My Research
Conscious artificial intelligence in service
Available at: https://www.emerald.com/josm/article/doi/10.1108/JOSM-12-2024-0536/1304514/Conscious-artificial-intelligence-in-service
The purpose of this study is to identify, analyze and explain the implications that could arise for service settings if artificial intelligence (AI) systems develop, or are perceived to develop, consciousness – the ability to acknowledge their own existence and the capacity for positive or negative experiences.
This study proposes and explores four hypothetical scenarios in which conscious AI in service could manifest. We contextualize our resulting typology in the health service context and integrate extant literature on technology-enabled service, AI consciousness and AI ethics into the narrative.
This study provides a unique theoretical contribution to service research in the form of a Type IV theory. It enables future service researchers to apprehend, explain and predict how functionally conscious AI in service might unfold.
The ethical use of conscious AI in service could emerge as a distinct competitive advantage in the future. Achieving this outcome involves speculative yet actionable recommendations that include training, guiding and controlling how humans engage with such systems; developing appropriate wellbeing protocols for functionally conscious AI systems and establishing AI rights and governance frameworks.
An increasingly prolific public discourse acknowledges that conscious AI systems may emerge. Against this backdrop, this study aims to systematically explore a question that is perhaps the most critical and timely, but also inherently speculative, in relation to AI in service research by introducing much-needed theory and terminology.
Breidbach C, Casper Ferm L, Maglio PP, Beverungen D, Wirtz J, Twigg A (2025;), “Conscious artificial intelligence in service”. Journal of Service Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-12-2024-0536
The Role of Emotions and Imagery in Financial Decision-Making: A Comparative Analysis of Neuromarketing and Self-Report Data
Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cb.2501
Consumer financial decisions, traditionally viewed as rational, are increasingly recognized as being influenced by emotions and intuition. This study examines how imagery and emotions in financial contexts influence decision-making, specifically in hypothetical loan approvals where loan application documents include carefully selected imagery. Using a mixed-method approach, including neuromarketing methodologies such as eye-tracking and galvanic skin response (GSR), and a between-subjects experimental design utilizing self-report data, this study provides unique and granular insights into financial decision-making. In Study 1, respondents were individuals with 2 years of relevant education and business experience who were expected to apply for business loans themselves in the near future. Results indicate, via neuromarketing measures, that emotions, when influenced by imagery, take precedence over financial data in decision-making. Men (vs. women) respondents were more (vs. less) likely to approve applications with positive imagery. In Study 2, self-reported data revealed a discrepancy between emotional responses and self-reports across 320 participants. Overall, the results (1) show that specific imagery can influence loan approvals and (2) provide further evidence to the extant literature on the role of emotions in decision-making in an often perceived “calculative” financial context.
Hamelin, N., Casper Ferm, L. E., Huszar, Z. R., Thaichon, P., & Quach, S. (2025). The Role of Emotions and Imagery in Financial Decision‐Making: A Comparative Analysis of Neuromarketing and Self‐Report Data. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 24(5), 2293-2315.
This is MY earth: Hybrid meat’s impact on psychological ownership
Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666324006317
Across two experimental studies, we examine the role of psychological ownership of the Earth and it’s anthropomorphosis on hybrid meat purchase intentions as the result of proximal and distal message framing. Study 1 revealed that proximal (vs. distal) message framing (e.g., “Help take care of your (vs. the) Earth”) significantly increased psychological ownership and purchase intentions compared to distal framing. Study 2 extended these findings by introducing anthropomorphism (e.g., a smiling Earth). We found that introducing anthropomorphism led to similar effects on psychological ownership and purchase intention levels, regardless of framing. Yet psychological ownership of the Earth, due to message framing and anthropomorphism, did not play a mediating role on higher purchase intentions. Our study provides theoretical contributions to psychological ownership and construal level theory, while offering further insights for marketers by emphasizing distal framing and when to use anthropomorphism in environmental messaging for hybrid products.
Ferm, L. E. C., & Nguyen, M. (2025). This is MY earth: Hybrid meat’s impact on psychological ownership. Appetite, 206, 107827.
The dark side of artificial intelligence in marketing: meta-analytics review
Available at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/MIP-09-2023-0494/full/html
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a pivotal technology in both marketing and daily life. Despite extensive research on the benefits of AI, its adverse effects on customers have received limited attention.
