The Anthropomorphism Paradox in AI Chatbots: A Review of Consumer Trust and Brand Relationship Outcomes

Abstract

: Anthropomorphic chatbot design is reshaping how businesses engage consumers by bringing perceived humanity to digital service encounters. This review synthesizes recent theoretical and empirical work on how anthropomorphic characteristics in chatbots shape consumer trust and brand relationship quality (BRQ). Drawing on anthropomorphism theory, relationship marketing theory, and the Computers-Are-Social-Actors (CASA) paradigm, it examines the roles of perceived authenticity, comfort, social presence, and engagement in shaping consumer responses to human-like conversational agents. The reviewed evidence suggests that moderate anthropomorphism, expressed through warmth, personalization, responsiveness, and natural language, tends to increase trust, satisfaction, engagement, and emotional connection with a brand, while excessive human-likeness can trigger discomfort, privacy concerns, unrealistic expectations, and an erosion of trust, consistent with the uncanny valley effect. The review further highlights that these effects are highly context-dependent, and that transparent or hybrid chatbot designs may help preserve emotional connection while retaining functional credibility. The paper closes with a synthesis of theoretical, managerial, and future-research implications for brand managers designing AI-mediated customer touchpoints.