Stefano Puntoni, Wharton School, UPenn
Abstract: As autonomous products increasingly take over tasks and decisions, consumers often experience a perceived loss of control that undermines adoption and satisfaction. This research investigates different nicknaming strategies for autonomous products as a remedy to regain control and improve attitudes. A field study and web-scraped reviews demonstrate that consumer-created nicknaming (e.g., a consumer uses the nickname «Robbie» for their robot vacuum) is positively associated with attitudes. Six preregistered experiments support the hypothesized causality and show that this nicknaming strategy can indeed counter a perceived loss of control, while also triggering other mechanisms. Of managerial importance, consumer-selected nicknaming (a consumer selects from a predefined list of nicknames) yields similar benefits, while companycreated nicknaming (the company assigns a nickname) does not. In line with a control account, the nicknaming effect is mitigated when nicknames signal high power (e.g., «Boss») rather than low power (e.g., «Assistant»). These findings contribute to consumer research on new technologies and nicknaming, with practical implications for the marketing of autonomous products.
