Purpose We examined how people perceive artificial intelligence (AI) as a moral patient – the target of morally wrong actions by humans. Design/methodology/approach We did a thorough literature review by integrating perspectives from the literature on marketing, management and human–AI interaction and proposed the theoretical framework. Findings Following this notion, we spotlighted a novel typology by classifying different situations in which AI is most likely to be involved in ethical issues and combined the perceived experience of AI with the moral intensity of the tasks performed by AI. Furthermore, we outlined the mechanisms that lead to people's misbehavior toward AI, by examining the extrinsic cost and intrinsic psychological cost of misbehavior. Originality/value AI is rapidly changing the way service encounters take place and transforming people's overall experience. Although interactions between humans and AI are gradually becoming part of individuals' everyday lives, people's moral consideration of AI and their ethical behavior toward it is still unclear. Therefore, our research enhances the understanding of how AI-related ethical issues.

Purpose This study aims to examine how egoistic (religious values and duty) and altruistic (moral values and empathy) routes mediate the effect of interactive storytelling types and narratives on prosocial consumption intention in the context of non-profit crowdfunding. Design/methodology/approach This study combines a between-subjects design with three story conditions (empathy-based, duty-based or control) in Study 1 (n = 478) and a stimulus-based survey with partial least squares structural equation modeling in Study 2 (n = 708). Findings Study 1 showed that duty-based storytelling primarily activated egoistic motivation, while empathy-based storytelling activated altruistic motivation, with both narratives also triggering secondary cross-route effects. Study 2 confirmed that both routes significantly predicted prosocial intention, with the egoistic route demonstrating slightly stronger influence. Together, the findings highlight that storytelling is most effective when it integrates duty-based appeals with empathetic concern. Originality/value This study introduces and validates a dual-route model that integrates egoistic and altruistic motivations in response to interactive storytelling. It extends consumer storytelling theory into non-profit crowdfunding and provides culturally grounded insights from Indonesia, a religiously devout and collectivist society.

Purpose This study draws on relationship marketing theory to explore how immersion and digital personas in metaverse retail drive customer loyalty. It examines the mediating roles of confidence, social and special-treatment benefits and satisfaction, while considering how perceived risk and retail innovation moderate these relationships. Design/methodology/approach A 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment (N = 201) manipulated immersion (high vs. low) and digital persona (present vs. absent) in a simulated metaverse retail environment. Participants reported their perceived relational benefits, satisfaction, loyalty, perceived risk and perceived innovation. Hypotheses were tested using PLS-SEM. Findings Immersion primarily enhances confidence benefits and, through satisfaction, strengthens customer loyalty. Digital personas increase confidence, social and special-treatment benefits, thereby improving satisfaction and loyalty. A compensatory pattern emerges whereby digital personas sustain relational value under low immersion but contribute less when immersion is already high. Perceived risk and retail innovation further moderate these effects, highlighting how emerging technologies can both reinforce and complicate customer–brand relationships. Originality/value This study applies relationship marketing theory and uses the S–O–R model as a complementary lens to explain how metaverse affordances generate relationship value and customer loyalty. It differentiates the roles of immersion and digital personas, shows that digital personas can compensate under low immersion and reveals that retail innovation can simultaneously enhance engagement and intensify perceived risk.

