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Digital humans in fashion: Will consumers interact?

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  • Silva, Emmanuel Sirimal
  • Bonetti, Francesca

Abstract

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting the fashion industry and forcing fashion businesses to accelerate their digital transformation. The increased need for more sustainable fashion business operations, when coupled with the prospect that business might never be as usual again, calls for innovative e-commerce led practices. Recently, stakeholders have been experimenting with the idea of introducing digital humans for a more active role in fashion through the developments in artificial intelligence, virtual, augmented and mixed reality. As there is a lack of all-important empirical evidence on the consumer's propensity to interact with digital humans, we aim to quantitatively analyse consumer attitudes towards the propensity to interact with digital humans to uncover insights to help fashion businesses seeking to diversify their operations. The results reveal interesting, and statistically significant insights which can be useful for fashion business stakeholders for designing, developing, testing, and marketing digital human-based solutions. Besides, our findings contribute current insights to the existing literature on how consumers interact with digital humans, where research tends to be scarce.

Suggested Citation

  • Silva, Emmanuel Sirimal & Bonetti, Francesca, 2021. "Digital humans in fashion: Will consumers interact?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:60:y:2021:i:c:s0969698920314375
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102430
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    Cited by:

    1. Pantano, Eleonora & Viassone, Milena & Boardman, Rosy & Dennis, Charles, 2022. "Inclusive or exclusive? Investigating how retail technology can reduce old consumers’ barriers to shopping," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    2. Wang, Yawei & Kang, Qi & Zhou, Shoujiang & Dong, Yuanyuan & Liu, Junqi, 2022. "The impact of service robots in retail: Exploring the effect of novelty priming on consumer behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    3. Aitor Goti & Leire Querejeta-Lomas & Aitor Almeida & José Gaviria de la Puerta & Diego López-de-Ipiña, 2023. "Artificial Intelligence in Business-to-Customer Fashion Retail: A Literature Review," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-32, June.
    4. Lyndsay Mesjar & Karen Cross & Yang Jiang & Josie Steed, 2023. "The Intersection of Fashion, Immersive Technology, and Sustainability: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, February.
    5. Xuandi Gong & Jinluan Ren & Xinyan Wang & Li Zeng, 2022. "Technical Trends and Competitive Situation in Respect of Metahuman—From Product Modules and Technical Topics to Patent Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-23, December.
    6. El Hedhli, Kamel & Zourrig, Haithem & Al Khateeb, Amr & Alnawas, Ibrahim, 2023. "Stereotyping human-like virtual influencers in retailing: Does warmth prevail over competence?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    7. Francesca Bonetti & Matteo Montecchi & Kirk Plangger & Hope Jensen Schau, 2023. "Practice co-evolution: Collaboratively embedding artificial intelligence in retail practices," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 867-888, July.
    8. Aliya Tastemirova & Johannes Schneider & Leona Chandra Kruse & Simon Heinzle & Jan vom Brocke, 2022. "Microexpressions in digital humans: perceived affect, sincerity, and trustworthiness," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(3), pages 1603-1620, September.
    9. Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro & Jorge Nascimento, 2021. "Shaping a View on the Influence of Technologies on Sustainable Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-18, November.
    10. Yawen Fu & Hui’e Liang, 2022. "Sinicized Exploration of Sustainable Digital Fashion: Chinese Game Players’ Intention to Purchase Traditional Costume Skins," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-14, June.
    11. Rahman, Muhammad Sabbir & Bag, Surajit & Hossain, Md Afnan & Abdel Fattah, Fadi Abdel Muniem & Gani, Mohammad Osman & Rana, Nripendra P., 2023. "The new wave of AI-powered luxury brands online shopping experience: The role of digital multisensory cues and customers’ engagement," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    12. Fan, Hua & Han, Bing & Gao, Wei, 2022. "(Im)Balanced customer-oriented behaviors and AI chatbots' Efficiency–Flexibility performance: The moderating role of customers’ rational choices," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    13. Li, Jian & Huang, Jinsong & Li, Yaqi, 2023. "Examining the effects of authenticity fit and association fit: A digital human avatar endorsement model," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. Sorin-Ciprian Teiusan & Sorin-Constantin Deaconu, 2021. "Artificial Intelligence And Covid-19: An Analysis In Business And Economics," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 5, pages 144-156, October.
    15. Federica Caboni & Lucia Pizzichini, 2023. "Two Years of Covid-19 in Retailing: Issues and Changes," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 16(12), pages 1-76, February.

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