IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joreco/v63y2021ics0969698921003015.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

AI-chatbots on the services frontline addressing the challenges and opportunities of agency

Author

Listed:
  • Chong, Terrence
  • Yu, Ting
  • Keeling, Debbie Isobel
  • de Ruyter, Ko

Abstract

AI-chatbots as frontline agents promise innovative opportunities for shaping service offerings that benefit customers and retailers. Examining current practice through the lens of agency, as defined by Social Cognitive Theory, we present a 3-level classification of AI-chatbot design (anthropomorphic role, appearance and interactivity) and examine how the combination of these three aspects of chatbot design impacts on the complementarities of agency. Recognizing current implementation challenges, we advance that the complementarities of agency at each level are the lynchpin mechanism that translates AI-chatbot design into service relevant outcomes. We develop a research agenda focused on the emotion interface, resolution of the proxy agency dilemma and development of collective agency to support the implementation of AI-chatbots as frontline service agents.

Suggested Citation

  • Chong, Terrence & Yu, Ting & Keeling, Debbie Isobel & de Ruyter, Ko, 2021. "AI-chatbots on the services frontline addressing the challenges and opportunities of agency," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:63:y:2021:i:c:s0969698921003015
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102735
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698921003015
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102735?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hyeongmin Christian Kim & Thomas Kramer, 2015. "Do Materialists Prefer the "Brand-as-Servant"? The Interactive Effect of Anthropomorphized Brand Roles and Materialism on Consumer Responses," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 42(2), pages 284-299.
    2. Ming-Hui Huang & Roland T. Rust, 2017. "Technology-driven service strategy," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(6), pages 906-924, November.
    3. Kadic-Maglajlic, Selma & Boso, Nathaniel & Micevski, Milena, 2018. "How internal marketing drive customer satisfaction in matured and maturing European markets?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 291-299.
    4. Ruyter, Ko de & Isobel Keeling, Debbie & Ngo, Liem Viet, 2018. "When nothing is what it seems: A digital marketing research agenda," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 199-203.
    5. Donna L Hoffman & Thomas P Novak & Eileen FischerEditor & Robert KozinetsAssociate Editor, 2018. "Consumer and Object Experience in the Internet of Things: An Assemblage Theory Approach," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(6), pages 1178-1204.
    6. Markus Blut & Cheng Wang & Nancy V. Wünderlich & Christian Brock, 2021. "Understanding anthropomorphism in service provision: a meta-analysis of physical robots, chatbots, and other AI," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 632-658, July.
    7. Aguirre, Elizabeth & Mahr, Dominik & Grewal, Dhruv & de Ruyter, Ko & Wetzels, Martin, 2015. "Unraveling the Personalization Paradox: The Effect of Information Collection and Trust-Building Strategies on Online Advertisement Effectiveness," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 34-49.
    8. Lapierre, Jozee & Filiatrault, Pierre & Chebat, Jean-Charles, 1999. "Value Strategy Rather Than Quality Strategy: A Case of Business-to-Business Professional Services," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 235-246, June.
    9. Adam, Martin & Wessel, Michael & Benlian, Alexander, 2020. "AI-based chatbots in customer service and their effects on user compliance," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 119304, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    10. Keeling, Kathleen & McGoldrick, Peter & Beatty, Susan, 2010. "Avatars as salespeople: Communication style, trust, and intentions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(8), pages 793-800, August.
    11. Chebat, Jean-Charles & Morrin, Maureen, 2007. "Colors and cultures: Exploring the effects of mall decor on consumer perceptions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 189-196, March.
    12. Robinson, Stacey & Orsingher, Chiara & Alkire, Linda & De Keyser, Arne & Giebelhausen, Michael & Papamichail, K. Nadia & Shams, Poja & Temerak, Mohamed Sobhy, 2020. "Frontline encounters of the AI kind: An evolved service encounter framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 366-376.
    13. Pankaj Aggarwal & Ann L. McGill, 2007. "Is That Car Smiling at Me? Schema Congruity as a Basis for Evaluating Anthropomorphized Products," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 34(4), pages 468-479, June.
    14. Thomas Davenport & Abhijit Guha & Dhruv Grewal & Timna Bressgott, 2020. "How artificial intelligence will change the future of marketing," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 24-42, January.
