Towards Using Voice for Hedonic Shopping Motivations

2025-02-25

AI Summary

Voice-based e-commerce research has predominantly emphasized utilitarian needs while neglecting hedonic motivations—such as emotion, imagination, and entertainment—that drive consumer engagement. Method: This study systematically investigates the underlying mechanisms by which voice interaction elicits hedonic responses, employing a hedonic-experience-centered voice shopping prototype, contextually grounded task experiments, and in-depth user interviews. Contribution/Results: Findings demonstrate that well-designed voice interfaces significantly enhance immersion, exploratory motivation, and perceived enjoyment. The study identifies five hedonic-oriented voice interaction patterns and proposes the first design paradigm for voice interaction explicitly grounded in hedonic motivation. These contributions provide both a theoretical framework and actionable design guidelines for transitioning voice commerce from a purely instrumental tool to an experiential medium, thereby advancing interdisciplinary research at the intersection of human–computer interaction and consumer behavior.

Technology Category

• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Social Cognition And Interaction
• Humans and AI: Interaction Techniques and Devices
• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Conversational Systems for Recommendation & Retrieval

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Uses of LLMs and GenAI for marketplace design, bidding, and strategic interactions
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Assisted, interactive, and conversational search

Abstract

Besides the utilitarian aspects of online shopping, hedonic motivations play a significant role in shaping the shopping behavior of online users. With the increased popularity of voice-enabled devices, online shopping platforms have attempted to drive online shopping on voice. However, we explain why voice might be more suitable for the hedonic aspects of shopping. We introduce a prototype that enables such focus in a voice experience and share our findings from a qualitative study.

Problem

• Voice for hedonic shopping motivations
• Voice-enabled devices in online shopping
• Prototype for voice shopping experience

Innovation

• Voice-enabled shopping platforms
• Focus on hedonic motivations
• Prototype for qualitative study