Customer Service 2.0: The Influence of Chatbots and AI Solutions

Future Business Journal, 2023

Today, the use of chatbots for different functions in various industries has become a very interesting business for companies. Chatbots are promising types of interfaces. It is therefore necessary to understand how customers interact with retailers' interfaces in order to provide them with a better experience. In this study, we mobilise two theories, such as Stimilus-Organism-Response and Social Presence Theory, to formulate our research hypotheses. We have made major contributions to the interactive marketing and artificial intelligence literature by focusing on an emerging interactive technology: text chatbots. Our aim is to test the hedonic attributes of consumer trust in text chatbots by integrating the social and emotional aspects of this interaction. We also want to look at the moderating effects of text chatbot disclosure and task complexity. Based on the responses, we ran a questionnaire survey. A total of 353 people were polled for data. Participants were chosen at random. The structural equation modelling technique was used. First, the findings revealed that empathy and friendliness are major hedonic predictors of consumers' confidence in text chatbots. Second, the results demonstrate that the chatbot's task complexity and disclosure partially affect the empathy-trust relationship and the usability-trust relationship. We have made significant contributions to the field of interactive marketing research and artificial intelligence by focusing on new interactive technologies such as text-based chatbots. Our study is one of the first to look at the hedonic determinants of customer belief in text-based chatbots (1). All previous research has concentrated on the practical application of chatbots for digital customer service. The moderating effects of human-chatbot contact are investigated in our study (2). These two contributions make our research original. The findings give additional information that e-service providers and chatbot developers may utilise to improve their services, understand their effects on user experience, and provide a guide for strategy development and relationship building.

Oeconomia Copernicana, 2024

Research background: Chatbots represent valuable technological tools that allow companies to improve customer experiences, meet their expectations in real time, and provide them with personalized assistance. They have contributed to the transformation of conventional customer service models into online solutions, offering accessibility and efficiency through their integration across various digital platforms. Nevertheless, the existing literature is limited in terms of exploring the potential of chatbots in business communication and studying their impact on the customer's response. Purpose of the article: The main objective of this study is to examine how consumers perceive chatbots as customer service devices. In particular, the paper aims to analyze the influence of the dimensions of "Information", "Entertainment", "Media Appeal", "Social Presence" and "Risk for Privacy" on the "Customer Experience" and the latter on the "Purchase Intention", under the consideration of the Uses and Gratifications Theory. Moderations due to Chatbot Usage Frequency for some of the relationships proposed are also analyzed. Methods: An empirical study was performed through a questionnaire to Spanish consumers. The statistical data analysis was conducted with R software through the lavaan package. To test the hypotheses from the conceptual model a structural equation modelling approach was adopted. Findings & value added: The results obtained identify the main characteristics of chatbots that can support brands to effectively develop their virtual assistants in order to manage their relational communication strategies and enhance their value proposal through the online customer journey. Findings demonstrate the contribution that chatbot dimensions make to the online consumer experience and its impact on the purchase intention, with the consideration of the moderating effect exercised by the user's level of experience (novice vs. experienced) with the use of chatbots. Regarding managerial implications, this research offers recommendations for e-commerce professionals to manage chatbots more effectively. The "Entertainment" and "Social Presence" dimensions can be operationalized at a visual (e.g., appearance of the avatar and text box, use of designs aligned with the website) and textual level (e.g., style and tone of voice, use of expressions typical of the target audience) to generate a feeling of proximity with the chatbot and facilitate its adoption. "Media Appeal" requires that the chatbot be easy to use, effective, and accessible, to facilitate its usability. Finally, mitigation of "Privacy Risk" concerns should be achieved by presenting an appropriate privacy policy and requesting permission for the use of customers' private information. Research hypotheses Following the perspective of previous research regarding the Uses and Gratifications model, we propose the conceptual model shown in Figure 1. Key concepts and relationships embedded in this model are detailed below.

Cogent Business & Managment, 2024

AI chatbots are the key technology that embraces the technology in service. Nevertheless, the use of AI chatbots intention is not visible in most companies; as a result, they are unable to maintain customer relationships with Generation Z. This study aims to examine how user experience and satisfaction (UES), perceived utility and ease of use (PUEU), communication effectiveness (CE), and user acceptance and trust (UAT) relate to the development of effective customer relationship management (CRM), and how these factors affect users’ intentions to use chatbots (IUAC). This study collected data from medium-sized businesses and larger corporations in Asia, Europe, and Africa. A quantitative survey method was also used, followed by self-administered questionnaires. This study used a cross-sectional research design to investigate the impact of multiple factors on enhancing customer relationship management using structural equation modelling partial least squares (SEM-PLS). These findings indicate a strong correlation between variables. The study shows strong correlations between communication effectiveness and intention to use AI chatbots; the intention to employ AI chatbots and their perceived utility and ease of use; the intention to use an AI chatbot and acceptance and trust; and experience, satisfaction, and intention to use AI chatbots. The results of this study extend beyond customer relations to include other areas such as business operations, suppliers, distributors, and emerging economies. Therefore, this study provides a solid basis for understanding the relationships between innate traits and propensity to use AI chatbots for future advice.

