I sense my digital assistants! Assessing the impact of customers’ immersive experience and perceived social presence on purchase intention

Little is known about how digital assistants (DAs) evoke customers’ immersive experience and perceived social presence, as does the extent to which these social values translate into purchase intention in human–computer interaction. Drawing on the Stimuli-Organism-Response framework and the Theory of Consumption Values, this study examines the nexus among social attributes (behavioural and form realism), customer perceived value, customer engagement, and purchase intention. The study was carried out in Bangladesh, highlighting least-developed countries in broad aspects. Purposive sampling was used to collect primary data from 352 customers familiar with DAs. Analysis through partial least squares structural equation modelling reveals that behavioural realism and form realism significantly enhance immersive experience and perceived social presence. Immersive experience, as a perceived social value, strongly influences both perceived social presence and purchase intentions, while perceived social presence is also directly linked to purchase intentions. Moreover, high customer engagement with DAs significantly enhances the association between customer immersive experience and purchase intention. These insights deepen our understanding of the drivers and outcomes of perceived social values, address a new attribute-value-outcome-based model from DAs and information systems perspectives, and offer practical guidance on optimising social attributes to strengthen customer perceived value and purchase intention.