Journal of Business Research 144 (2022) 703–716

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Journal of Business Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres

Engaging the Avatar: The effects of authenticity signals during chat-based

service recoveries
Carol L. Esmark Jones a, *, Tyler Hancock b, Brett Kazandjian c, Clay M. Voorhees a
a
Department of Marketing, University of Alabama, 107 Alston Hall, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, United States
b
Department of Marketing and International Business, University of Toledo, 2801 W. Bancroft Street, Toledo, OH 43606, United States
c
Department of Marketing, Towson University, 123 Stephens Hall 8000 York Road, Towson, MD 21252, United States

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Marketing practitioners and consumers can benefit from more efficient communication by using online chats for
Retailing customer service. However, consumers desire a genuine experience and if the online chat experience is not
Customer Service believed to be authentic, it can detract from the benefits offered by using these new technologies. In four studies,
Loyalty
including one electroencephalogram (EEG) measurement study, the authors show that firms can increase
Satisfaction
Service Recovery
perceived authenticity of chat agents by sending signals via the avatars used in the chat system. The results
Chatbot indicate that avatar authenticity can be enhanced when the avatar is female, and these effects are amplified when
Avatar the avatar is dressed professionally or a different race than the consumer. This increased authenticity is shown to
drive engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction. The results offer fresh insight on how the use of avatars could help
firms improve customer perceptions of service for either human- or bot-supported chat experiences.

1. Introduction effectiveness on the frontlines (Wedel and Kannan, 2016).

With the increase in technological capabilities and competition,
many companies are investing in new channels to handle service in­
quiries. One area of emphasis is leveraging online chats to handle
customer service complaints as they are the preferred method for cus­
tomers to contact a company (J.D. Power, 2017). These venues allow
firms to deploy either human or AI-powered chat representatives with
the goal of providing efficient service recoveries that meet customer
needs and save on the cost of traditional channels (Ho, Hancock, and
Miner, 2018). These cost savings are a main driver of the shift to online
chats. When using live agents for online chats, costs are reduced as
agents can handle multiple customers at one time (TELUS, 2015). Online
chat services that are managed by AI-bots are virtually free to run once
implemented (Wirtz et al., 2018) and have been heralded as saving firms
$8 billion annually. While these cost savings cannot be ignored, the
signals sent by online chat agents must be positive and the service
experience must engage consumers through the recovery process.
Despite the importance of ensuring a quality and authentic experience,
academic research still has many opportunities to uncover how simple
signals and other low-cost changes to the chat experience can positively
impact consumers, which can help calibrate chat experiences for ideal
Initially, firms and researchers focused on enhancing the authen­
ticity of the chat-based interactions by ensuring that interactions were
personalized for each customer by leveraging data in real-time (Hyken,
2017). This ability to provide baseline excellence in these interactions
that can be customized based on data has allowed chat-services to scale
from simple recovery interactions to handling more complex service
issues. This commitment to overall service excellence through the core
chat communication can promote provider/consumer co-creation in
service recoveries (Dong et al., 2008) and enhance the customer support
process (Chung et al., 2018). Traditionally, consumers prefer a live agent
to AI and satisfaction is higher when users perceive an agent to be “real”
(J.D. Power, 2017). However, the objective quality of chat-based in­
teractions that are driven by AI has become so excellent that it now ri­
vals or exceeds the service experience that human agents can provide
through chat (Hyken, 2017).
Despite increases in the overall efficacy of bot-based service, con­
sumers remain hesitant to completely commit to chat-based service.
These chat-based interactions are often perceived as being too stan­
dardized and artificial (Liebrecht and van Hooijdonk, 2019) and con­
sumers may feel that chat agents are a “shell” of a person rather than a
real individual (De Ruyter et al., 2018). This hesitation may be

