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About

Tobias Otterbring is a leading researcher in consumer psychology, with a focus on the intersection of technology, gender, and social perception. His work primarily explores how humans interact with artificial intelligence, service robots, and avatars, particularly in retail and service settings. Otterbring’s major contributions include demonstrating that female-gendered bots are perceived as more human and are more readily accepted by users—a finding from his highly cited 2021 paper (245 citations). He has also pioneered research on the long-term effects of replacing human workers with robots, showing that acknowledgment from a human versus a machine elicits fundamentally different customer responses (54 citations). More recently, Otterbring has investigated the metaverse, revealing how the presence of employee avatars shapes shopping behavior (13 citations). His work consistently challenges assumptions about automation and gender, offering critical insights for businesses and designers. With a growing citation impact and a forward-looking agenda, Otterbring is shaping how we understand the social dynamics of human-machine interaction.