When anthropomorphism backfires: Anticipation of negative social roles as a source of resistance to smart object adoption

Abstract

Despite the great potential of smart objects (SOs), their diffusion among consumers remains limited. Previous research on resistance to innovation cites functional, psychological, and individual barriers to consumer adoption of SOs, but it does not consider the role of SOs’ anthropomorphic features or their role as potential partners in relationships that can be referenced to interpersonal ones. We present a new theoretical lens to read consumer resistance to SOs. The new perspective is based on consumer–SO relationship literature and the fear-of-intimacy construct from the interpersonal relationship literature. The new perspective proposes that consumer resistance to SOs has a relational nature. Moreover, we support this proposition with preliminary evidence from an explorative qualitative study, based on ZMET-method interviews of non-SO users. This article reveals that consumer resistance to SOs can be read under a relational lens and shows that consumers resist adopting SOs because they experience fears related to their imagined relationships; these fears can be attributed to four negative SO social roles. This research contributes to resistance literature by suggesting that consumer resistance can have a relational nature, and to consumer–SO relationship literature, by identifying anticipated negative social roles of SOs.