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Human or Robot? Consumer Responses to Radical Cognitive Enhancement Products

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  • Noah Castelo
  • Bernd Schmitt
  • Miklos Sarvary

Abstract

Human enhancement products allow consumers to radically enhance their mental abilities. Focusing on cognitive enhancements, we introduce and study a novel factor—dehumanization (i.e., denying a person emotional ability and likening them to a robot)—which plays a key role in consumers’ reluctance to use enhancement products. In study 1, consumers who enhance their mental abilities beyond normal levels were dehumanized, whereas consumers who use the same products to restore lost abilities were not. Moreover, dehumanization decreased prospective consumers’ interest in using the enhancement products themselves. Study 2 shows that emphasizing how the motivation to use an enhancement product can be prosocial (i.e., helping other people) inoculates the consumer against dehumanization, and study 3 supports this positioning strategy in an online advertising campaign. Together, these studies uncover dehumanization as an important obstacle to consumer adoption of enhancement products and demonstrate how to overcome this obstacle with a prosocial positioning strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Noah Castelo & Bernd Schmitt & Miklos Sarvary, 2019. "Human or Robot? Consumer Responses to Radical Cognitive Enhancement Products," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(3), pages 217-230.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jacres:doi:10.1086/703462
    DOI: 10.1086/703462
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    Cited by:

    1. Huang, Jingya & Wang, Liangyan & Chan, Eugene, 2024. "When does anthropomorphism hurt? How tool anthropomorphism negatively affects consumers' rewards for tool users," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    2. Martin Mende & Stephanie M. Noble & Thomas Sugar, 2023. "From homo sapiens to homo superior? Wearable robotics as the platform for transhumanist marketing," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 757-766, July.
    3. Eddie John Paul Fisher & Eddie Fisher, 2024. "Fresh thinking about Neo-genetic and Social Perspectives of Mind Upload capabilities beyond the Biological Human Body," Journal of Social Science Studies, Macrothink Institute, vol. 11(1), pages 149-149, June.
    4. Broekhuizen, Thijs & Dekker, Henri & de Faria, Pedro & Firk, Sebastian & Nguyen, Dinh Khoi & Sofka, Wolfgang, 2023. "AI for managing open innovation: Opportunities, challenges, and a research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    5. Benedict G. C. Dellaert & Suzanne B. Shu & Theo A. Arentze & Tom Baker & Kristin Diehl & Bas Donkers & Nathanael J. Fast & Gerald Häubl & Heidi Johnson & Uma R. Karmarkar & Harmen Oppewal & Bernd H. S, 2020. "Consumer decisions with artificially intelligent voice assistants," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 335-347, December.
    6. Flavián, Carlos & Belk, Russell W. & Belanche, Daniel & Casaló, Luis V., 2024. "Automated social presence in AI: Avoiding consumer psychological tensions to improve service value," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    7. Grewal, Dhruv & Kroschke, Mirja & Mende, Martin & Roggeveen, Anne L. & Scott, Maura L., 2020. "Frontline Cyborgs at Your Service: How Human Enhancement Technologies Affect Customer Experiences in Retail, Sales, and Service Settings," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 9-25.
    8. Erik Hermann, 2022. "Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Marketing for Social Good—An Ethical Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 43-61, August.
    9. Hoyer, Wayne D. & Kroschke, Mirja & Schmitt, Bernd & Kraume, Karsten & Shankar, Venkatesh, 2020. "Transforming the Customer Experience Through New Technologies," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 57-71.
    10. Bernd Schmitt, 2019. "From Atoms to Bits and Back: A Research Curation on Digital Technology and Agenda for Future Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 46(4), pages 825-832.
    11. Li, Jian & Huang, Jin-Song, 2020. "Dimensions of artificial intelligence anxiety based on the integrated fear acquisition theory," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    12. Wien, Anders Hauge & Peluso, Alessandro M., 2021. "Influence of human versus AI recommenders: The roles of product type and cognitive processes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 13-27.

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