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How do consumers react to chatbots' humorous emojis in service failures

Author

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  • Liu, Dewen
  • Lv, Yiliang
  • Huang, Weidong

Abstract

Prior research has shown that humor can positively impact service recovery in face-to-face interactions. However, the efficacy of using humor in virtual environments for chatbots to address service failures remains unclear. Through three experiments in different populations, this paper found that using humorous emojis by chatbots can help increase consumers' willingness to continue using chatbots after service failures (i.e., reuse intention) and the underlying mechanism; that is, the level of consumers perceiving the degree of the chatbot's intelligence (i.e., perceived intelligence) partially mediates the relationship between humorous emojis use and consumers' reuse intention. Further, how people form impressions about others based on limited information (i.e., implicit personality) significantly moderates the influence path from humorous emojis use to perceived intelligence, and perceived intelligence is more likely to mediate for people who see challenging situations as opportunities (i.e., incremental theorists). In conclusion, this paper provides empirical evidence supporting the potential benefits of using humorous emojis in chatbot service recovery, and offers guidance to online retailers to leverage digital technology for effective consumer engagement.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Dewen & Lv, Yiliang & Huang, Weidong, 2023. "How do consumers react to chatbots' humorous emojis in service failures," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:73:y:2023:i:c:s0160791x23000490
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102244
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    Cited by:

    1. Xie, Yuguang & Liang, Changyong & Zhou, Peiyu & Jiang, Li, 2024. "Exploring the influence mechanism of chatbot-expressed humor on service satisfaction in online customer service," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    2. Zhou, Cheng & Chang, Qian, 2024. "Informational or emotional? Exploring the relative effects of chatbots’ self-recovery strategies on consumer satisfaction," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Koc, Erdogan & Hatipoglu, Sercan & Kivrak, Oguzhan & Celik, Cemal & Koc, Kaan, 2023. "Houston, we have a problem!: The use of ChatGPT in responding to customer complaints," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).

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