Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Human Behavior And Emerging Technologies

Publication Date

6-5-2025

Abstract

With advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), social chatbots (SCs) can now simulate meaningful, sympathetic interactions that blur the line between human and machine connection while also providing social and emotional support to its users. Generation Z (Gen Z), as tech-savvy digital natives, prefers individualized and emotionally engaging digital interactions, making them an important demographic for the adoption of AI-powered SCs. This study investigates the factors influencing Gen Z's use of SCs, focusing on emotional support, attitudes towards AI, loneliness, and hedonic motivation. The study employed a quantitative survey with 156 participants who interacted with an SC and completed a questionnaire assessing key behavioral constructs. The findings reveal that emotional support and hedonic motivation significantly enhance trust in SCs, which in turn strongly predicts the intention to use them. To our surprise, loneliness had no measurable effect on the intention to use SCs, challenging assumptions that lonely individuals are more likely to adopt SCs. Privacy concerns similarly showed a negligible impact. These results highlight that fostering trust and providing enjoyable interactions are essential to promoting SC adoption among younger users.

ISSN

2578-1863

Publisher

Wiley

Volume

2025

Issue

1

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Keywords

attitudes towards AI, emotional connection, hedonic motivation, social chatbots, usage

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Indexed in Scopus

no

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series

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