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: cejones28@ua.edu (C.L. Esmark Jones), tyler.hancock@utoledo.edu (T. Hancock), bkazandjian@towson.edu (B. Kazandjian), cmvoorhees@ua.
edu (C.M. Voorhees).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.01.012
Received 11 January 2021; Received in revised form 3 January 2022; Accepted 6 January 2022
Available online 18 February 2022
0148-2963/© 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc.
C.L. Esmark Jones et al.
particularly salient in online customer chats where consumers want
customized service solutions and remedies that they do not feel artificial
service agents can deliver (Price, 2018). Early research in this area
suggests that simply changing the conversational tone of a chat agent to
be more “human like” can increase engagement, effectiveness, and
perceptions of personalization (Liebrecht and van Hooijdonk, 2019).
Thus, in the evolution of online chat management, firms have started to
deliver functional excellence through the use of AI-powered algorithms
and increased engagement based on linguistic style, however, one
important aspect of the chat experience has been relatively unexplored:
the agent’s avatar.
Whether managed by a human or computer, most online customer
chat services use avatars, which are defined as visual representations of
a user in virtual environments (Seinfeld, Feuchtner, Maselli, & Muller,
2020). Avatars can provide a direct signal regarding the authenticity of
the agent to consumers and is likely the first signal a consumer will
experience as they develop an opinion of a chat agent. Given the
strength of this signaling effect of avatars, proper calibration is critical,
yet the effectiveness of avatars in driving better engagement is mixed,
which might be due to the lack of research regarding effective design
(Miao et al., 2021). Firms have incredible flexibility in the extent to
which they deploy avatars for both human or AI-based agents and more
research is needed on how the characteristics one might assign to the
avatar of a customer service agent can increase functionality and
customer use (Duffy, 2003). As a result, as firms seek to further enhance
consumer perceptions of online chat experiences, understanding the
ability of an avatar and its design to impact consumer reactions is
important.
Despite the need to signal more authenticity to consumers, the
literature provides little insight on how to effectively design avatars
(Miao et al., 2021) and how design elements might impact consumers’
perceptions of service. The potential signaling effects of a chat agent
have been found for avatar display choices as well as communication
cues (Blut et al., 2021; Wuenderlich and Paluch, 2017) and the real
impact of these cues can be contingent on consumer characteristics like
consumer involvement (Holzwarth et al., 2006). These earlier studies
show the promise of improving customer perceptions of service based on
the representation of a chat agent, but more foundational work is
needed.
There is minimal knowledge about how more common characteris­
tics like an avatar’s gender, race, and dress can impact the evaluations of
customer service representatives. These signals play a critical role in the
way consumers initially perceive an agent based on their visual char­
acteristics. Homophily theory suggests that exposing consumers to an
avatar that has similar traits would result in higher evaluations of the
experience (Lazarsfeld and Merton, 1954). However, more recent
research suggests that consumers might move beyond this similarity
preference in a customer service setting and alter evaluations based on
gender (Snipes et al., 2006), race, and dress. As a result, there is tension
between traditional assumptions that we desire service from “someone
like us” and beliefs regarding what types of people can provide more
authentic experiences in a customer service recovery role. Understand­
ing these evaluations is critical for firms as they strive to calibrate both
static and dynamic traits of their chat services.
To provide more complete insight into these evaluative processes, we
leverage theories of genderlect (Tannen, 1990) and communication
accommodation (Giles and Ogay, 2007) to show that variables related to
the avatar impact the user’s perception of the service representative’s
authenticity and that these perceptions affect engagement, satisfaction,
and loyalty. Specifically, this research focuses on some of the more
direct and easily adjusted characteristics that firms can alter regarding
their avatars: gender, race, and dress (professional versus casual). In
doing so, we provide new insight into how avatars used in online chat
experiences could be presented to consumers to increase engagement,
thereby leading to more loyalty and satisfaction thus, properly facili­
tating service recoveries.
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Journal of Business Research 144 (2022) 703–716
Our findings have important implications for theory and practi­
tioners and answers calls for research into the use of avatars in mar­
keting (Miao et al., 2021). During chat-based service recoveries, firms
can increase engagement, satisfaction, and loyalty by leveraging avatars
that are female and these effects can be further bolstered if the avatar is a
different race than complaining consumer. Users also find the experi­
ence more authentic depending on what the representative is wearing.
More realistic perceptions result when the avatar depicts a female
dressed professionally or a male dressed casually. The findings of this
research help to contextualize avatar design that would impact a chat
service recovery being perceived as more or less authentic, thus leading
to varying levels of engagement, loyalty, satisfaction, and a successful
service.
2. Conceptual background
2.1. Communication accommodation theory
Research investigating online customer service has examined service
quality (Yang et al., 2004) and service delivery (Hodge et al., 2019).
However, this literature examines neither the variables impacting how
authentic an online customer service representative is perceived to be
nor the resulting relationships to loyalty and satisfaction. In the context
of online chat agents, authenticity captures the extent to which a chat
user believes the representative is a real person with individuality
(Wentzel, 2009), empathy (MacInnis et al., 2002), and naturalness (Zhu
and Meyers-Levy, 2009). When a person communicates with someone,
the style and level of communication accommodation may greatly differ
depending on their gender, sex, race, origin, and social class. The more
similar two people are perceived to be, the less accommodation is
necessary because they already understand each other’s communication
methods and styles (Giles et al., 1991). Giles et al. (1991) developed
communication accommodation theory (CAT) to explain the tendency
people have to adjust their communication style depending on who they
are addressing. Communication accommodation theory identifies two
types of communication behaviors: convergence and divergence.
Convergence corresponds to the tendency of people to adapt to the other
person’s communication characteristics (Giles et al., 1991), much like
adults talking in a baby voice to toddlers. By accommodating the
communication style to fit the form of the message preferred by the
receiver, the communication process becomes more effective and cre­
ates group cohesion (Liu et al., 2019). The adaptation of communication
also exists between consumers and businesses. It is common for com­
panies to try to adapt to their consumers’ preference for communication
by hiring people with similar ethnic backgrounds (Holland and Gentry,
1999).
When communicating with a seemingly similar person is not
possible, people might accentuate their differences to ease the commu­
nication process by setting parameters for each party (Gallois and Giles,
2015). This process, called divergence, may be enacted if a customer
wants to distinguish him/herself or establish a different status from
others to help facilitate effective communication (Dragojevic et al.,
2015; Giles et al., 2010). People may also use divergence tactics to
accentuate differences in communication styles to assert themselves in a
particular light (Giles and Ogay, 2007). Using communication diver­
gence in business is risky, as it can negatively affect consumer percep­
tions of a service provider’s quality and capacity for empathy (Balaji
et al., 2017) and word of mouth intention (Van Vaerenbergh and
Holmqvist, 2014). However, when used appropriately, divergence can
be a useful communication tool in advertising (Lehnert et al., 2014).
Despite its potentially negative effects, CAT makes the case that diver­
gent communication can lead to better interactions with consumers
when meeting expectations established for communication roles.
Communication accommodation theory supports both the benefits of
having consumers communicate with people who are similar to them
but also with people who are different. Consumers’ ability to adapt their
C.L. Esmark Jones et al.
communication has important implications for the service industry.
Conversing with others perceived to be similar facilitates more pro­
ductive and concise communication (Gallois and Giles, 2015). While
companies can benefit from encouraging employees to communicate
with consumers of similar ethnic backgrounds (Ludwig et al., 2013), it
does not mean that companies must find employees who perfectly match
every consumer demographic. Interestingly, consumers speaking to a
representative who is considered different may adapt their communi­
cation behavior to inject much more detailed information into the
conversation (Gallois and Giles, 2015). The additional information
provided by a consumer should help the service agent to provide a better
recovery response to the consumer request because CAT recognizes the
advantage of convergence and divergence. As CAT does not specify
when and what characteristics best facilitate communication, it is
crucial to determine whether convergence or divergence in communi­
cation is more effective in an online service chat setting.
2.2. Perceptions of authenticity
Chatbots, or AI-powered simulated conversation (Ho, Hancock, and
Miner, 2018), have advanced to a level where users of an online chat
service feature cannot distinguish between a chatbot or a live agent. One
study found that 38% of users on a chat were not sure if they were
communicating with a human or AI, and an additional 18% were
incorrect in identifying their conversation partner as real or bot
(Wuenderlich and Paluch, 2017). Much research about chatbot
communication (e.g., Liebrecht and van Hooijdonk, 2019; Van Pinxte­
ren et al., 2020) suggests the application of interpersonal communica­
tion theories and patterns to increase authenticity and increase the
user’s engagement with chat services.
However, the process of signaling an authentic interaction with av­
atars becomes a bit more complex. On one hand, when consumers
experience anthropomorphic characters, they tend to view those char­
acters more favorably as they become more human-like (Mori et al.,
2012) and users also react less strongly to anthropomorphized digital
assistants, which helps them to make a satisfying choice (Pizzi, Scarpi, &
Pantano, 2020). On the other hand, prior studies have shown consumers
dislike technology that looks very human-like but moves robotically
(Mori, 1970). These instances decrease familiarity and cause uneasiness,
a phenomenon known as the uncanny valley (Hsu, 2012). These findings
suggest consumer preference for and reaction to an online chat agent is
likely going to hinge on perceptions of authenticity of the agent. We
define authenticity perceptions as “the extent to which a user feels the
agent is a real individual with the capability to feel and experience
empathy while communicating in a natural manner.” Authenticity per­
ceptions are operationalized by how real the user believes the customer
representative to be through assessments of individuality (Wentzel,
2009), empathy (MacInnis et al., 2002), and naturalness (Zhu and
Meyers-Levy, 2009).
When communicating with a service representative online, not much
