Editor’s Introduction 30(3)
Vladimir Zwass
International Journal of Electronic Commerce,
Volume 30, Number 3, 2026, pp. 289-290.
Exponential progress in artificial intelligence (AI) has enabled the emergence of the concept
and the artifact of digital human (DH). These persistent anthropomorphic and individualized agents may act autonomously and display a distinct identity that depends on their purpose. With time, they acquire more closely the characteristics actualizing their purpose. Digital twins build up their memory and resemble ever more faithfully their prototype in appearance and action; digital assistants develop a range of behaviors that expand their effectiveness as helpmates to the specific people; digital experts can render advice or act autonomously within their area of expertise; digital salespeople aim to close the gap between the platform and the customers in e-commerce. More recently, DH are able to become parasocial as they learn to interact with a broader and more diverse range of humans, both living and digital. Under favorable technological conditions, the bandwidth of a DH and the quality of response latency widely surpass those of a natural one. The capability to learn is a strength that is growing with the advances in AI. The combination of knowledge domains within the DH’s compass is well beyond those of the human potential. DH have already entered multiple arenas of human activities in business [2]. One may envision the ever greater capabilities and affordances of DH, and their identity challenging our own perceived identity as humans in the flesh. The self-image of humans can only be recovered (partly) by realizing that DH are the creation of the natural ones.
The Special Section on DH opening this issue of IJEC presents the papers that investigate two key aspects of DH in the context of e-commerce: their believability and their parasocial relationships. The Special Section is guest-edited by Lingyan (Ivy) Yuan, Mike Seymour, Alan R. Dennis, and Kai Riemer. The Guest Editors introduce you to the role of DH in e-commerce and to the papers they have included in the Special Section. Collectively, the Guest Editors are the innovators in the DH research [1, 3, 4]. In their introduction, they offer a broad perspective on the research problematic in the domain.
The first paper in the general section continues the theme of DH and brings it closer to the specific concerns of e-retail. Tuotuo Qi, Tianmei Wang, and Jian Tang investigate how different types of digital humans affect purchase decisions of consumers. The authors trichotomize DH into three categories and further differentiate those by the level of perceived intelligence of the artifacts. They proceed to identify the levels of the emotional and cognitive trust evinced by the different categories, and study empirically their effects on the customer response to the DH recommendations. The work moves forward our understanding of the potential roles of different kinds of DH and—beyond that—contributes to the trust theory. Practical implications for selling platforms are of significant value as well.
The metaverse is another encompassing concept, implemented at the present fragmentally, that is expected to enhance customers’ engagement in the e-commerce ecosystem. The persistent immersive environment, expanding the concept of virtual reality and integrating it with augmented reality, the metaverse promises to alter the way we exist in the world. For now, Sonal Purohit and Vikas Arya investigate the role of several factors in enhancing consumer engagement in the budding metaverse environment. Basing themselves in several theories of human behavior and action, the authors and implementing two empirical studies, the authors surface the role of personal innovativeness as leading to a greater engagement and on to purchase intention. Beyond that, they show the key role of immersion and interactivity in driving the engagement. The results provide an encouragement to further work in creating the more expansive Metaverse and to research it.
Digital cultural products, such as digitally produced movies and mobile games, are expanding apace into the space once held by their physical predecessors. Their development is costly and it is crucial for the innovating developers to connect with the future consumers in a timely manner. The innovation in the domain of digital cultural products should be thus enacted in a process of co-creation with the envisaged consumers. The question emerges: co-creation with whom? Here, Cong Cheng, Panpan Bao, Jian Dai, and Ze Yang present a study of the impact of four consumer categories that use these digital goods. Theoretically grounded empirics produce non-trivial results regarding the comparative influence of each of these categories of feedback on innovation in the domain. It is thus important for the platforms to categorize their consumers with this impact in view.
Reference
[1] Dennis, A.R., Lakhiwal, A., and Sachdeva A. AI agents as team members: Effects on satisfaction, conflict, trustworthiness, and willingness to work with. Journal of Management Information Systems, 40, 2 (2023), 307–337.
[2] Lublin, J. S. Too much work to do? Have your digital twin handle it. The Wall Street Journal,
May 26, 2026, R1 and R6.
[3] Seymour, M., Lovallo, D., Riemer, K., and Yuan L. AI with a human face: The case for – and
against – digital employees. Harvard Business Review, 101, 2 (2023), 49–54.
[4] Seymour, M., Yuan, L., Riemer, K., and Dennis, A.R., Less artificial, more intelligent:
Understanding affinity, trustworthiness, and preference for digital humans. Information
Systems Research, 36, 2 (2025), 1096–1128. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.0203