Interruptions During a Service Encounter: Dealing with Imperfect Chatbots

Elizabeth Han, Dezhi Yin, Han Zhang

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceedingConference proceedingpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This research investigates how and why chatbot-initiated service interruptions influence customers’ service experience as well as a choice-based mitigation strategy. Based on the psychological reactance theory, we posit that a service interruption caused by chatbot failures trigger customers’ psychological reactance manifested through anger and negative cognition. We further propose that the negative impact of chatbot-initiated interruption on service evaluations can be explained through the affective process of increased anger and the cognitive process of decreased perceived competence of the chatbot (caused by increased negative cognition). Based on these mechanisms, we suggest choice provision as a strategy to mitigate the negative impact of chatbot failures on anger and negative cognition. Results from two laboratory experiments substantiate our claims. By unveiling why chatbot-induced interruption hurts service evaluations and a mitigation strategy, we augment the current understanding of AI failures and provide insights for the deployment of (imperfect) AI applications in customer service.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationICIS 2021 Proceedings - Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action
PublisherAssociation for Information Systems
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)9781713893608
ISBN (Print)9781733632591
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021
Event42nd International Conference on Information Systems: Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action, ICIS 2021 TREOs - Austin, United States
Duration: 12 Dec 202115 Dec 2021
https://icis2021.aisconferences.org/ (Conference website)
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2021 (Conference proceedings)

Publication series

NameInternational Conference on Information Systems, ICIS

Conference

Conference42nd International Conference on Information Systems: Building Sustainability and Resilience with IS: A Call for Action, ICIS 2021 TREOs
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityAustin
Period12/12/2115/12/21
Internet address

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Computer Science Applications
  • Information Systems

User-Defined Keywords

  • AI failure
  • Artificial intelligence
  • customer service
  • psychological reactance

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Interruptions During a Service Encounter: Dealing with Imperfect Chatbots'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this