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Information Systems

Information Systems, Games and Gamification

  1.  University of bamberg
  2. Faculties
  3. Information Systems and Applied Computer Sciences
  4. Subject groups
  5. Information Systems
  6. Information Systems, Games and Gamification
  7. Research
  8. NIM project TRAVIS

NIM project TRAVIS:TRAnsparency of Virtual Shopping Assistants

The rapid advancement of digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally transforming online commerce. While digital shopping experiences have traditionally relied on static user interfaces, recent AI developments enable increasingly interactive and human-like forms of communication. In particular, AI-based avatars offer new opportunities to guide consumers through the purchasing process, provide personalized product recommendations, and transfer social interactions from traditional brick-and-mortar retail into digital shopping environments.

AI-based avatars can assume different social roles, such as virtual sales assistants or peer consumers sharing their experiences and recommendations. Consumer preferences for these roles and the effectiveness of their recommendations are likely to depend on the specific shopping context. At the same time, advances in AI are making avatars increasingly realistic, allowing them to closely resemble human interaction partners.

These developments raise important scientific and societal questions. Emerging regulations increasingly require the transparent disclosure of AI-generated content and AI-based interaction partners to ensure that consumers are aware when they are interacting with artificial intelligence. At the same time, previous research suggests that explicitly revealing the artificial identity of AI systems may influence consumers’ perceptions, trust, and acceptance of AI-generated recommendations. This creates a tension between regulatory requirements for transparency and the effective design of AI-based consumer interactions.

The TRAVIS research project investigates how the social role of AI-based avatars and the disclosure of their artificial identity influence consumers’ perceptions, trust, and acceptance of product recommendations. The project aims to develop a deeper understanding of how different avatar roles and transparency strategies shape consumer decision-making in digital shopping environments and how AI-based interaction systems can be designed to be both user-centered and compliant with regulatory requirements.

The TRAVIS project is a collaboration between the University of Bamberg, the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM), and the  Karlsruhe Decision & Design Lab (KD2Lab) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

The project is funded by the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM).

Duration: June 2025 – December 2026

Further Information:

Team: Runjie Xie, Prof. Dr. Benedikt Morschheuser, Carolin Kaiser