is known about the representative except what can be seen. The most
notable similarities and differences are likely to occur between the
perceived race and gender of the representative and of the user.
Research on person construal suggests that humans categorize faces
based on race and gender almost instantaneously and this categorization
process can serve as the basis for subsequent evaluations of an individual
(Volpert-Esmond and Bartholow, 2019). These fundamental signaling
effects of human characteristics are supported by schema congruity
theory (Mandler, 1982), which has been applied to explain why
matching an anthropomorphized product characteristic to the promoted
human schema can increase perceptions of a product being human
(Aggarwal and McGill, 2007). Similarly, using gendered words like “he”
or “she” can increase humanness and gender congruity (the product is
male and the user is male) can increase product evaluations (Van den
Hende and Mugge, 2014). As a result, leveraging the signaling effects of
gender with chat agents could shape authenticity.
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Journal of Business Research 144 (2022) 703–716
Perceived differences of an agent based on demographic signals is
likely contingent on the focal consumer too. Learned communication
differences between men and women may shape the perceived authen­
ticity of a chat experience. Tannen (1990) posits genderlect theory to
explain how different genders communicate by examining the preferred
speech styles of men and women. A study by Coates (1986) suggests that
men and women communicate differently which could impact authen­
ticity. For example, women may attempt to establish a connection
through communication, while men attempt to establish and reinforce
status and control a conversation. Women are perceived to be more
polite, cooperative, and facilitative in a conversation. Therefore, women
are perceived to be more relationship goal-oriented and more likely to
reduce inequalities (Coates, 1986). Thus, consumers (both male and
female) may feel that communicating concerns to a female customer
representative is more desirable as a female is capable of deeper ac­
commodation in a conversation. While some research shows increased
trust and credibility of a virtual sales agent when genders are congruent
(Beldad, Hegner, & Hoppen, 2015), this preference for gender congruity
when communicating is stronger for women than it is for men (Rudman
and Goodwin, 2004). This perception seems consistent with common
marketing practices since 68% of customer service representatives are
women, and customer service is the ninth leading occupation for women
(Occupations, 2013).
Additionally, the application default for the two most popular
customer service/personal assistant AIs, Siri and Alexa, is female
(Gunkel, 2012). This suggests that consumers may perceive greater
convergence in communication with female customer service repre­
sentatives. However, research does not examine the impact of a female
versus male image when communicating with online chat representa­
tives. According to communication accommodation theory and its
offshoot of muted group theory (Ardener, 1975), women are more likely
to converge with men’s way of communication than men with women’s
due to the status historically attributed to men (Tannen, 1990). Women
can communicate with other women, but when communicating with
men, women are more likely and able to adjust their communication
style than men are to change theirs to fit that of women. In general, men
are more likely to use divergent communication strategies and women
are more likely to accommodate (Willemyns et al., 1997).
Since the perceived adaptation of language style to the preferences
and expectations of others helps to create positive attitudes (Sparks and
Areni, 2002), reduce perceptions of service bias (Harris et al., 2003),
encourage communicative understanding (Mariani et al., 2019), and
limit cultural and social criticism (Marlow and Giles, 2010), perceived
convergence may promote cohesion in encounters and may act to
reinforce communication congruence (Beldad et al., 2015). Moreover,
according to the relevant literature, convergence is also tied to genu­
ineness, warmth, and authenticity (Sparks, 1994; Welkowitz and Kuc,
1973), whereas divergence is seen as less authentic (Sparks, 1994). All of
this suggests that women are more likely to converge in communication
and should be perceived as more authentic:
H1: Avatar gender will have an impact on perceptions of authenticity
such that female avatars will be perceived as more authentic than
male avatars.
2.3. Engagement
Customer engagement is defined as a customer’s resource investment
in an interaction with a brand (Kumar et al., 2019) and can be viewed as
a state versus an enduring process applied to a specific encounter and an
overall relationship (Brodie et al., 2011). In a customer service recovery
communication context, engagement implies that two parties come
together and that the consumer is therefore actively interacting with a
service provider to find a solution. This is different from involvement,
which is defined as “doing to” in a single line of action, as opposed to
C.L. Esmark Jones et al.
engagement, which involves “doing with” and is more reciprocal (Fer­
lazzo, 2011). In resolving a customer service issue, engaging the
customer is critical as it increases the likelihood that the firm and con­
sumer can co-create a solution that restores the relationship. Specif­
ically, when consumers are engaged in an online customer service
interaction, firms can benefit from more cohesive collaboration
(Sawhney et al., 2005), increasing the odds of enhancing the consumer
relationship (Vivek et al., 2012).
To bolster engagement in the customer service interaction, firms can
capitalize on the convergence of similarity to enhance communication
and establish effective interactions with customers (Giles et al., 1991).
For instance, customers that communicate with service representatives
conveying similar qualities (e.g., age, gender, socioeconomic status)
need to adapt less to reach communication convergence and may require
less strain to communicate effectively (Giles et al., 2007). As this process
is less strained, a consumer can confidently convey information without
fear of misinterpretation. The more similar the consumer is to the avatar,
the more likely they both are to accommodate overall communication,
thus leading to an easier convergence of communication styles. The
more dissimilar the two parties are, the more likely divergence is to
occur, as is over-accommodation, leading to condescending communi­
cation perceptions (Giles and Ogay, 2007). When communication con­
verges, it is perceived as warm (Sparks, 1994; Welkowitz and Kuc, 1973)
or genuine, whereas divergence is seen as less authentic (Sparks, 1994).
The more similar the speech style used is perceived to be more authentic
and should increase the likelihood a consumer will engage with the
representative (De Looze et al., 2014). Since genuine communication
helps to immerse the individual in content (Neubaum & Krämer, 2017)
and promotes investment of effort in interactions (Hollebeek, 2011), it
will lead to greater interactivity with the avatar (Ferlazzo, 2011) during
a service recovery. Therefore:
H2: Perceptions of authenticity will have a positive relationship with
engagement.
2.4. Loyalty and satisfaction
When convergence is high, greater engagement can influence the
likelihood that a consumer will continue communicating effectively
with the representative during a recovery, achieving a more favorable
outcome than if less engagement had occurred. An individual on the
receiving end of a high level of accommodation is likely to develop a
greater sense of self-esteem and satisfaction than a receiver of low ac­
commodation (Giles et al., 1979). As a customer takes on an active role
to fill a need, effective engagement can lead to relationship enhance­
ments (Hollebeek, 2011) and brand commitment (Raïes et al., 2015).
Therefore, the user’s level of satisfaction with the experience can be
further enhanced (Maxham and Netemeyer, 2002). Additionally, just as
easier accommodation can lead to more communication, customer
engagement can positively impact the company’s continued use through
future loyalty (So et al., 2014).
As companies implement chat services to facilitate consumer
engagement, proper procedures should be taken to determine the
necessary accommodations to facilitate communication during a re­
covery as well. Positively rated conversations will most likely lead to
“further communication between the interlocutors and other members
of their respective groups” (Gudykunst, 2005). However, these con­
sumers may be less likely to accommodate more differences as the
necessary resources may lead to a reduced level of engagement in future
communication. Since more similar communicators provide easier ac­
commodation, it is assumed that this process will be rated as more
positive. The consumer may then choose to seek out the provider in the
future and speak favorably of the service recovery encounter (Homburg
and Fürst, 2005). Therefore, a consumer will be more likely to engage
with the communicator in the future and with a heightened sense of
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Journal of Business Research 144 (2022) 703–716
loyalty. This aspect of engagement addresses how communicators
perceive their conversational partners’ behavior and its effects on future
encounters between the two groups. Thus:
H3: Engagement will have a positive relationship with a) loyalty and
b) satisfaction.
2.5. Interactions between Gender, Race, and dress
Tannen (1990) describes gender differences in communication as
cross-cultural indicating that genders communicate differently regard­
less of culture. Women are more likely to converge and accommodate
communications than men across many contexts and cultures (Gallois
and Pittam, 1996), however research using CAT has pointed out the
greater difference in communication and bias when groups are different
on two categorical elements (e.g., race and gender) in comparison to one
categorial group difference (Hornsey and Gallois, 1998). While there’s a
greater likelihood of divergence between parties of different races (Giles
and Ogay, 2007), therefore making convergence even more necessary
(Ayoko, Hartel, & Callan, 2002), group membership based on ethnicity
alone does not fully explain intercultural accommodation. Research
examining communication by ethnicity or race must account for other
group memberships, such as gender (Gallois and Pittam, 1996).
However, little research has examined the interaction of race and
gender in relation to communication. One study showed that the nega­
tive evaluations of an ethnic out-group were reversed when the out-
group speaker was female, possibly on account of the out-group fe­
male being perceived as less of a threat (Gallois and Pittam, 1996). This
could be due to women being more likely to use convergence strategies
(Willemyns et al., 1997) which is even more essential to bridge the gap
in communication between different races. Ultimately, there is a greater
need for convergence across different races (Ayoko et al., 2002), which
women are more likely to do (Willemyns et al., 1997) in order to achieve
many positive evaluations such as to be accepted, gain approval
(Hornsey and Gallois, 1998), improve confidence, be more liked, and
show interpersonal involvement (Hornsey and Gallois, 1998). Further,
as indicated for hypothesis one, convergence is associated with
authenticity (Sparks, 1994; Welkowitz and Kuc, 1973) where divergence
is perceived as less authentic (Sparks, 1994). Therefore, the positive
relationship between a female avatar and authenticity should be stron­
ger when the avatar is perceived as a different race than the chat service
user.
Formally:
H4: The race congruence of an avatar moderates the effects of gender
on authenticity to the extent that when an avatar is of a different
race, female (versus male) avatars will have a more positive effect on
authenticity and this effect is diminished when avatars are of similar