2020

Chatbots are predicted to play a key role in customer service based on recent advances in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, a lack of user trust impedes the widespread adaption of AI-based chatbots. Still, there is a lack of systematically derived design knowledge concerning user trust in those agents. In this short paper, we report on the first steps of our design science research project on which design principles are relevant for building trust in chatbots. Based on trust literature and user interviews, we propose preliminary requirements and design principles for trust-enhancing design features for chatbots in customer service. Furthermore, we present a first instantiation of those principles. These insights will support researchers and practitioners to better understand how user trust in chatbots can be systematically built to increase adoption and usage.

Electronics

Artificial intelligence (AI) conversational agents (CA) or chatbots represent one of the technologies that can provide automated customer service for companies, a trend encountered in recent years. Chatbot use is beneficial for companies when associated with positive customer experience. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the overall customer experience with customer service chatbots in order to identify the main influencing factors for customer experience with customer service chatbots and to identify the resulting dimensions of customer experience (such as perceptions/attitudes and feelings and also responses and behaviors). The analysis uses the systematic literature review (SLR) method and includes a sample of 40 publications that present empirical studies. The results illustrate that the main influencing factors of customer experience with chatbots are grouped in three categories: chatbot-related, customer-related, and context-related factors, where the chatbot-related fac...

2019

The use of robots in live chats often known as chatbots is an emerging, smart and readily adoptable technology. It is also now a common customer service strategy as this is very much beneficial in rendering various customer services such as one-to-one conversations, customized offer, responsive customer service through 24/7/365 availability, etc. From this perspective the current study is an attempt to examine the role of chatbot in customer service of the banking industry of Bangladesh. The current study is the embodiment of both primary and secondary data collection and their analyses in which, the secondary data have been collected from the recent research findings and the primary data have been collected during the month of September 1, 2019 to November 30, 2019 from the sample size of 125 respondents including users and employees of digital banking service providers using judgment sampling method through a structured and self-administered questionnaire. The current study found the feasibility of using chatbots because of its varied forms of benefits in rendering customer service which include i) gathering feedback and suggestions from the customers via simple questionanswer interaction so that the lead page of the website of the concerned organization can be improved, ii) assisting users in navigation on the site, to limit the amount of clicks and to shorten the time to reach the desired information or product so that social relationships and emotional bond with customers can be built by increasing their confidence in the company, iii) using Natural Language Processing (NLP) to give unique feel in human-like conversations and personalized response to its customers and many more. Thus, chatbots centric services can be considered to enable effective customer service and thus ensure business growth and development of the online banking in Bangladesh.

TEM Journal

The main objective of this article is to distinguish the impact of chatbots technology on customer needs. A systematic literature review was conducted to determine aspects such as: Studies exist of chatbots, type of chatbots, benefits and countries that used this technology. For this, 34 articles were carried out and analysing the documentation. Among the results obtained are the following that chatbots are applied in Information and Communication Technologies , the most use chatbots are textual, as the benefits are that it solves queries or doubts, and the country that is most used is the United States.

Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 2024

The busy economy and diversified society of India create a unique setting where AI technologies are fast growing to fit the different requirements and tastes of its population. Indian businesses are using AI chatbots to improve customer interactions, streamline procedures, and boost operational efficiency due to their digital savvy and high service standards. AI-powered chatbots have transformed consumer service and experience across sectors worldwide in recent years. Intelligent systems provide real-time support, personalised recommendations, and efficient issue solving by mimicking human interactions. India, a dynamic and technologically advanced Southeast Asian city, has adopted AI technologies like chatbots, transforming customer experience. This study prepares to examine how AI tool-chatbots affect Indian consumer experience. Businesses can optimise customer interactions and grow in the digital age by understanding how AI chatbots are changing customer service paradigms in India and the opportunities and challenges they present. Keywords: AI, Chatbots, Customer, India, Tools.

JOURNAL OF LAW AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, 2023

Purpose: This study examines the process formation of customer loyalty and customer value co-creation towards AI chatbots by exploring the successive effects of perceived value aspects, perceived information quality, technological self-efficacy for online trust, aspects of loyalty, and value co-creation. Theorical framework: The increasingly strong reception of humans for a new wave of digitalization has promoted the need to learn about customer loyalty and customers' value cocreation formation for businesses applying AI chatbots to their operations business to attract and retain customers. The study utilized the perceived value dimension, as well as perceived information quality, technological self-efficacy, and online trust, to comprehend loyalty and value co-creation. Design/methodology/approach: The study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire survey with 447 participants, who had used Pizza Hut's AI chatbot service in Vietnam. The data was analyzed by integrating two techniques: partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and artificial neural networks (ANN). Findings: The results show that aspects of perceived value, perceived information quality, and technological self-efficacy all have a significant impact on online trust except hedonic value, which in turn leads to the formation of aspects of loyalty and high ability to create value cocreation. The analysis results show that perceived information quality has a stronger impact on online trust than technological self-efficacy. In addition, the non-linear results from the ANN analysis show that attitudinal loyalty has relatively stronger importance for value co-creation than behavioral loyalty.