How do consumers respond to service provided by chatbots?

Principal Investigator: Lindsay McShane, Marketing
Project Title: Chatbot or Live Agent? The Effects of Relational Value Threat on Consumer Receptivity to Chatbots
Funder: CORIS Development Grant

More and more, companies are turning to chatbots to handle their online interactions with customers—both to save money for the company and to improve the service experience for the customer (Adam et al. 2021). However, research shows that customers might not only prefer talking to a real person, but actually dislike dealing with chatbots (Press 2019). These findings raise questions for companies who want to balance the benefits of chatbots with the preferences of their customers.

This research will address those questions by clarifying how customers react to chatbots and how chatbot interactions influence their relationship with a given company. In particular, it will determine how human-like features in chatbot design (like a human image, greeting, or name) work together with service interaction details (like the time of day and customer goals) to influence what customers think and do. It will also clarify whether and how these features make customers feel valued and respected by the company.