race.
As previously established, research suggests that men and women
speak and communicate differently (Coates, 1986). It may be that how
each gender communicates through clothing has an impact on authen­
ticity as well. Muted group theory (Kramarae, 1981) would support this
notion, suggesting that women need to dress professionally to
compensate for their muted voice. Men, on the other hand, can dress
more casually as their voice has always been heard. Muted group theory
might also suggest that a female in a customer service job is perceived as
being in a more professional career because of women’s history in the
workplace. A man in a customer service job, by contrast, may be
perceived as being in a more casual job role compared to other male
counterparts. Therefore, it would seem realistic that a woman should
dress professionally and a male more casually for the same job.
Additionally, CAT research has shown that males might consider a
woman doing the same job as an undermining of power, a phenomenon
referred to as workplace gender non-accommodation (Boggs and Giles,
C.L. Esmark Jones et al.
1999). When men feel women threaten certain parts of their job, they
may start to adopt non-accommodating behavior to signal to women
they aren’t wanted, such as using gendered talk (Boggs and Giles, 1999)
or dressing more casually. By dressing more casually, a male service
provider may choose to engage in communication divergence to
differentiate and distinguish himself from others, and this incongruity
can enhance perceived authenticity. On the other hand, a female service
provider may choose to maintain more formal attire and reinforce the
congruity of the customer’s expectations to increase authenticity.
Finally, research on person construal suggests that signals an indi­
vidual sends with their attire can also alter how others categorize them
(Quadflieg et al., 2011). In the context of an online chat with a service
firm, consumers expect to interact with a service professional, so
viewing a professionally dressed avatar won’t alter their construal
process, which should allow the default gender effects to play out (i.e.,
female avatars signal more authenticity). However, if consumers are
exposed to an avatar that is casually dressed, this inconsistent signal
could detract from the gender categorization effects, reducing the
authenticity gains for female avatars. Taken together, it is predicted that
female representatives are seen as more authentic when dressed pro­
fessionally, and the differences between male and female avatars is
reduced when avatars are dressed casually. Thus:
H5: The clothing of an avatar moderates the effects of gender on
authenticity to the extent that when an avatar is professionally
dressed, female (versus male) avatars will have a more positive effect
on authenticity and this effect is diminished when avatars are
featured in casual dress.
3. Overview of the studies
Three studies were conducted to fully unravel the influence of
authenticity perceptions on consumer loyalty and satisfaction (see Fig. 1
for variables tested in each study). Study 1 aims to examine the mech­
anism by which authenticity perceptions lead to loyalty and satisfaction.
Moreover, alternative explanations of efficiency and effectiveness are
ruled out to show that engagement is ultimately superior to explaining
the proposed relationships. Study 2 further examines gender’s impact on
engagement through word and character count as well as electroen­
cephalogram (EEG) measurements of participants in a chat experience.
Lastly, Study 3 examines the moderating effect of the avatar’s race being
different or similar to the user and the impact on the perception of
authenticity in Part A, while Part B examines the interaction of gender
and the avatar being dressed either professionally or casually.
4. STUDY 1: Examination of authenticity and its impact on
engagement
Study 1 examines H1-3, and the serial mediation effect of avatar
image on loyalty and satisfaction, as evidenced through authenticity and
engagement. The avatar image is expected to have a relationship with
authenticity perceptions such that an image of a real1 female repre­
sentative will have higher perceptions of authenticity than a male
representative (H1). Authenticity is then predicted to have a positive
relationship with engagement (H2), and engagement will have a posi­
tive relationship with loyalty (H3a) and satisfaction (H3b).
In addition to these proposed effects, we also supplement our
mediation models by assessing the extent to which alternative expla­
nations could capture the process. Specifically, according to communi­
cation accommodation theory (Tannen, 1990) and muted group theory
1
A similarly designed study found that an image of a real woman (M=3.86)
was significantly more authentic than a detailed cartoon image (M=3.36,
p<.05) and a simple cartoon image (M=3.16, p<.01). Therefore, real images of
men and women were used for the manipulations.
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Journal of Business Research 144 (2022) 703–716
(Kramarae, 1981), women are seen as more genuine communicators,
presumably leading to greater engagement with the female avatars.
However, instead of engagement explaining the relationship between
authenticity and loyalty and satisfaction, it could be that effectiveness or
efficiency is mediating the relationship between authenticity and the
final dependent variables. As women are better communicators, they
would be seen as being more efficient or effective. As such, efficiency
and effectiveness are both investigated as potential alternative expla­
nations to engagement.
4.1. Procedure
A total of 139 participants took the survey through an online U.S.
consumer panel (72.7% between the ages of 21–40, and 54.7% female;
11 additional participants (4 from the female condition, 7 from the male
condition) were deleted due to missed attention checks). Participants
were given a brief overview of the study and asked for their consent.
Once participants agreed, they were given instructions and randomly
shown one of two manipulated scenarios: a customer service online chat
with an image of a female or male representative (see Web Appendix A
for full scenarios). Each participant was exposed to a service failure
where they had bought a pair of shoes online that were late in arriving,
and they found a customer service chat feature with the following chat
bubble (then one of the two scenarios was presented). Participants were
not told if the avatar represented a real person or a chatbot, as the
purpose was to capture the signaling effects of the avatar.
Participants were then asked to answer survey questions regarding
authenticity (α = 0.94; MacInnis et al., 2002; Wentzel, 2009; Zhu and
Meyers-Levy, 2009) (all constructs, items, and reliabilities are available
in Table 1; descriptive statistics and correlations are available in Web
Appendix B), effectiveness (α = 0.91; Bolton et al., 2007), efficiency (α
= 0.92; Mathwick et al., 2001), engagement (α = 0.77; Hausman, 2004),
loyalty (α = 0.94; Homburg and Fürst, 2005), and satisfaction (α = 0.91;
Maxham and Netemeyer, 2002).
The authenticity items captured the individuality (Wentzel, 2009),
empathy (MacInnis et al., 2002), and naturalness (Zhu and Meyers-Levy,
2009) of the customer service agent. For engagement, the items focused
on capturing the investments that consumers made in the interaction
and the effort taken to co-create a solution to their customer service
issue, capturing the idea that engagement is best measured as the con­
sumer’s investment of resources into an interaction (Kumar et al., 2019).
Finally, satisfaction and loyalty captured the overall happiness of con­
sumers based on the interaction as well as their intentions to support the
firm through positive word of mouth and repurchase in the future.
Discriminant validity was assessed among the constructs using Fornell
and Larcker’s (1981) criterion. All of the constructs achieved discrimi­
nant validity, as the average variance extracted for each construct was
greater than the squared correlations between any pairs of constructs
(see Web Appendix B for the correlations between constructs and AVEs).
In addition to the primary measures of interest, a realism question
was asked on a 1 = not realistic to 7 = very realistic scale, and partic­
ipants found the scenario more than moderately realistic (M = 5.53, SD
= 1.29). A reading check question was also asked about halfway through
the survey to ensure participants were paying attention; any participants
who failed the reading check question were redirected out of the survey
and their responses were not used. Further, participants were asked a
manipulation check question regarding the gender of their avatar (i.e.,
whether they had been assigned a man or woman) and cases with
incorrect responses were not used for analysis.
4.2. Results
To test H1-3, the data were examined with 5,000 bootstrap samples
using model 81 of PROCESS version 3.5 for SPSS (Hayes, 2017). In an
effort, to provide a conservative test of mediation, the results presented
are based on a model where engagement, efficiency, and effectiveness
C.L. Esmark Jones et al.
Fig. 1. Conceptual model.
are simultaneously considered as competitive mediators in the serial
mediation process (see Fig. 1, study 1).2 Given the theoretical focus on
the role of engagement, we first discuss these results, in isolation, and
then present the robustness tests involving efficiency and effectiveness.
H1 predicts that a female avatar will be perceived as more authentic
than a male avatar (female = 1 and male = 0). The results show a sig­
nificant effect of avatar gender on authenticity (a1 = 0.53, t = 2.56, p <
.05; see Web Appendix C for all path coefficients in Study 1). These
results support H1, showing that an avatar depicting a female repre­
sentative is perceived as more authentic than a male avatar image.
H2 predicts a positive relationship between authenticity and
engagement, and the results also support this hypothesis (b1 = 0.33, t =
5.18, p < .001). H3 predicts that engagement will have a positive rela­
tionship with a) loyalty and b) satisfaction. Both variables of H3 are fully
supported, where higher levels of engagement lead to more loyalty (d1L
= 0.25, t = 2.64, p < .01) and satisfaction (d1S = 0.22, t = 3.40p < .001).
The direct effects (c’) of avatar image (X) on satisfaction (c’= − 0.01,
2 3
Data analyzed with avatar gender as the independent (X) variable,
authenticity (M1), engagement (M2), effectiveness (M3), and efficiency (M4) as
mediators, and loyalty as the dependent (Y) variable. A second analysis was run
with satisfaction as the dependent (Y) variable. Female was coded as 1 and Male
as 0.
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Journal of Business Research 144 (2022) 703–716
t = -0.09, 95% CI: [-0.25, 0.22]) and loyalty (c’= 0.11, t = 0.62, 95% CI:
[-0.24, 0.46]) were not significant3. However, the indirect effects are
consistent with the notion that a female avatar leads to more loyalty
(a1b1d1L = 0.04, 95% CI: [0.001, 0.12]) and satisfaction (a1b1d1S = 0.04,
95% CI: [0.01, 0.10]) serially through authenticity and engagement.
Additionally, the indirect effects of avatar gender on loyalty (a1b4L =
0.28, 95% CI: [0.07, 0.53]) and satisfaction (a1b4S = 0.17, 95% CI:
[0.04, 0.31]) mediated through authenticity alone were significant. All
other indirect effects were insignificant.
4.3. Alternative explanations
In addition to the hypothesized effects, we included competing me­
diators of efficiency and effectiveness for simultaneous assessment with
PROCESS model 81. The results revealed that authenticity did not have a
significant relationship with efficiency (b2 = -0.15, t = -1.65, p = .10) or
effectiveness (b3 = -0.12, t = -1.19, p = .24). Moreover, participants who
To compare the DVs simultaneously, a MANOVA of avatar gender onto
loyalty and satisfaction showed a significant effect of avatar gender on loyalty
(F(1,137)= 4.20, p<.05, ηp2= 0.05) but not onto satisfaction F(1,137)= 1.46,
p= .23, ηp2= 0.01) suggesting that the effect of avatar gender is stronger for
loyalty.
C.L. Esmark Jones et al. Journal of Business Research 144 (2022) 703–716