Purpose Improving customer responses to abandoned cart recovery emails (REs) can improve the revenue of online retailers. Hence, we test the effectiveness of utilitarian, low-engagement (ULE) appeals, namely price discounts, against hedonic, high-engagement (HHE) appeals, namely, curiosity and gamification, on customer attitudes and responses to REs. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a scenario-based online experiment (n = 620) employing a 4 × 1 single-factor between-subjects design. Robustness was assessed (n = 347). Findings The study reveals that gamification is the most effective in enhancing customer attitudes and increasing the likelihood of cart recovery, followed by curiosity, which is more effective than price discounts. Most significantly, HHE appeals that made the reward-pursuing process affect-rich improved preferences for uncertain rewards or incentives, including delayed gratification. Research limitations/implications This study provides evidence that combining a HHE appeal with uncertain incentives and delayed gratification improves customer response. This contributes to existing knowledge on the drivers of the positive effects of uncertainty and expands our understanding of the motivating-uncertainty effect. Practical implications The findings offer online retailers more effective strategies than reminder messages or price discounts for recovering abandoned shopping carts. Originality/value The combination of (hedonic and utilitarian) appeals, (certain and uncertain) incentives and (immediate and delayed) gratification as tested in the present study has not yet been investigated. By suggesting that HHE appeals improve preferences for uncertain incentives and delayed gratification, this study highlights their significance in a world where ULE content, such as price discounts, is often paired with certain and immediate gratifications.

Purpose Although artificial intelligence (AI) streamers offer promising solutions to the limitation of human streamers, effectively designing them to create emotional connections with consumers remains challenging. This study addresses a literature gap by extending Kindchenschema theory, which has primarily been studied in static product design, to the dynamic and multi-modal domain of AI streamer design in livestreaming commerce. Design/methodology/approach This research investigates how cute AI streamers influence consumer behavior whilst livestreaming commerce using three experimental studies. Data were collected through online experiments with diverse consumer samples and analyzed using the PROCESS macro for SPSS to test the mediating and moderating effects with bootstrap confidence intervals. Findings Study 1 demonstrates that the cuteness of AI streamers enhances purchase intentions. Study 2 tests the main effects of cuteness on purchase intentions through the parallel mediating effects of delight and perceived friendliness. Study 3 examines the moderating role of the autotelic need for touch, revealing that the effect of cuteness on purchase intentions is stronger for consumers with a high need for touch. Originality/value This research extends Kindchenschema theory to dynamic AI interactions and develops a multi-modal framework for cuteness design. The findings provide actionable guidance for companies creating interactive AI streamers in the realm of digital commerce, suggesting adaptable cuteness strategies that can be tailored according to service context and product categories to enhance purchasing decisions in digital marketing settings.

Purpose In the growing field of live streaming, viewers’ interactive engagement is particularly critical. Although streamers frequently use language arousal to enhance engagement, its specific effects remain insufficiently understood, necessitating further investigation. Drawing on the emotion as social information (EASI) theory, the present study examines the impact of streamers’ language arousal in live streaming on viewer engagement and explores the moderating role of streamer type. Design/methodology/approach Using real-time data collected from 162 live streams on the Douyin platform, we develop a negative binomial model to examine the relationship between streamers’ language arousal and viewer engagement. Findings Our empirical findings suggest that this influence of streamers’ language arousal on viewer engagement – in both paid and free forms – exhibits a nonlinear, inverted U-shaped relationship. Additionally, compared to micro-streamers, macro-streamers attenuate the inverted U-shaped relationship between streamers’ language arousal and viewer engagement. These baseline results are further validated through a rich set of robustness tests. Originality/value By examining the effect of streamers’ language arousal on viewer engagement, this study enhances the understanding of viewer behavior in live-streaming contexts. It also extends the EASI theory by introducing language arousal as a key emotional cue and demonstrating its explanatory power in live streaming, thereby broadening the theory’s applicability to interactive marketing environments. This study provides practical insights for optimizing engagement strategies in the live-streaming industry.

