Marketing with anthropomorphised AI: insights from consumers

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have transformed marketing by integrating anthropomorphic AI into consumer interactions, reshaping engagement, trust, and decision-making processes. This special issue explores the theoretical and practical implications of AI-driven anthropomorphism in digital marketing, customer service and brand management. The papers in this issue examine key themes, including AI-generated influencers and consumer engagement, AI chatbots and customer experience, AI transparency and consumer behaviour, and the ethical and cross-cultural risks of AI anthropomorphism. Specifically, the studies investigate how anthropomorphic AI influences trust, emotional attachment, parasocial relationships and purchasing behaviour, while also addressing concerns surrounding transparency, authenticity and consumer perception. This special issue advances scholarly discourse on AI’s role in consumer interactions and provides a future research agenda, highlighting the need for longitudinal studies, trust dynamics in AI interactions and regulatory frameworks for responsible AI deployment in marketing.