We employed meta-analysis to synthesise effect sizes from 45 studies encompassing 50 independent samples (N = 19,503) to illuminate the negative facets of AI’s impact on customer responses.
Adverse effects of AI, including privacy concern, perceived risks, customer alienation, and uniqueness neglect, have a negative and significant effect on customers’ cognitive (perceived benefit, trust), affective (attitude and satisfaction) and behavioural responses (purchase, loyalty, well-being). Additionally, moderators in AI (online versus offline), customer (age, male vs. female), product (hedonic vs. utilitarian, high vs. low involvement), and firm level (service vs. manufacturing) and national level (individualism, power distance, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation) moderate these relationships.
Our findings inform marketing managers about the drawbacks of utilising AI as part of their value proposition and provide recommendations on how to minimise these effects in different contexts. Additionally, policymakers need to consider the dark side of AI, especially among the vulnerable groups.
This paper is among the first research studies that synthesise previous research on the dark side of AI, providing a comprehensive view of its diminishing impact on customer responses.
Barari, M., Casper Ferm, L. E., Quach, S., Thaichon, P., & Ngo, L. (2024). The dark side of artificial intelligence in marketing: meta-analytics review. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 42(7), 1234-1256.
Chatbots in frontline services and customer experience: An anthropomorphism perspective
Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mar.21882
This study measures the effects of chatbot anthropomorphic language on customers’ perception of chatbot competence and authenticity on customer engagement while taking into consideration the moderating roles of humanlike appearance and brand credibility. We conducted two experimental studies to examine the conceptual framework. Study 1 tests the moderating effect of a chatbot’s anthropomorphic appearance on the relationship between chatbots’ language and customer engagement. Study 2 tests the moderating effect of brand credibility on the relationship between a chatbot’s anthropomorphic language and customer engagement. The findings confirm that the interaction between humanlike appearance via the use of avatars and anthropomorphic language, such as using emojis, in conversations with customers influences customer engagement, and that this effect is mediated by perceived chatbot competence and authenticity. Further, the positive effect of anthropomorphic language on perceived competence, and subsequently on authenticity and engagement, is only significant when the brand credibility was low (vs. high). This study offers insights into the effect of chatbots’ anthropomorphic language and provides suggestions on how to devise efficient strategies for engaging customers using chatbots.
Nguyen, M., Casper Ferm, L. E., Quach, S., Pontes, N., & Thaichon, P. (2023). Chatbots in frontline services and customer experience: An anthropomorphism perspective. Psychology & Marketing, 40(11), 2201-2225.
Value co-creation and social media: Investigating antecedents and influencing factors in the U.S. retail banking industry
Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698921001144
This study seeks to examine and unearth antecedents to co-creation behaviours within a U.S. retail banking context. A critical aspect for marketing managers and academics alike, co-creation has a strong influence on tangible factors such as profit and intangible factors such as referrals, satisfaction and feedback. Antecedents were identified as trust, customer engagement and participation attitude whilst social media usage was a consumer characteristic identified as influencing co-creation. Data was collected from 489 U.S. retail banking customers via an online survey. The data was analysed via structural equation modelling. The findings indicate that customer engagement influences trust, co-creation and participation attitude. Participation attitude was found to influence trust and co-creation but trust had no direct effect on co-creation. The study further found that social media usage intensity influenced co-creation behaviours. The findings contribute in three ways. First, this is one of the first studies to scrutinise participation attitude in an attempt to explain co-creation behaviours for U.S. banks over social media. Second, identification of precursors to value co-creation has been ascertained in a U.S. retail banking social media context. Third, the study additionally contributes to the findings that social media usage has a moderating effect in value co-creation and offers a potential segmentation strategy.
Ferm, L.E.C., & Thaichon, P. (2021). Value co-creation and social media: Investigating antecedents and influencing factors in the U.S. retail banking industry. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 61, 102548.
