Human and chatbot interactions in customer service

Resumo

Purpose – This study aims to assess a priori attitudes and a posteriori consumer satisfaction with chatbot and human interactions in customer service contexts. Methodology – The study was carried out through an online survey and an experiment. The survey part captured the participants’ baseline attitudes towards the use of humans and chatbots in customer service. In the experiment, participants (N = 217) were assigned to one of eight customer service scenarios and then indicated their level of satisfaction with the hypothetical service. Findings – The results indicate that consumers largely prefer interaction with humans, and there is no statistical evidence of a difference in service satisfaction with humans and chatbots depending on the stage of the costumer journey or objective effectiveness of the communication. Research limitations – The sample number is small and may have influenced the significance of more complex analyses of heterogeneity. In addition, the sample of respondents is primarily young people up to 25 years old, limiting the analysis to a specific group. Future studies may analyze more diverse and larger samples to study whether consumer perceptions vary depending on their stage in the consumption journey. Practical implications – The results add to the current debate on the factors influencing customer satisfaction and how the customer journey and interactions with chatbots are associated with the theme. It also brings important insights for managers regarding implementing chatbots or hybrid models (human and chatbots) in customer service. Originality – This research investigates the impact of interactions with chatbots and human agents, with a specific emphasis on the consumer journey

Ficha do documento

Tipo

Dissertação

Ano

2023

Instituição

Fundação Getulio Vargas

Fonte

Repositório da FGV

Idioma

Inglês

Acesso

Não informado

Identificador

oai:repositorio.fgv.br:10438/34770

Palavras-chave

chatbotscustomer journeycustomer satisfactionSatisfação do consumidorInteração homem-máquinaServiços ao clienteSoftware de aplicação