Sophia Sophia tell me more, which is the most risk-free plan of all? AI anthropomorphism and risk aversion in financial decision-making

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PurposeThis research examines whether anthropomorphizing artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots alters consumers' risk preferences toward financial investment options involving differential risks.Design/methodology/approachAn experimental approach has been adopted with three studies, all featuring a between-subjects design.FindingsThrough three studies, the findings document that, in a financial decision-making context, anthropomorphizing AI leads to significantly greater risk aversion in investment decision-making (Study 1). This occurs because AI-enabled chatbot anthropomorphization activates greater psychological risk attachment, which enacts consumers to manifest stronger risk aversion tendency (Studies 2 and 3).Originality/valueAnthropomorphizing AI has undeniable relevance in the contemporary marketing landscape, such as humanoid robotics and emotion AI algorithms. Despite of anthropomorphism's significance and relevance, the downstream impact of anthropomorphism remains unfortunately underexplored.