Location
Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii
Event Website
https://hicss.hawaii.edu/
Start Date
3-1-2024 12:00 AM
End Date
6-1-2024 12:00 AM
Description
Many service chatbots are equipped to provide choices when interacting with customers to streamline the service delivery process. This research investigates when and why the implementation of choices enhances or impairs customers’ service experience. Based on the concept of fluency, we posit that the choice implementation is beneficial only after a conversational breakdown due to a chatbot failure; otherwise, the value of choice provision for facilitating fluency may not be salient enough. We further propose that choice provision is counterproductive when the choice set is incomprehensive, reducing (rather than enhancing) the fluency in the use of provided choices for a subsequent decision. We conducted several experiments to test these hypotheses. By illuminating when and why choice implementation may help or harm customers during a chatbot-initiated service interaction, we augment the current understanding of a chatbot’s role in customers’ service experience and provide insights for the deployment of choice-equipped service chatbots.
Recommended Citation
Han, Elizabeth; Yin, Dezhi; and Zhang, Han, "When and How to Implement Choices on Customer Service Chatbots" (2024). Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2024 (HICSS-57). 3.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-57/in/ai_based_assistants/3
When and How to Implement Choices on Customer Service Chatbots
Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii
Many service chatbots are equipped to provide choices when interacting with customers to streamline the service delivery process. This research investigates when and why the implementation of choices enhances or impairs customers’ service experience. Based on the concept of fluency, we posit that the choice implementation is beneficial only after a conversational breakdown due to a chatbot failure; otherwise, the value of choice provision for facilitating fluency may not be salient enough. We further propose that choice provision is counterproductive when the choice set is incomprehensive, reducing (rather than enhancing) the fluency in the use of provided choices for a subsequent decision. We conducted several experiments to test these hypotheses. By illuminating when and why choice implementation may help or harm customers during a chatbot-initiated service interaction, we augment the current understanding of a chatbot’s role in customers’ service experience and provide insights for the deployment of choice-equipped service chatbots.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-57/in/ai_based_assistants/3