Implementing Choices in Chatbot-initiated Service Interactions: Helpful or Harmful?

Chatbots are increasingly equipped to provide choices for customers to click and choose from when communicating with the chatbots. This research investigates when and why implementing choices enhances or impairs customers' service experience. Based on the concept of fluency, we posit that the implementation of choices is beneficial only after a conversational breakdown occurs because the value of choice provision for facilitating fluency may not be recognizable or realized in the absence of service breakdowns. We further propose that the implementation of choices is counterproductive when the choice set is perceived as incomprehensive because it decreases the perception of fluency. 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 chatbots in customer service.