Purpose This conceptual article develops a dramaturgical framework to explain how immersive experiences in interactive marketing foster deeper consumer engagement. By integrating insights from immersive theatre and consumer psychology, the model links experiential design elements with psychological mechanisms to produce outcomes such as brand attachment and value co-creation. Design/methodology/approach The article synthesizes interdisciplinary theories and proposes a model comprising four immersive design elements (spatial immersion, narrative co-creation, sensorial atmosphere, participatory agency) and four psychological mechanisms (presence, flow, empathic engagement, meaning-making). These components are mapped to key consumer outcomes, including affective engagement and brand loyalty. Findings The framework posits that consumer outcomes arise not from discrete stimuli, but through the synergistic interplay of design elements, which activate a cascade of interdependent psychological mechanisms (e.g. presence enabling flow, deepening empathic engagement). This process-oriented perspective challenges static stimulus-response models and emphasizes the transformative nature of immersive brand journeys. Originality/value This study advances interactive marketing theory by (1) shifting from a technology-centric to a human-centric view of immersion grounded in narrative and participation, (2) proposing a dynamic model of consumer engagement that accounts for psychological interdependencies and (3) offering a concrete set of constructs and research directions to guide future empirical inquiry.

Purpose While humor has been studied extensively in marketing, its effectiveness may vary based on the situation. One critical understudied purchase scenario is how to use humor in customer interactions for embarrassing products to achieve optimal retail outcomes. Hence, our research aims to explore how chatbot humor interactions affect consumer responses in such retail scenarios. Design/methodology/approach Four experimental studies (n = 1,295) were conducted to test the hypotheses empirically and examine consumer responses to using humorous messages by chatbots in interactions on embarrassing products. Data were collected via Credamo. Findings Consumers prefer a chat agent using a humor message when inquiring about customer preferences for embarrassing products to a chat agent using a no-humor message. This occurs because humor messages relieve consumers' feelings of embarrassment. Specifically, consumers exposed to humor messages expressed significantly more favorable attitudes towards embarrassing products with hedonic advertising, while humor is less effective for non-embarrassing products and utilitarian advertising. Originality/value Few studies have explored the role of humorous artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots in facilitating the online sale of embarrassing products. This research highlights the importance of incorporating humor into consumer–chatbot interactions to market sensitive products effectively in online retailing. In addition, this research also identifies boundary conditions of chatbot humor interaction.

Purpose The rise of artificial intelligence has promoted the application of virtual anchors in live-streaming commerce, raising debate over whether their visual design should closely resemble real humans. This research explores how form realism influences consumer purchase intention through parallel psychological and physiological pathways. Design/methodology/approach A laboratory eye-tracking experiment (Study 1) was conducted to examine the attentional mechanism through which form realism influences purchase intention. Studies 2–4 employed scenario-based online experiments to test the psychological pathway involving attitudinal responses. ANOVA and the PROCESS macro were used for data analysis. Findings Results revealed that high-form realism enhanced visual attention and positive attitudes toward the anchor, thereby increasing purchase intentions. Conversely, low form realism shifted attention from anchors to products. Additionally, low form realism triggered stronger negative machine heuristics, while high form realism mitigated these biases. Originality/value This study discovers the eclipse effect of form realism in live-streaming commerce. It pioneers the exploration of the dual-pathway effects of form realism on purchase intention through attention allocation and perceived attitudes, offering insights into virtual image design in interactive marketing.

Purpose Amid growing environmental concerns, green demarketing (GD) has emerged as a strategy for encouraging sustainable consumption by discouraging excessive use. This study investigates how message sidedness (one-sided vs. two-sided) in GD communication influences consumer purchase intentions, and whether this effect is moderated by product attribute dominance (utilitarian vs. hedonic). Design/methodology/approach Across five experiments (N = 1,153), including lab-based scenarios, field studies, and an eye-tracking experiment, participants were exposed to GD brand messages with varying sidedness and attribute emphasis. Perceived sincerity was examined as a mediating mechanism. Findings Results show that two-sided GD messages, which acknowledge both benefits and limitations, tend to enhance purchase intentions, particularly for products emphasizing utilitarian attributes. In contrast, one-sided messages are more effective when products highlight hedonic features. Mediation analyses confirm that perceived sincerity explains the effect of message sidedness. Originality/value This research advances understanding of how message presentation and product positioning interact to shape consumer responses to sustainable branding. It offers actionable insights for marketers on leveraging message transparency and attribute framing in green demarketing strategies.