The Effect of Social Presence and Chatbot Errors on Trust

Diana-Cezara Toader, Grațiela Boca, Rita Toader, Mara Măcelaru, Cezar Toader, Diana Ighian and Adrian T. Rădulescu
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Diana-Cezara Toader: Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC), The University of Lausanne in Lausanne, Quartier de Chambronne, Internef 261, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Grațiela Boca: Faculty of Sciences, Technical University of Cluj Napoca, CUNBM, 76 Victoriei Street, 430122 Baia Mare, Romania
Rita Toader: Faculty of Sciences, Technical University of Cluj Napoca, CUNBM, 76 Victoriei Street, 430122 Baia Mare, Romania
Mara Măcelaru: Faculty of Sciences, Technical University of Cluj Napoca, CUNBM, 76 Victoriei Street, 430122 Baia Mare, Romania
Cezar Toader: Faculty of Sciences, Technical University of Cluj Napoca, CUNBM, 76 Victoriei Street, 430122 Baia Mare, Romania
Diana Ighian: Faculty of Sciences, Technical University of Cluj Napoca, CUNBM, 76 Victoriei Street, 430122 Baia Mare, Romania
Adrian T. Rădulescu: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca,72 Observatorului Street, 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-24

Abstract: This article explores the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots for creating positive change by supporting customers in the digital realm. Our study, which focuses on the customer and his/her declarative psychological responses to an interaction with a virtual assistant, will fill a gap in the digital marketing research, where little attention has been paid to the impact of Error and Gender, as well as the extent to which Social Presence and Perceived Competence mediate the relationships between Anthropomorphic design cues and Trust. We provide consistent evidence of the significant negative effect of erroneous conversational interfaces on several constructs considered in our conceptual model, such as: perceived competence, trust, as well as positive consumer responses. We also provide support to previous research findings and confirm that people employ a biased thinking across gender and this categorization also influences their acceptance of chatbots taking social roles. The results of an empirical study demonstrated that highly anthropomorphized female chatbots that engage in social behaviors are significantly shaping positive consumer responses, even in the error condition. Moreover, female virtual assistants are much more commonly forgiven when committing errors compared to male chatbots.

Keywords: digital marketing; customer; chatbot; brand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2019:i:1:p:256-:d:302730

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