Avatars at the forefront: how collaboration types influence purchase intention

Avatar staff are becoming increasingly pervasive in the online service industry. However, the contribution of collaboration between avatar staff and other service providers in influencing consumer purchasing decisions has received minimal focus. This study addresses this gap by employing a comprehensive experimental framework. Grounded in the means-end chain theory, we explore three types of avatar-involved service provider collaborations (human and avatar, artificial intelligence and avatar, and avatar and avatar) and two communication styles (task-oriented vs. social-oriented), assessing their combined impacts on consumer purchase intention. This study reveals considerable differences in source credibility (i.e. attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness) across various service provider collaborations, which, in turn, considerably affect purchase intention. Meanwhile, social-oriented communication moderates the contrasts in source credibility and purchase intention compared to task-oriented communication style, offering vital strategies for successfully integrating avatar employees into service provider collaborations.