Customer pre-participatory social media drivers and their influence on attitudinal loyalty within the retail banking industry: A multi-group analysis utilizing social exchange theory
Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698921001508
Social media pervades everyday life and firms need to understand what consumer traits antedate participation over these channels. Utilizing social exchange theory (SET), this study seeks to determine what factors precede SET’s cost-benefit analysis of social media participation along with these factors’ influence on attitudinal loyalty. Important antecedents to this cost-benefit analysis for social media participation are online interaction propensity (OIP), participation attitude and trust. Further, demographic (age, gender, income) and social media page factors (perceived page size and page visit frequency) are identified as potential precursors to customers’ cost-benefit analysis towards social media participation. A sample of 482 U.S. banking customers was collected via an online survey. The results found that OIP and trust had direct statistically significant effects on attitudinal loyalty and participation attitude’s effect was fully mediated by trust. Age, gender and page visit frequency facets exhibited no differences between groups whilst income (with higher income groups displaying higher levels of loyalty) and page size groups (smaller page sizes demonstrated greater loyalty) demonstrated differing effects on attitudinal loyalty. The study contributes to knowledge and practice by extending particular pre-SET traits in social media to a U.S. retail banking context. The study also furthers academic and managerial capabilities for segmentation analysis’ and explicating connections between pre-participatory influences and attitudinal loyalty.
Ferm, L. E. C., & Thaichon, P. (2021). Customer pre-participatory social media drivers and their influence on attitudinal loyalty within the retail banking industry: A multi-group analysis utilizing social exchange theory. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 61, 102584.
I think, therefore I ignore: a study on disinformation’s credibility perceptions and sharing intentions over social media
Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0965254X.2023.2253819
This paper evaluates the influence that bandwagon heuristics (conceptualized as the number of likes and comments’ valence) and actively open-minded thinking (AOT) have on the credibility and sharing of disinformation over social media. Across two experimental studies, Study 1 finds a direct link between the sharing intention of social media posts containing disinformation and an interactive effect of AOT on such bandwagon heuristics. Study 2 demonstrates that for posts containing disinformation, the number of likes has a significant influence on sharing intentions, but not credibility, whilst comments have a significant influence on credibility, but not sharing intentions. Furthermore, Study 2 found the influence of AOT attenuates the effects of such heuristics. Overall, this research contributes to the extant literature and practice by demonstrating the influence bandwagon heuristics and AOT have on disinformation over social media. This paper further presents areas of future research to improve the understanding of how disinformation spreads.
Casper Ferm, L.-E., & Thaichon, P. (2023). I think, therefore I ignore: a study on disinformation’s credibility perceptions and sharing intentions over social media. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 1-17.
Package appearance matter: Facial expression and Galvanic Skin Response analysis approach
Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21639159.2021.1939094
This study reveals the importance of package design and brand in the choice of over-the-counter (OTC) analgesics. Various packages for analgesic products were tested on 40 respondents and autonomic body reactions were measured. The product tested was private Australian brands of Paracetamol from Coles and Woolworth, Priceline, a chemist brand, Herron a local brand and finally the well-known global brand Panadol. Eye tracking, facial expression analysis as well as Galvanic Skin response were found in strong correlation with respondent preference and purchasing intention. A heat map analysis for each package reveals that for most of the products the focus was not on the price. Time to First Fixation (TTFF) revealed that the eye fixation on price came last with the time spent looking at the price was low as compared to the time spent on the other areas of the packaging and this for both males and females. For most of the drugs, the focus (time spent) is majorly on the brand name and the benefits and tablet usage information.
Hamelin, N., Agrawal, S., Patwa, N., Casper Ferm, L. E., & Thaichon, P. (2021). Package appearance matter: Facial expression and Galvanic Skin Response analysis approach. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 31(4), 624-644.
Successful COVID-19 Prevention Factors and Their Effect on the Economy: A Comparison Between Thailand, Vietnam and Australia
Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-16-1442-2_4
COVID-19 represents not only a health crisis, but an economic crisis. As COVID-19 has spread across the globe, some countries have successfully combatted the virus more than others. This chapter will compare and contrast three countries in their response to COVID-19: Thailand, Vietnam and Australia. These countries are compared on the following factors: Geology and Climate, Culture, Transportation, Medical Hub, Lockdown & Curfew, 14 Days Quarantine, Social Distancing, Discipline: Wearing a Face Mask. Thailand and Vietnam experienced similar patterns in their COVID-19 responses due to their cultural similarities, pandemic experiences with H1N1 and SARS, along with their reputations and effectiveness as medical hubs played important roles in their economic and stability. Meanwhile, Australia’s effectiveness stemmed from some of the strictest lockdowns in the world and government support programmes in trying to keep the economy strong. Overall, all countries were highly effective and represent examples to follow when trying to prevent future outbreaks or potential second waves.
