shows the results of the ANOVA on experience satisfaction. An interaction effect was observed (F (2, 80)=6.07, p=.004, η²_p=.13). The simple main effect of loneliness was significant (F (1, 80)=17.25, p<.001, η²_p=.177).

Figure 1

ANOVA Results

Note. Error bars represent standard errors.

Participants who reported low levels of loneliness were most satisfied with their experience following the less frequently present pattern (M=5.60, SD=.83) and least satisfied with the frequently present pattern, where avatars were most frequently present (M=4.71, SD=1.16). Conversely, participants with high levels of loneliness were least satisfied with the less frequently present condition (M=3.45, SD=1.13) and most satisfied with the frequently present condition (M=4.77, SD=1.42). Thus, those with low loneliness were more satisfied with customer journeys where avatars rarely appeared, while those with high loneliness expressed higher satisfaction with customer journeys where avatars frequently appeared. These results support H1.

H2 was tested using the PROCESS macro for SPSS (Hayes 2022; Model 1). Data from the less frequently present and frequently present conditions were analyzed using 5,000 bootstrap samples. A significant conditional effect of loneliness on experience satisfaction about the presence of avatars was found, B=2.21, SE=0.63, t=3.50, p<.01, 95% CI=[0.94, 3.48]. These results support H2.

V.  Discussion

1.  Findings

With the increasing integration of avatars in marketing communications, discussions on optimal avatar design have also been expansive (Holzwarth et al., 2006). However, the primary consideration is whether avatars positively influence all customer journey stages on an e-commerce site. The characteristics of a customer journey in a digital environment where avatars are present differ somewhat from those of a real-world customer journey.

This study demonstrates that the desirability of avatars varies at different stages of the e-commerce customer journey and that consumer loneliness moderates the effect of avatar appearance frequency on satisfaction with the shopping experience. These findings have implications for designing customer journeys on e-commerce platforms.

Two studies were conducted to explore how avatars can enhance consumer experience and satisfaction in the context of e-commerce. Focusing on the customer journey, it was assumed that avatars may be perceived as desirable or undesirable depending on the purchase stage at which they appear. Study 1 identified stages where the presence of avatars was rated as most desirable and stages where it was least desirable. In Study 2, both hypotheses were tested, and the results supported each of them. For Hypothesis 1, it was demonstrated that the effect of avatar frequency on satisfaction with the customer experience varied depending on the level of consumer loneliness. Specifically, consumers with high levels of loneliness reported greater satisfaction under conditions of high avatar frequency, while consumers with low levels of loneliness reported greater satisfaction under conditions of low avatar frequency. Furthermore, the analysis for Hypothesis 2 confirmed that consumer loneliness significantly moderates the effect of avatar frequency on satisfaction with the customer experience.

Customers who do not experience loneliness tend to find the frequent appearance of avatars to be disruptive, thereby reducing their satisfaction with the purchase experience. This aligns with the findings of Kim et al. (2016), who reported that consumers held a negative opinion about the presence of avatars during their gaming experiences. Conversely, people with higher levels of loneliness exhibited a stronger preference for frequent appearances of anthropomorphic avatars, consistent with Mourey et al. (2017), who found that lonely participants favored anthropomorphic objects.

2.  Limitations of this research and potential avenues for future research

This study has several limitations. While it examined the impact of an avatar’s presence on satisfaction during a single interaction within one shopping experience, the long-term effects remain unknown. As avatars appear repeatedly with each site visit, consumers may develop a greater sense of attachment. However, there is also the possibility that familiarity with the avatar could reduce its perceived anthropomorphism, potentially diminishing its effect (Aoyanagi et al., 2021). Future research should investigate the avatars’ long-term and repeated usage effects to further understand their impact on consumer experiences.

This study also presents potential avenues for future research. First, it is necessary to carefully examine and clarify the underlying mechanisms that lead consumers to evaluate certain situations as desirable or undesirable. For example, in Study 1, on the “purchaser information input” screen, where buyers enter personal details (e.g., credit card information), the absence of an avatar was rated more desirable than its presence. This may be due to privacy concerns, as consumers may not want a non-human presence observing their personal information. In contrast, the presence of an avatar was considered desirable on the final screen, “top, cart with an item,” where it indicated that an item was pending in the cart, drawing the customer’s attention to it. In this context, the avatar’s presence may be perceived positively rather than negatively. Future research should investigate the contexts in which an avatar’s presence is perceived as desirable or undesirable to provide more practical insights. Additionally, clarifying these mechanisms will contribute to theoretical understanding.

Second, in this study, practical products (e.g., a rucksack, table clock, and a ballpoint pen) were used to avoid potential issues with compatibility between product characteristics and avatars. However, additional research that considers the compatibility between product characteristics and avatars could improve the external validity of the findings.

3.  Study implications

This study demonstrates that the desirability or undesirability of avatars varies at different points of the e-commerce customer journey, with consumer loneliness acting as a moderator of the avatar’s frequency of appearance and its effect on shopping experience satisfaction. Discussions on the use of avatars have expanded in marketing communication research. However, there has been limited discussion on the impact of the presence of avatars in a comprehensive perspective of the entire consumer journey. This study fills that gap by examining the impact of avatar presence on the consumer experience throughout the online shopping process. The results showed that using avatars at every stage is not necessarily desirable to increase customer satisfaction throughout the entire journey. Consumers may have different expectations of avatars at different purchase stages. Future research should further develop avatar usage conditions that consider the specific characteristics of each purchase stage.

Furthermore, this study shows that the contribution of avatars to the customer journey is moderated by the individual characteristic of loneliness. While some studies have considered the consumer’s gender (Lee et al., 2015) or emotional state (e.g., whether consumers are angry) (Crolic et al., 2022), few have examined the impact of loneliness on marketing communications through avatars. This study, which focuses on loneliness—a significant global issue—demonstrates that the presence of avatars positively affects experience satisfaction for consumers experiencing loneliness while shopping online. Notably, frequent avatar appearances can negatively impact satisfaction for consumers who do not experience heightened loneliness. While previous research has reported many positive effects of avatars in purchasing experiences, this study suggests that practitioners must design e-commerce websites that consider consumers’ characteristics, especially their sense of loneliness.

These findings have important implications for designing e-commerce customer journeys, especially in a contemporary context where online shopping is the preferred method for purchasing products, ranging from everyday essentials to special occasion items. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of customer behavior and psychology. Furthermore, by delving into consumer journey stages, judgment and decision-making processes, needs, attitude formation, and consumption experiences, this study offers valuable insights for product developers, managers, consumer psychology researchers, and entrepreneurs.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to express their sincere gratitude to the handling editor for the thorough review and insightful comments, which significantly improved the quality of this paper. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 22K01749.

Data Availability

The data supporting this study is publicly available on the J-STAGE Data repository.

• 1) Dataset in Study 1

• 2) Dataset in Study 2

Conflict of Interest

The author declares no conflicts of interest associated with this manuscript.

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Appendices

Appendix A

Images of the mock site by condition (top page)

Appendix B

Scale items of loneliness

Notes. The total score is the sum of all 20 items. *Items’ score should be reversed.

Mayuko Nishii

She is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of International Management, Aoyama Gakuin University (Aoyama Business School). She earned her Ph.D. in Commerce upon completing the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Commerce, Waseda University. Before assuming her current role, she served as a Research Associate at the Faculty of Commerce, Waseda University, followed by appointments as an Assistant Professor and subsequently as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Commerce and Economics, Chiba University of Commerce. Her research interests include consumer behavior and marketing.