Table 1
Constructs, items, and reliabilities.1
Construct & Definition Items
Reliability Study 1/3A/3B

Authenticity Individuality (Wentzel, 2009)

The extent to which a user feels the service agent is a real individual with the capability to
feel and experience empathy while communicating in a natural manner0.94 / 0.94/ 0.93
– When I think of the employee, I see a person with a unique set of
characteristics
– I have a good idea about who and how the employee really is
– I would think of the employee as a unique individual rather than as an
anonymous salesperson

Empathy (MacInnis et al., 2002)

– I could relate to the employee in the chat box

– I felt the employee was right there in the experience
– I was experiencing the same thoughts and feelings as the employee

Naturalness (Zhu and Meyers-Levy, 2009)

– I would feel that the customer service representative is: unnatural/natural

– I would feel that the customer service representative is: inorganic/organic
– I would feel that the customer service representative is: artificial/real
Efficiency Mathwick et al. 2001:
Extent to which a user believes the chat feature is an efficient use of time
0.92 / na/ na – Using this chat feature would be an efficient way to manage my time
– Using this chat feature would make my life easier
– Using this chat feature would fit with my schedule
Effectiveness Bolton et al., 2007: I think the chat experience and representative set-up:
Extent to which a user believes the chat feature accomplishes what it should
0.91/na/ na – Does not work/ works very well
– Is a bad idea/ is a good idea
– Is not very effective/ is very effective
Engagement Hausman, 2004: While communicating with the customer service
Consumer investment in the customer service interaction to assist the agent in finding a solution. representative, I would actively:
0.77 / 0.80/ 0.81
– Give advice regarding recovery options
– Help to correct my purchase
– Encourage suggestions for appropriate response
– Participate extensively in planning future actions
– Discuss options for improvements
– Consider the claims made by the representative
Loyalty Homburg and Fürst, 2005: How likely would you be to:
How likely the user would be to say nice things and use the company again
0.94 / 0.95/ 0.93 – Say positive things about the company to other people
– Recommend this company to someone who seeks your advice
– Encourage friends and relatives to do business with this company
– Consider this company to buy shoes from in the future
– To more business with this company
Satisfaction Maxham and Netemeyer, 2002: After the customer service encounter,
The level of satisfaction the user had with the experience I would feel
0.91/ 0.92/ 0.85
– Satisfied with my overall experience
– As a whole, not satisfied with the customer service representative (r)
– Satisfied with the overall quality of the encounter
1
All items measured on a 1–7 Likert type scale.

perceived the experience as more efficient did not have higher levels of
loyalty (d2L = 0.12, t = 1.16, p = .25) or of satisfaction (d2S = 0.004, t =
0.06, p = .96). Similarly, participants who found the representative as
more effective did not feel more loyalty (d3L = -0.05, t = -0.56, p = .58)
or satisfaction (d3S = -0.03, t = -0.49, p = .62).
Mediated paths (from avatar gender to satisfaction and loyalty)
involving efficiency or effectiveness were not significant with respect to
mediation. Taken together, the non-significant paths of efficiency and
effectiveness to satisfaction and loyalty, along with the non-significant
serial mediation effects regarding efficiency and effectiveness, suggest
that engagement is the more complete predictor of loyalty and satis­
faction in regard to explaining the relationship with authenticity.
4.4. Discussion
The results show that a female image has significantly higher per­
ceptions of authenticity than a male image, which increased
engagement and, ultimately, satisfaction and loyalty. More specifically,
the results showed that authenticity led to increased loyalty and satis­
faction as explained through engagement, supporting serial mediation.
As a robustness check, we also tested an alternative model where
effectiveness and efficiency were included as mediators. These results
revealed that neither efficiency nor effectiveness had significant re­
lationships in the model, providing additional support for the proposed
effects. Taken together, the results suggest that a female image makes
the online chat experience seem more authentic, which leads to more
engagement, and ultimately to more loyalty and less satisfaction.
Companies should consider this when determining how best to design an
automated online customer service chat feature aimed at aiding in ser­
vice recoveries, specifically by using a female image of an actual person
to increase authenticity and encourage engagement with the represen­
tative, thereby increasing loyalty to, and satisfaction with, the
experience.

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C.L. Esmark Jones et al.
5. STUDY 2: A closer look at engagement
The purpose of Study 2 is to further examine different avatar images
as well as the variable of engagement. Study 2 consists of two experi­
ments that examine the effects of avatar gender on two alternative
measures of engagement. Part A assesses engagement by measuring the
number of letters and words (Dixson et al., 2017) consumers generate in
response to a customer service representative. Part B measures
engagement through an EEG monitoring brain activity.
5.1. Part A: Procedure
A total of 170 participants were recruited from a U.S. online con­
sumer panel (62.4% between the ages of 21–40, and 60% female).
Participants were given a brief overview of the study and asked for their
consent. Once participants agreed, they were given instructions similar
to the set-up of Study 1. They were told they had bought shoes that were
late and found an online customer service chat feature. They were then
randomly shown one of two video scenarios that depicted a computer
screen, the opening of a generic website, and the opening of a customer
service chat feature that randomly showed an image of one service
representative (male or female; see Web Appendix D for video stills). At
the end of the video, when participants were shown one of two customer
service representatives, their representative was depicted as typing and
saying, “Hi, I am [Stephanie/James]. How can I help you today?” Par­
ticipants were again shown an image of their customer service agent and
asked, “Please respond to the customer service representative by de­
tailing the problem you have.” Participants then typed their problem to
the customer service representative and completed the survey by
answering additional and demographic questions. The latter were used
to determine whether the participant had correctly perceived the gender
of the avatar. Missed perceptions were not used.
5.2. Part A: Results
The number of characters and words for each response was counted.
ANOVAs were used to test whether a female avatar led to more
engagement as measured through the character and word count of the
participant’s response. The first analysis examined a dependent variable
of word count and results showed a significant impact (F(1,168) = 4.61,
p < .05) where participants typed more words (M = 19.11) to a female
avatar than they did to a male avatar (M = 16.11). The second analysis
examined character count and yielded similar results (F(1,168) = 5.31,
p < .05); participants typed more characters (M = 94.14) to a female
avatar than to a male (M = 78.20).
Participant gender had a significant main effect on word count (F
(1,168) = 4.39, p < .05), Mfemale = 18.74, Mmale = 15.75) and character
count (F(1,168) = 4.02, p < .05, Mfemale = 91.47, Mmale = 77.28).
However, interactions of avatar gender by participant gender were not
significant, showing that while female users typically engage more with
an avatar than male users, both male and female users engage more with
a female avatar than a male avatar.
5.3. Part B: Procedure (EEG lab study)
In Part B, a similar process was used, but in addition to the traditional
measures, EEG data were acquired from 68 undergraduate participants
(65.8% female) from a major Southeastern university for minimal
course credit. During data collection, all participants wore a B-Alert ×
10 EEG headset that operated at 256HZ (256 samples per second) and
collected EEG from electrodes at sites Fz, F3, F4, Cz, C3, C4, POz, P3, and
P4. The EEG output from the data collection reported engagement scores
from all utilized participants, which were afterward averaged to create
one mean engagement score for each participant. EEG has been used and
validated for measuring engagement as it reflects “information-gath­
ering, visual scanning, and sustained attention” (Berka et al., 2007, page
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Journal of Business Research 144 (2022) 703–716
239) and is the best method for measuring engagement (iMotions,
2019).
Participants showed up to the biometrics lab and were informed
about the EEG instrumentation and data collection process. Each
participant was then fitted with the EEG headset and connectivity was
tested to ensure strong EEG readings. Participants completed a nine-
minute baseline task (supplied by ABM) prior to receiving the manipu­
lations. After the baseline task, participants received manipulations
similar to that of Part A. Participants were told their shoe shipment was
late and that they found an online service chat feature. Participants
watched a short video depicting the website and were shown either a
female or male avatar (video stills available in Web Appendix D). They
were then shown a screenshot of their avatar and asked to type their
problem to the avatar. Participants then answered several additional
and demographic questions.
EEG was continuously recorded, but engagement data were only
used from the manipulated portions (e.g., when the avatar was being
shown to the participant and a response was requested; data were not
used from the instructions or survey demographic portions). Data were
exported from the iMotions software. iMotions collects frequency-based
signals from the brain that are associated with engagement and gener­
ates engagement scores reflecting alertness and direction of attention
towards stimuli, with higher numbers indicating more engagement.
Engagement is constantly measured and multiple engagement scores are
given every second per participant. Engagement values were averaged
across all epochs to get a global engagement score per participant. While
values of engagement can have extreme levels at 0 or 1, the data
collected here ranges from 0.21 to 0.57, M = 0.39, SD = 0.09.
5.4. Part B: Results
An ANOVA was conducted with avatar gender as the independent
variable and engagement scores as the dependent variable. The results
show a significant relationship between the avatar’s gender and
participant engagement (F(1,66) = 4.09, p < .05). Specifically, female
avatars had a higher score of participant engagement (M = 0.41) than
male avatars (M = 0.37). These results support the findings in Part A,
showing that people will engage more with a female avatar than a male.
Gender of the participant was not a significant predictor of engagement
(F(1, 66) = 0.72, p = n.s.) and when conducted, the interaction of avatar
gender and participant gender was also not significant (F(3,64) = 0.07,
p = n.s.).
5.5. Discussion
Study 2 strengthens the previous findings by applying different
measures of actual engagement using word/character count to a
customer service scenario in Part A and brain activity via EEG mea­
surements in Part B. Study 2 shows that participants engaged with fe­
male avatars significantly more than male avatars, providing support for
H1. The studies strengthen previous findings by showing it is not just
intent to engage but actual behavior and brain activity in response to the
stimuli.
6. STUDY 3: Examination of gender and race of the Avatar
The purpose of Study 3 is to replicate and extend the previous
findings with regard to avatar image on perceptions of authenticity,
engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction. Study 3 further examines the
impact of gender of the avatar with race congruence (Part A) and
whether the avatar is professionally or casually dressed (Part A Part B).
H1 predicts a main effect of gender, with females being more authentic
than male avatars. H4 suggests that the gender of the avatar will not be
as important if the race of the avatar is the same as that of the partici­
pant, but if the race is different, a female avatar will be seen as more
authentic. H5 suggests that the type of clothing worn by the avatar will
C.L. Esmark Jones et al. Journal of Business Research 144 (2022) 703–716

