The impact of parasocial interaction with anthropomorphized AI chatbots on sport consumers’ loyalty

Purpose As sport organizations increasingly adopt artificial intelligence (AI)-driven services, effective management is necessary. This study explored how anthropomorphized artificial intelligence chatbots in the sport industry enhance social presence to boost consumer loyalty and reduce technology anxiety (TNX) and the mediating role of TNX in modifying user attitudes. Design/methodology/approach Based on parasocial interaction (PSI) and social exchange theory (SET), the design utilized anthropomorphization to investigate interactions, verifying whether social exchanges occur through chatbots. For this, an experimental study using AI chatbots was conducted. Findings (1) Anthropomorphism influences social presence and facilitates the PSI process. (2) From the SET perspective, social presence negatively affects the costs associated with TNX and positively influences loyalty. (3) TNX partially mediates this relationship, indicating that although TNX can decrease user loyalty, heightened social presence may reduce anxiety and enhance loyalty. Originality/value This study demonstrates that social presence goes beyond simply enhancing the user experience by reducing users’ TNX. It extends the PSI theory by applying it to user interactions with AI chatbots and utilizes SET to analyze these interactions as exchanges. These findings provide practical outcomes that can be applied in sport marketing, offering real-world implications for enhancing user engagement and managing consumer relations using AI technologies.