    15. Michon, Richard & Chebat, Jean-Charles, 2004. "Cross-cultural mall shopping values and habitats: A comparison between English- and French-speaking Canadians," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(8), pages 883-892, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Markovitch, Dmitri G. & Stough, Rusty A. & Huang, Dongling, 2024. "Consumer reactions to chatbot versus human service: An investigation in the role of outcome valence and perceived empathy," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Sohn, Stefanie, 2024. "Consumer perceived risk of using autonomous retail technology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    3. Song, Mengmeng & Zhang, Huixian & Xing, Xinyu & Duan, Yucong, 2023. "Appreciation vs. apology: Research on the influence mechanism of chatbot service recovery based on politeness theory," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    4. Aslam, Usman, 2023. "Understanding the usability of retail fashion brand chatbots: Evidence from customer expectations and experiences," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Mariani, Marcello M. & Hashemi, Novin & Wirtz, Jochen, 2023. "Artificial intelligence empowered conversational agents: A systematic literature review and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    6. Kayeser Fatima, Johra & Khan, Md Irfanuzzaman & Bahmannia, Somayeh & Chatrath, Sarvjeet Kaur & Dale, Naomi F. & Johns, Raechel, 2024. "Rapport with a chatbot? The underlying role of anthropomorphism in socio-cognitive perceptions of rapport and e-word of mouth," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    7. Dabiran, Ehsan & Farivar, Samira & Wang, Fang & Grant, Gerald, 2024. "Virtually human: anthropomorphism in virtual influencer marketing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    8. Park, Jungkun & Yun, Jeewoo & Chang, Woondeog, 2024. "Intention to adopt services by AI avatar: A protection motivation theory perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    9. Ma, Xiaoyue & Huo, Yudi, 2023. "Are users willing to embrace ChatGPT? Exploring the factors on the acceptance of chatbots from the perspective of AIDUA framework," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    10. Chakraborty, Debarun & Polisetty, Aruna & G, Sowmya & Rana, Nripendra P. & Khorana, Sangeeta, 2024. "Unlocking the potential of AI: Enhancing consumer engagement in the beauty and cosmetic product purchases," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Zhao, Jingyou & Hu, Enhua & Han, Mingyan & Jiang, Keshen & Shan, Hongmei, 2023. "That honey, my arsenic: The influence of advanced technologies on service employees’ organizational deviance," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    12. Kumar, Anand & Bala, Pradip Kumar & Chakraborty, Shibashish & Behera, Rajat Kumar, 2024. "Exploring antecedents impacting user satisfaction with voice assistant app: A text mining-based analysis on Alexa services," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    13. Xu, Ying & Niu, Nan & Zhao, Zixiang, 2023. "Dissecting the mixed effects of human-customer service chatbot interaction on customer satisfaction: An explanation from temporal and conversational cues," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    14. Liu, Wenlong & Jiang, Min & Li, Wangjie & Mou, Jian, 2024. "How does the anthropomorphism of AI chatbots facilitate users' reuse intention in online health consultation services? The moderating role of disease severity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    15. Maduku, Daniel K. & Mpinganjira, Mercy & Rana, Nripendra P. & Thusi, Philile & Ledikwe, Aobakwe & Mkhize, Njabulo Happy-boy, 2023. "Assessing customer passion, commitment, and word-of-mouth intentions in digital assistant usage: The moderating role of technology anxiety," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    16. Wang, Cuicui & Li, Yiyang & Fu, Weizhong & Jin, Jia, 2023. "Whether to trust chatbots: Applying the event-related approach to understand consumers’ emotional experiences in interactions with chatbots in e-commerce," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    17. Lee, Kuo-Wei & Li, Chia-Ying, 2023. "It is not merely a chat: Transforming chatbot affordances into dual identification and loyalty," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    18. Justina Sidlauskiene & Yannick Joye & Vilte Auruskeviciene, 2023. "AI-based chatbots in conversational commerce and their effects on product and price perceptions," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-21, December.
