The aim of this study is to verify the causal relationship between the nonverbal immediacy behaviour (NIB) of an artificial intelligence (AI) agent for mental health counselling and user satisfaction through an experiment. We explored whether the anthropomorphism of the AI agent moderated the effect of the AI agent. A 2 (NIB: absent vs. present) × 2 (anthropomorphism: low vs. high) between-subjects experiment was conducted. The participants answered questionnaires after having a conversation about their daily stress with an AI counsellor, which was implemented according to the experimental conditions in the metaverse counselling room. The results showed that the NIB of the AI agent had a positive effect on user satisfaction, which was serially mediated by positive expectancy violations and rapport. However, anthropomorphism was not found to moderate the effects of NIB on user satisfaction. This study contributed to theoretical elaboration by providing empirical evidence that the effect of NIB is significant in AI counselling and by revealing that this effect occurs through a serial mediation path of positive expectation violation and rapport.

This study investigates the dynamics of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (monetary versus non-monetary interventions) on eco-friendly behavior within the metaverse, focusing on the crowding-out effect of monetary incentives. Utilizing the motivation crowding theory, we hypothesize that monetary interventions diminish the intrinsic motivation for eco-friendly actions, as opposed to non-monetary interventions. This study further examined the moderating role of avatar realism on this effect. The results indicated that realistic avatars interacting with monetary incentives significantly reduced eco-friendly intentions, whereas non-monetary interventions enhanced them. These findings have implications for designing effective intervention systems and avatars in virtual environments to promote pro-environmental behaviors.

This study analyzed the legitimization of paltry favors (LPF) effect on willingness to donate (WTD) in virtual fundraising, as represented by the metaverse. In addition, this study attempted to reveal the role of self-image concern, anthropomorphism, and social proof in shaping the psychological relationship between LPF and WTD. To that end, we created four fundraising environments in the metaverse (LPF message: absence vs. presence × social proof: absence vs. presence) and analyzed the survey responses of 1,212 adult participants, which were collected after each user-virtual fundraiser interaction in the metaverse. These results supported the positive effect of LPF messages on WTD. In addition, this study revealed that self-image concern mediates the relationship between LPF and WTD. Furthermore, this study supported the moderating roles of anthropomorphism and social proof in the indirect effect of LPF messages on WTD through self-image concern. The results have theoretical and practical implications for researchers, fundraising organizations, and virtual environment developers.

This study examined the effect of chatbots’ emotional expression on climate-change-mitigation behaviour intention and the individual and serial mediating roles of social presence and guilt in the main effect. This study further tested the moderating role of custom addressing in direct and indirect relationships between the aforementioned variables. To that end, 577 American adults were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. After eliminating incomplete responses, the remaining 549 participants were assigned to four conditions (factual vs. emotional conditions x control vs. custom addressing conditions), conversed briefly with a chatbot agent, and responded to a questionnaire. The findings showed that chatbots’ emotional expression yielded higher climate-change-mitigation behavioural intention than factual information and that social presence mediated this relationship. The results did not support the mediating role of guilt but supported serial mediation through social presence and guilt. The results further support the moderating role of custom addressing in the indirect relationship through social presence and serially through social presence and guilt. However, the results do not support the moderating role of custom addressing in direct and indirect relationships through guilt.

This study aimed to verify the effect of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots’ gratitude expression for a fundraising campaign on recipients’ willingness to donate. The mediating effects of self-efficacy and social worth on the relationship between expressions of gratitude and the willingness to donate were explored. The moderating effect of identity disclosure to enhance the effect of expressing gratitude was also investigated. By conducting a 2 (gratitude expression: absent vs. present) × 3(identity cue: text-only vs. robot vs. human) factorial design experiment with 564 American adults, the AI chatbot’s gratitude expression was found to increase the subject’s willingness to donate. The effect of these expressions of gratitude was mediated by self-efficacy rather than by social worth. However, when the AI chatbot provided a human identity cue, not only was the mediating effect of self-efficacy strengthened but the mediating effect of social worth was also significant.