impact the relationship between gender and authenticity, such that the
relationship between gender and authenticity will be negated when the
avatars are in casual clothing.

6.1. Part A: Procedure

A total of 237 participants took the survey through an online U.S.

consumer panel (70% between the ages of 21–40, and 52.7% female).
Participants were given a brief overview of the study and were asked for
their consent. Once participants agreed, they were given instructions
and randomly shown one of four manipulated scenarios (male or female
avatar; white or African American avatar). As in Study 1, each partici­
pant was told they had bought a pair of shoes online that were late in
arriving, and they found a customer service chat feature with the
following chat bubble (then one of the four scenarios was presented).
Participants were then asked to answer survey questions regarding
authenticity (α = 0.94; MacInnis et al., 2002; Wentzel, 2009; Zhu and
Meyers-Levy, 2009) (all constructs, items, and reliabilities are available
in Table 1; descriptive statistics and correlations are available in Web
Appendix B), engagement (α = 0.80; Hausman 2004), loyalty (α = 0.95;
Homburg and Fürst 2005), and satisfaction (α = 0.92; Maxham and
Netemeyer, 2002). Discriminant validity was assessed among the con­
structs using Fornell and Larcker’s (1981) criterion. All of the constructs
achieved discriminant validity as the average variance extracted for
each construct was greater than the squared correlations between any
pairs of constructs (see Web Appendix B for the correlations between
constructs and AVEs).
A realism question was asked on a 1 = not realistic to 7 = very
realistic scale, and participants found the scenario more than moder­
Fig. 2. Study 3 Results.
ately realistic (M = 5.49, SD = 1.36). A reading check question was
asked about halfway through the survey to ensure participants were
H2 predicts that authenticity will have a positive relationship with
paying attention; any participants who failed the reading check question
engagement and is also supported in Study 3 (d1 = 0.30, t = 5.81, p <
(n = 43; ranging from 8 to 15 missed in each cell) were redirected out of
.001). Gender did not have a direct relationship with engagement (a12 =
the survey and their responses were not used. Further, participants were
-0.20, t = -1.42, p = n.s.). H3 examines the positive relationship between
asked a manipulation check question regarding their avatar (what race
engagement and loyalty (H3a) and satisfaction (H3b). The results show
and gender they received) and cases with incorrect responses (n = 8;
that engagement does have a positive relationship with loyalty (b2L =
ranging from 1 to 3 missed in each cell) were not used for analysis. After
0.28, t = 4.47, p < .001) and satisfaction (b2S = 0.28, t = 6.25, p < .001).
the data were collected, responses were coded to show if the avatar race
Authenticity also had a significant relationship with loyalty (b1L = 0.49,
was different than the participant’s self-reported race.
t = 9.07, p < .001) and satisfaction (b1S = 0.31, t = 8.13, p < .001).
As in Study 1, neither of the direct effects of avatar gender on
6.2. Part A: Results satisfaction (c’S = 0.04, t = 0.40, 95% CI: − 0.15, 0.23) or loyalty (c’L =
0.14, t = 1.02, 95% CI: − 0.13, 0.41) were significant. However, the
To test H1-4, the data were examined using model 83 of PROCESS for indices of moderated mediation effects on both loyalty (a31d1b2L =
SPSS (Hayes, 2017).4 H1 predicts a main effect of gender, with female -0.10, 95% CI: − 0.20, − 0.03) and satisfaction (a31d1b2S = -0.10, 95% CI:
(coded 1) representatives being perceived as more authentic than males − 0.18, − 0.03) are significant, showing that the indirect effects of avatar
(coded 0). A significant effect (a11 = 1.52, t = 6.93, p < .001) shows that gender on satisfaction and loyalty are different across race congruence.
female avatars are perceived as more authentic than male avatars, thus Specifically, the indirect effect of female avatars leading to more loyalty
supporting H1. Difference in race (different race coded 0; same race (0.13, 95% CI: 0.05, 0.24) and satisfaction (0.13; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.23)
coded 1) also had a significant effect (a21 = 0.56, t = 2.54, p < .05) on serially through authenticity and engagement is only significant when
authenticity. H4 predicts that the gender (female/male) and race the avatar is of a different race. The indirect serial mediation effect of
(different/same) of an avatar will interact to impact authenticity. The avatar gender on loyalty (0.04, 95% CI: − 0.01, 0.10) and satisfaction
results show a significant interaction (a31 = -1.11, t = -3.48, p < .001) (0.04, 95% CI: − 0.01, 0.10) is not significant when the avatar is of the
between gender and race similarity (see Fig. 2A for interaction). The same race. The mediation effects of avatar gender on satisfaction (-0.06,
conditional effect of gender on different values of the moderator show 95% CI: − 0.14, 0.02) and loyalty (-0.06, 95% CI: − 0.14, 0.02) through
that gender is not significantly related to authenticity when race is the engagement only were not significant, showing that authenticity is
same (0.41; 95% CI: − 0.05, 0.86), but is significant when the race of the necessary to explain the indirect effect avatar gender and race similarity
avatar is different from the race of the user (1.52, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.95) on satisfaction and loyalty.
where females are seen as more authentic than males. The results sup­
port H4.
6.3. Part B: Procedure

4
Data analyzed with avatar gender as the independent (X; 0=male, 1 = fe­
male) variable, avatar race similarity (W; 0=different race, 1=same race) as the
moderator variable, authenticity (M1) and engagement (M) as mediators, and
loyalty as the dependent (Y) variable. A second analysis was run with satis­
faction as the dependent (Y) variable.
A pretest was conducted to ensure avatar clothing was perceived as
professional or casual, as opinions about clothing appearance can vary.
Participants were shown 1 image of either a man or woman in profes­
sional attire or casual attire (same scenarios used for the main study as
shown in Web Appendix E). They were then asked how much they