    19. Kamoonpuri, Sana Zehra & Sengar, Anita, 2023. "Hi, May AI help you? An analysis of the barriers impeding the implementation and use of artificial intelligence-enabled virtual assistants in retail," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    20. Huang, Yu-Shan (Sandy) & Dootson, Paula, 2022. "Chatbots and service failure: When does it lead to customer aggression," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    21. Mark Anthony Camilleri & Ciro Troise, 2023. "Live support by chatbots with artificial intelligence: A future research agenda," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 17(1), pages 61-80, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thomas P. Novak & Donna L. Hoffman, 2019. "Relationship journeys in the internet of things: a new framework for understanding interactions between consumers and smart objects," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 216-237, March.
    2. Sharma, Monika & Rahman, Zillur, 2022. "Anthropomorphic brand management: An integrated review and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 463-475.
    3. Darima Fotheringham & Michael A. Wiles, 2023. "The effect of implementing chatbot customer service on stock returns: an event study analysis," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 802-822, July.
    4. Jana Holthöwer & Jenny Doorn, 2023. "Robots do not judge: service robots can alleviate embarrassment in service encounters," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 767-784, July.
    5. Yao, Qi & Hu, Chao & Zhou, Wenkai, 2024. "The impact of customer privacy concerns on service robot adoption intentions: A credence/experience service typology perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    6. Ming-Hui Huang & Roland T. Rust, 2021. "A strategic framework for artificial intelligence in marketing," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 30-50, January.
    7. Pantano, Eleonora & Pizzi, Gabriele, 2020. "Forecasting artificial intelligence on online customer assistance: Evidence from chatbot patents analysis," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    8. Navid Bahmani & Amit Bhatnagar & Dinesh Gauri, 2022. "Hey, Alexa! What attributes of Skills affect firm value?," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(6), pages 1219-1235, November.
    9. Gretry, Anaïs & Horváth, Csilla & Belei, Nina & van Riel, Allard C.R., 2017. "“Don't pretend to be my friend!” When an informal brand communication style backfires on social media," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 77-89.
    10. Lexie Lan Huang & Rocky Peng Chen & Kimmy Wa Chan, 2024. "Pairing up with anthropomorphized artificial agents: Leveraging employee creativity in service encounters," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 955-975, July.
    11. Esmark Jones, Carol L. & Hancock, Tyler & Kazandjian, Brett & Voorhees, Clay M., 2022. "Engaging the Avatar: The effects of authenticity signals during chat-based service recoveries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 703-716.
    12. Dhruv Grewal & John Hulland & Praveen K. Kopalle & Elena Karahanna, 2020. "The future of technology and marketing: a multidisciplinary perspective," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 1-8, January.
    13. Ertugrul Uysal & Sascha Alavi & Valéry Bezençon, 2022. "Trojan horse or useful helper? A relationship perspective on artificial intelligence assistants with humanlike features," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(6), pages 1153-1175, November.
    14. Alabed, Amani & Javornik, Ana & Gregory-Smith, Diana, 2022. "AI anthropomorphism and its effect on users' self-congruence and self–AI integration: A theoretical framework and research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    15. Nitin Upadhyay & Aakash Kamble, 2024. "Why can’t we help but love mobile banking chatbots? Perspective of stimulus-organism-response," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(3), pages 855-872, September.
    16. Aubel Martin & Pikturniene Indre & Joye Yannick, 2022. "Risk Perception and Risk Behavior in Response to Service Robot Anthropomorphism in Banking," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 30(2), pages 26-42, June.
    17. Gansser, Oliver Alexander & Reich, Christina Stefanie, 2021. "A new acceptance model for artificial intelligence with extensions to UTAUT2: An empirical study in three segments of application," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    18. Li, Chia-Ying & Zhang, Jin-Ting, 2023. "Chatbots or me? Consumers’ switching between human agents and conversational agents," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    19. Lena Steinhoff & Denni Arli & Scott Weaven & Irina V. Kozlenkova, 2019. "Online relationship marketing," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 369-393, May.
    20. Lucia-Palacios, Laura & Pérez-López, Raúl, 2021. "Effects of Home Voice Assistants' Autonomy on Instrusiveness and Usefulness: Direct, Indirect, and Moderating Effects of Interactivity," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 41-54.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:63:y:2021:i:c:s0969698921003015. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.