Purpose

This study explores the role of smart voice assistants (SVAs) as purchase recommenders, a phenomenon the authors term “word of voice” (WOV) communication. By integrating human–computer interaction (HCI) literature and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) research, the authors examine what makes consumers trust in SVA-transmitted WOV communication following their initial interactions with their SVAs during a purchase process (i.e. post-trust); and the authors propose that consumers' perceptions of their SVAs' smart capabilities (i.e. cognitive, emotional and social) are critically important for building this trust. Moreover, the study explores the influence of post-trust on consumers' adherence to WOV communication, measured by three types of behavioural intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from a survey of 202 United States (US)-based SVA users who employ them to obtain purchase recommendations were collected and analysed. They confirmed the validity of the measurement scales and provided input for the partial least squares modelling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

The results demonstrated that post-trust in WOV communication partially or totally mediates the effect of smart capabilities on consumer adherence to WOV communication; identified the key role of cognitive, emotional and social smart capabilities for building consumers' post-trust in WOV and demonstrated the influence of this trust on behavioural intentions.

Originality/value

The present study contributes by examining the employment of SVAs as recommenders during the purchase process; the authors term this type of communication WOV. It analyses consumers with experience of using SVAs in their purchase processes, revealing that post-trust in WOV communication is the psychological mechanism that explains how the smart capabilities of SVAs determine consumer adherence to the recommendations they receive.

中文翻译：

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信任语音交流：为什么消费者坚持智能语音助手提出的购买建议

目的

本研究探讨了智能语音助手（SVA）作为购买推荐者的作用，作者将这种现象称为“语音”（WOV）通信。通过整合人机交互 (HCI) 文献和电子口碑 (eWOM) 研究，作者研究了消费者在购买过程中（即信任后）与 SVA 进行初次交互后，对 SVA 传输的 WOV 通信产生信任的原因; 作者提出，消费者对其 SVA 智能能力（即认知、情感和社交）的看法对于建立这种信任至关重要。此外，该研究还探讨了后信任对消费者坚持 WOV 沟通的影响，通过三种行为意图来衡量。

设计/方法论/途径

我们收集并分析了对 202 名美国 SVA 用户的调查数据，这些用户雇用他们来获取购买建议。他们确认了测量量表的有效性，并为偏最小二乘建模（PLS-SEM）提供了输入。

发现

结果表明，WOV 通信中的后信任部分或完全调节了智能能力对消费者遵守 WOV 通信的影响；确定了认知、情感和社交智能能力对于建立消费者对 WOV 的后信任的关键作用，并证明了这种信任对行为意图的影响。

原创性/价值

本研究通过考察 SVA 在购买过程中作为推荐人的情况来做出贡献；作者将这种类型的通信称为 WOV。它分析了在购买过程中使用过 SVA 的消费者，揭示了 WOV 沟通中的后信任是一种心理机制，解释了 SVA 的智能功能如何决定消费者遵守他们收到的建议。