711
C.L. Esmark Jones et al.
agreed that the customer service representative was dressed profes­
sionally. Those in a scenario where the agent was dressed professionally
agreed significantly more (M = 6.55) than those where the agent was
dressed casually (M = 2.59, F(1,65) = 184.44, p < .001) and the
manipulation was deemed successful. The gender of the avatar manip­
ulation did not impact professional dress perceptions (F(1,65) = 0.75, p
= .39).
A total of 192 participants took the survey through an online U.S.
consumer panel (sent to nominally compensated participants in the U.S.
with a 90% or greater approval rate; 71.9% between the ages of 21–40,
and 54.2% female). Part B was similar in procedure to Part A, with the
exception of the four shown manipulations. Participants were exposed to
a service failure in which they had ordered a shirt and that the wrong
shirt was sent. They used an online chat feature to correct the mistake
and were shown either a professionally dressed man or woman or a
casually dressed man or woman (scenarios are included in Web Ap­
pendix E).
Participants were then asked to answer survey questions regarding
authenticity (α = 0.93; MacInnis et al., 2002; Wentzel, 2009; Zhu and
Meyers-Levy, 2009) (all constructs, items, and reliabilities are available
in Table 1; descriptive statistics and correlations are available in Web
Appendix B), engagement (α = 0.81; Hausman, 2004), loyalty (α = 0.93;
Homburg and Fürst, 2005), and satisfaction (α = 0.85; Maxham and
Netemeyer, 2002). After participants answered all survey items, a
thought listing was given to participants which told them the purpose of
the study and asked them if they had any other thoughts about the
impact of avatars in online customer service. All the thought listings
were reviewed for any abnormalities, and no obvious problems were
evident.
Discriminant validity was assessed among the constructs using For­
nell and Larcker’s (1981) criterion. All of the constructs achieved
discriminant validity, as the average variance extracted for each
construct was greater than the squared correlations between any pairs of
constructs (see Web Appendix B for the correlations between constructs
and AVEs). A realism question was asked on a 1 = not realistic to 7 =
very realistic scale, and participants found the scenario more than
moderately realistic (M = 5.47, SD = 1.32). A reading check question
was asked about halfway through the survey to ensure participants were
paying attention; any participants who failed the reading check question
(n = 42; ranging 9–14 from each cell) were redirected out of the survey,
and their responses were not used. Participants were also asked to
identify the gender of their representative, and incorrect responses (n =
2) were not used.
6.4. Part B: Results
To test the hypotheses, the data were examined using model 83 of
PROCESS for SPSS (Hayes, 2017).5 The main effect of gender (a11 =
0.54, t = 2.00, p < .05) on authenticity was significant, again supporting
H1, but the main effect of dress was not (a21 = 0.24, t = 0.92, p = .36).
The interaction of gender by dress was significant (a31 = -0.78, t = -2.09,
p < .05) (see Fig. 2B for graph). The conditional effect of gender at
different values of the moderator show that gender is not significantly
related to authenticity when the dress of the avatar is casual (-0.24; 95%
CI: − 0.75, 0.27) but is significant when the dress of the avatar is pro­
fessional (0.54, 95% CI: 0.01, 1.07). The results support H5. When
dressed professionally, female avatars signal more authenticity than
males; but when dressed casually male and female avatars are perceived
similarly.
5
Data analyzed with avatar gender as the independent (X; 1=female,
0=male) variable, dress (W; 0=professional, 1=casual) as the moderator vari­
able, authenticity (M1) and engagement (M) as mediators, and loyalty as the
dependent (Y) variable. A second analysis was run with satisfaction as the
dependent (Y) variable.
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Journal of Business Research 144 (2022) 703–716
H2 predicts that authenticity will have a positive relationship with
engagement and is also supported in Study 3B (d1 = 0.31, t = 6.25, p <
.001). Gender did not have a direct relationship with engagement (a12 =
0.13, t = -1.00, p = 32). H3 examines the positive relationship between
engagement and loyalty (H3a) and satisfaction (H3b). The results show
that engagement does have a positive relationship with loyalty (b2L =
0.22, t = 3.01, p < 0.01) and to satisfaction (b2S = 0.15, t = 2.55, p <
0.05). Authenticity also had a significant relationship with loyalty (b1L
= 0.53, t = 9.54, p < .001) and satisfaction (b1S = 0.35, t = 7.86, p <
.001).
None of the direct effects of avatar gender on satisfaction (c’S = 0.07,
t = 0.65, 95% CI: − 0.14, 0.28) or loyalty (c’L = -0.12, t = -0.92, 95% CI:
− 0.38, 0.14) were significant. However, the indices of moderated
mediation effects on both loyalty (a31d1b2L = -0.05, 95% CI: − 0.13,
− 0.0006) and satisfaction (a31d1b2S = -0.04, 95% CI: − 0.09, − 0.0001)
are significant, showing that the indirect effects of avatar gender on
satisfaction and loyalty are different across avatar dress. Specifically, the
indirect effect of female avatars leading to higher loyalty (0.04, 95% CI:
0.0002, 0.09) and satisfaction (0.03; 95% CI: 0.0007, 0.06) serially
through authenticity and engagement is only significant when the avatar
is professionally dressed. The indirect serial mediation effect of avatar
gender on loyalty (-0.02, 95% CI: − 0.07, 0.02) and satisfaction (-0.01,
95% CI: − 0.04, − 0.01) is not significant when the avatar is dressed
casually.
6.5. Discussion
The results from Study 3 support H1-H5. The results replicate find­
ings from Study 1 by showing that higher perceptions of authenticity in a
customer service online chat recovery experience led to greater
engagement between the participant and service representative. Higher
levels of engagement led to more loyalty intentions and satisfaction on
the part of the user. Study 3 adds to the previous findings by confirming
the main effect of gender and adding moderators of race congruence and
professional dress. Females are overall perceived as more authentic than
males in Part A; however, when the avatar is of the same race, the gender
of the avatar does not impact perceptions of authenticity of the recovery
experience. When the avatar is of a different race, a male avatar gives the
perception of a less authentic experience than a female avatar. Similarly,
the main effect of gender on authenticity was significant in Part B again
showing females to be perceived as more authentic. Additionally, a
professionally dressed female is seen as more authentic than profes­
sionally dressed male. However, this difference in gender was not
evident when the avatars were casually dressed. A post hoc ANOVA was
run with a 4-category IV (male or female; professionally or casually
dressed) on authenticity. Pairwise comparisons add to the findings by
showing that the professionally dressed female (M = 4.95) was signifi­
cantly more authentic than the professional male (M = 4.42, p < .05)
and casual female (M = 4.41, p < .05). However, the professionally
dressed female was not significantly more authentic than the casually
dressed male (M = 4.65, p = .26).
7. Discussion
Across five studies, the results demonstrate that consumers have
clear preferences regarding the traits of avatars when interacting with
chat agents after a service failure. Specifically, the most consistent
finding was that consumers view agents represented by female avatars
as generally more authentic. Male avatars only offer similar signaling
benefits when avatars are dressed casually or when races are congruent.
Study 1 showed that a female avatar depiction is preferential to a male
avatar in terms of increasing authenticity. When authenticity is
increased, engagement is increased, resulting in higher loyalty and
satisfaction. Study 1 also showed that efficiency and effectiveness were
not better mediators in explaining authenticity’s impact on both loyalty
and satisfaction. Study 2 further examined the engagement mechanism
C.L. Esmark Jones et al.
by showing that participants engaged more with female representatives
than males as operationalized with character and word count measures
(Part A) and measurements of EEG (Part B). Lastly, Study 3 demon­
strated that the preference for female avatars is contingent on two fac­
tors. Part A showed that the gender effect was stronger when the service
representative’s race was different from the user. Part B of Study 3
showed that dress impacts the relationship between gender and
authenticity, such that the highest authenticity scores were seen with an
avatar of a professionally dressed woman. When an avatar is shown
featuring a woman dressed casually, perceptions of authenticity
decrease to the point that they are similar to a male avatar.
The findings of these studies have important and clear implications
for managers, who can use said findings to focus on creating more
meaningful interactions with consumers, as well as implications for
marketing, services, and retailing scholars. We discuss these implica­
tions in the following sub-sections.
7.1. Managerial implications
Removing the “Shell.” A primary barrier to the adoption of, and
satisfaction with, AI-based chatbots is that consumers perceive them as
simply “shells” compared to human agents (de Ruyter et al., 2018).
Thus, if firms can increase this perception of authenticity for their
chatbots through the use of properly calibrated avatars, they could glean
the benefits of AI technologies without sacrificing consumer perceptions
of their service. Addressing this core issue was the focus of this research,
and the results are relatively simple yet powerful. All factors held con­
stant, accompanying an online service recovery chat session with a vi­
sual representation of a female agent will increase authenticity and
increase engagement, satisfaction, and loyalty. These effects are
amplified when the female agent is dressed professionally or is of a
different race from the consumer. At scale, this suggests that having a
professionally dressed, minority woman as the primary representation
of a virtual agent would result in the highest customer evaluations.
Increasing Authenticity. This research consistently demonstrates that
increasing authenticity with online chat services can enhance engage­
ment, which spills over to increase satisfaction and loyalty after a service
recovery. These results extend earlier research into chatbots and AI,
reinforcing how critical it is for AI interactions to appear as “real” as
possible to promote co-created solutions. As marketers continue to roll
out new chat service features and customer service innovations to the
market, market tests should focus on understanding perceptions of
authenticity as primary indicators of marketplace adoption, as our re­
sults suggest that this is more important than classic metrics of efficiency
and effectiveness.
7.2. Theoretical implications
Theoretically, these findings have implications for communication
