Michelle M. E. van Pinxteren

Papers

Total Citations

766

H-Index

About

Michelle M. E. van Pinxteren is a leading scholar at the intersection of service marketing, human-computer interaction, and artificial intelligence. Her research primarily explores how anthropomorphic design and human-like communication in robots and conversational agents influence consumer trust and adoption. In her highly influential 2019 paper, "Trust in humanoid robots: implications for services marketing" (505 citations), she critically examined how adding human-like features to service robots can paradoxically both build and erode trust, offering a nuanced framework for service firms. Building on this, her 2020 work, "Human-like communication in conversational agents: a literature review and research agenda" (261 citations), synthesized the fragmented literature on chatbots, avatars, and robots, identifying key gaps in how these agents should communicate to foster customer engagement. Van Pinxteren’s work is foundational for practitioners and researchers designing effective, trustworthy AI-driven service encounters. Her contributions have shaped the modern understanding of consumer-robot relationships, making her a pivotal voice in the ongoing debate about automation’s role in customer experience.