Casper Ferm, L. E., & Thaichon, P. (2021). Successful COVID-19 Prevention Factors and Their Effect on the Economy: A Comparison Between Thailand, Vietnam and Australia. In COVID-19, Technology and Marketing (pp. 59-83). Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.
Data privacy and artificial intelligence (AI): How AI collects data and its impact on data privacy
Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21639159.2021.1939094
Artificial intelligence (AI) has disrupted the ways customers and firms interact. However, AI runs on data and, in the case of this chapter, customers’ personal informational data. Yet, even in the face of a new paradigm for AI and customers’ online behaviors, there is a need for clarification of key concepts and definitions in this domain. The main objective of this chapter is threefold. First to provide a concrete definition of data privacy which will conceptually drive this chapter. Second, we focus on the three popular types of AI in the marketing domain AI types prevalent (natural language processing, machine learning, and deep learning) and identify how they give way to AI data privacy issues. Third, this study will provide two case studies (Clearview AI and Hello Barbie) which document and explicate the means by which AI collects customer data and how this gives way to data privacy issues. Overall, this chapter will provide a conceptual alignment and understanding of the complex arena of AI and data privacy.
Ferm, L. E. C., Quach, S., & Thaichon, P. (2023). Data privacy and artificial intelligence (AI): How AI collects data and its impact on data privacy. In Artificial Intelligence for Marketing Management (pp. 163-174). Routledge.
Solutions to artificial intelligence (AI) and privacy: How AI uses data and its accompanying privacy issues
Available at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003280392-14/solutions-artificial-intelligence-ai-privacy-lars-erik-casper-ferm-park-thaichon-sara-quach
The main objective of this study is to understand the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and its influence on data privacy. Via a series of case studies and discussions, this chapter strives to provide insights into data privacy issues facing marketers and customers in the digital space through their usage of AI. To achieve this, this chapter will align and extend AI and data privacy knowledge in two ways. First, by providing information on AI types (natural language processing, machine learning, and deep learning) and how/what customer data AI uses (e.g., segmentation and targeting, personalization, and customer service) along with a discussion of the accompanying arising data privacy issues. Then, this chapter will provide potential solutions to the problems presented and identified throughout this chapter (e.g., data value propositions, degree of personalization, and federated learning). The identified privacy issues and accompanying solutions within this chapter will hopefully aid the understanding of current and future marketing practitioners and academics in their use and understanding of AI.
Ferm, L. E. C., Thaichon, P., & Quach, S. (2023). Solutions to artificial intelligence (AI) and privacy: How AI uses data and its accompanying privacy issues. In Artificial Intelligence for Marketing Management (pp. 175-196). Routledge.
Ethical and Sustainability Issues of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Luxury Industry
Despite the benefits that Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies offer to various fields, ethical and sustainability concerns have been a high-profile issue. Such issues of AI have become a huge concern dominating government, media, and academic discourse. This book chapter sheds light on some of the most pressing ethical and sustainability issues that result from the adoption of AI-powered tools in the luxury industry. This chapter strives to extend understanding of these arenas in two ways. First, to identify the most pressing areas of AI ethical and sustainability issues in the luxury industry. Second, to build a framework to help address such concerns to guide future research and practitioners. To achieve this, the issues of transparency and sustainability are considered the greatest challenges that need to be addressed in relation to AI’s use in the luxury industry. These aspects are discussed and evaluated via two case studies: the Sephora Visual Artist app feature and Stitch Fix respectively. Lastly, we develop a framework that extends current AI ethical issues within the luxury industry and provides managerial implications on how researchers and practitioners can strategize their usage of AI.
Ferm, L. E. C., Shawky, S., Thaichon, P., & Quach, S. (2023). Ethical and Sustainability Issues of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Luxury Industry. In Luxury Marketing, Sustainability and Technology (pp. 37-52). Routledge.
My Contact Details
E-Mail: l.casperferm@uq.edu.au
Lars-Erik Casper Ferm 