accommodation theory (CAT) and genderlect theory. Genderlect theory
discusses how the two genders have different communication and
speech styles (Tannen, 1990). According to CAT, women are more likely
to accommodate communication styles and converge than men and
divergence is more likely to occur when two parties are of a different
race (Giles and Ogay, 2007). However, the theories do not discuss the
interaction between either race and gender or clothing and gender in
promoting problem-solving. The present research extends these as­
sumptions of communication convergence from face-to-face communi­
cation to images used as avatars. The findings here show that gender and
race interact so that gender is not as important when both parties are of
the same race. However, when the race of the avatar is different, males
are seen as less authentic than a female conversation partner for an
online customer service setting. Additionally, this adds to theory by
showing that increasing authenticity in communication is important for
increased engagement as a consumer perhaps feels less strain in
conversing and is more confident in being understood (De Looze et al.,
713
Journal of Business Research 144 (2022) 703–716
2014). Thus, consumers may feel that they are heard and actively
involved in the service recovery and may feel more satisfied in the
resolution of the service failure. This insight furthers understanding of
communication accommodation theory and genderlect theory by
showing how genders perceive each other with the inclusion of race
differences. Research has shown that high accommodation can lead to
satisfaction (Giles et al., 1979) and the findings here build on that
premise by showing that engagement can also increase satisfaction.
These findings also show that CAT premises hold in online settings,
whereas the majority of CAT research takes place face to face.
While genderlect theory would suggest women are more capable of
convergence and therefore genuine experiences, our findings show that
clothing impacts how authentic each gender is perceived to be. A pro­
fessionally dressed female was seen as the most authentic when
compared to a professionally dressed male or a casually dressed female.
However, a casually dressed male was not significantly different than a
professionally dressed female. This adds to CAT (Boggs and Giles, 1999)
by showing that males behaving in non-accommodating ways in certain
contexts are actually seen as more authentic and influence a customer’s
perceptions of avatar’s individuality. Lastly, research has suggested that
customer engagement positively impacts future loyalty (So et al., 2014).
The present research supports that notion by showing that more
engagement with an online customer service representative can lead to
increased loyalty and satisfaction.
8. Limitations, future research, and conclusion
While the current research has novel findings with important im­
plications, it is not without its limitations and opportunities for future
research. To keep consistency, the studies only used a service failure
depicting a late delivery. Therefore, future studies should focus on in­
teractions that take place in other customer service settings such as
product questions, delivery information, or real-time Q&A. Future
research could also examine authenticity at different points in the ser­
vice experience. Authenticity might be less important when asking a
simple pricing question as opposed to needing a refund or more complex
solutions. Our avatar depictions were clearly perceived as either male or
female. Future research could examine avatars that are gender ambig­
uous. The studies also only looked at variables of gender, dress, and race.
Other variables could be examined in future research such as similarity
between avatar and user in dress styles, attractiveness, facial expres­
sions, accessories, age, or professionalism of a photo. Many people said
in the open-ended thought listings how a professional photo looked like
a stock photo and made them think the representative was not a real
person but a chatbot. Some said lifestyle photos would make the
representative seem more real and relatable. Future research should
examine quality and professionalism of the avatar photo to see if there
are differences in how realistic and relatable it makes the service
experience feel (e.g., professional business photo versus a representative
smiling with their dog). Future research could also examine homophily
in other product and service contexts to examine the impact on social
desirability bias, which some firms may want to avoid. Additionally,
prior research has shown the ability of AI chatbots to communicate by
using natural language to increase perceived authenticity (Rese, Ganster
and Baier, 2020). Future studies could explore an interaction between
the physical appearance of a chat agent and the language used when
communicating a response.
This research used clothing items in the manipulations; the hedonic
or utilitarian nature of the product should be studied moving forward to
determine when/how consumers interact with technologies and to
generalize our findings to more shopping experiences and motivations.
Similarly, as the studies only used a delivery delay scenario regarding
shoes, future research could examine gender differences by product. It
might be that while a female is preferred for an order status question, a
particular gender might be preferred more for stereotypically masculine
or feminine products. For example, users might prefer to get information
C.L. Esmark Jones et al.
about what laptop to buy from a male, as men are seen as more prevalent
in the technology field (Dickey, 2013). A cartoon avatar might be more
acceptable for a Disney customer service website or a dog avatar for
PetSmart online customer service. Future research should look at
different product and service contexts to see what other factors could
impact the relationship between avatar depiction and authenticity. This
potential effect can also be explored in products that are heavily
gendered versus those that are not (i.e., power tools versus cosmetics).
Additionally, the research findings suggest that using appropriate im­
ages coupled with AI can influence the likelihood of customer engage­
ment and usage. This suggests ethical dilemmas could arise when
attempting to sway customers in what could be deemed as deceptive
practices. For instance, some countries may require companies disclose
when they use AI bots when conversing with customers. A disclosure
may then alter the ways in which the consumer interacts with the chat
feature. Moreover, recent research examining the “chatbot disclosure
dilemma” demonstrates that disclosing that a failed service recovery was
managed by an AI bot can buffer a firm from negative customer conse­
quences (Mozafari, Weiger, and Hammerschmidt, 2021). Integrating
these findings with our results suggests that firms need to engage in a
balancing act as signaling authenticity without disclosure increases the
odds of a satisfactory recovery, but could remove this potential buffer if
the recovery doesn’t go well. Future research could provide new insight
into how these effects can play out in parallel. In addition, future studies
should examine consumer reactions to being misled that chatbots are
real, the policies that marketers can implement to reduce misuse of AI
chatbot avatars, and the implementation of new technologies to mitigate
negative encounters.
As technological advances continue and companies invest more in
online customer service chats, chatbots, and AI to increase productivity
and strategic advantage, understanding how consumers react to online
customer service chats is becoming more vital. Chatbots are on the rise
for their benefits to companies and quick response time to consumers,
but users have not fully bought into interacting with a chatbot over a live
person. The depicted picture for an online service chat has not been
examined in its relation to authenticity and engagement in the current
literature. The research done here fills several important gaps to show
how an avatar can lead to an authentic experience, ultimately impacting
engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction. While there is more research to be
done, these findings are one step towards better understanding online
service chat features that aid service recoveries and how their presen­
tation impacts the user.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Carol L. Esmark Jones: Conceptualization, Writing - original draft,
Writing- review & editing, Visualization, Investigation, Formal analysis,
Methodology. Tyler Hancock: Conceptualization, Writing - original
draft, Writing - review & editing, Methodology. Brett Kazandjian:
Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft,
Methodology. Clay M. Voorhees: Conceptualization, Writing - review &
editing, Methodology, Supervision.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.01.012.
714
Journal of Business Research 144 (2022) 703–716
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Carol L. Esmark Jones is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Ala­
bama. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee and her research has been
published in the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Retailing, Journal of the Academy
of Marketing Science, Journal of International Business, Journal of Operations Management,
Psychology and Marketing, Marketing Letters, and more. Among her research interests are
privacy, embarrassment, and retailing.
Tyler Hancock is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Toledo. He
received his Ph.D. from Mississippi State University and his research has been published in
Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Research in
Interactive Marketing, and Journal of Consumer Behavior. Tyler’s research interests include
customer relationships, technology use, salesperson-technology interface, social selling,
and online marketing.
C.L. Esmark Jones et al.
Brett Kazandjian is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Towson University. He received
his Ph.D. in Marketing from Mississippi State University. His research interests include
retailing, marketing strategy, and big data analytics. His work has been published in the
Journal of Business Research.
Clay M. Voorhees is a Professor and the Morris Mayer Endowed Teaching Excellence in
Marketing. He is also part of Center for Services Leadership (CSL) Global Faculty at the W.
P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University. His research has been published in
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the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of
Science, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Service Research,
among others. Clay’s research focuses on the explanation and management of the dy­
namics of social exchange and social influence. Under this theoretical umbrella, he focuses
on projects related to customer experience management and relationship marketing, often
in service contexts. Recently he received the Emerging Service Scholar award from the
American Marketing Association.