Whether to trust chatbots: Applying the event-related approach to understand consumers’ emotional experiences in interactions with chatbots in e-commerce

Cuicui Wang, Yiyang Li, Weizhong Fu and Jia Jin

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2023, vol. 73, issue C

Abstract: Chatbots can be used in marketing services to substantially improve the consumer experience. Based on cognitive appraisal theory, this study applied an event-related potential (ERP) approach to investigate consumers’ emotional experiences and consumer trust in passive interaction with chatbots versus humans, taking into account objective or subjective tasks in e-commerce. The results showed that chatbot (vs. human) service interactions automatically drew more consumer attention at the subconscious stage (i.e., a larger P2); consumers purposefully allocated more resources to regulate the negative emotions elicited by chatbots at the conscious stage (i.e., a larger LPP); and there was a lower trust in chatbots than in humans. Moreover, under subjective tasks, the differences between chatbots and human agents in emotional experience (as reflected by LPP) and trust were amplified. The findings will encourage e-retailers to improve the emotional service experience of their chatbots and prioritize the application of chatbots for objective tasks in customer service.

Keywords: Chatbots; Emotional experience; Cognitive appraisal theory; Trust; Event-related potential (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joreco:v:73:y:2023:i:c:s0969698923000723

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103325

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