Can chatbot customer service match human service agents on customer satisfaction? An investigation in the role of trust

Dongling Huang, Dmitri G. Markovitch and Rusty A. Stough

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2024, vol. 76, issue C

Abstract: Consumers prefer human service over chatbots in some contexts. We draw on treatments of trust in information systems research to propose a three-tiered model of trust which posits that customer outcomes following chatbot service are influenced by dispositional trust in service technologies, generalized learned trust in chatbots, and particularized situational trust in one's chatbot service-giver. Our empirical tests, based on 643 participants in 3 studies, show that dispositional trust partially mediates the effect of learned trust. We also evaluate two alternative chatbot service configurations to help improve customer acceptance. The approach which combined chatbot service with a light touch human intervention matched the human service condition on most customer outcomes.

Keywords: Customer service; Chatbots; Artificial intelligence; Trust; Dispositional trust; Trust propensity; Learned trust; Situational trust; Satisfaction; Loyalty; Recommendation acceptance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joreco:v:76:y:2024:i:c:s096969892300351x

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103600

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