Source orientation, anthropomorphism, and social presence in human-chatbot communication: how to proceed with these concepts

Abstract

Source orientation, anthropomorphism, and social presence are three concepts that play a pivotal role in present-day research on users’ responses to communication with chatbots. However, there are also problems regarding the three conceptualizations and the related measurements. Therefore, the present qualitative interview study analyzes users’ perceptions of their interactions with chatbots through the lens of source orientation, anthropomorphism as well as social presence, in order to unravel how these three concepts can help to understand human-chatbot communication—each in their unique ways. Interviews were conducted with a sample ( N  = 24) that was varied in terms of gender, age, educational level and household composition. Findings are presented for source orientation, anthropomorphism, and social presence, and the discussion elaborates on the theoretical and methodological implications.