![]() ![]() In a further and more challenging step, automation has been recently used to interact directly and physically with customers in frontline services, which is shaking up service delivery and customer-firm relationships. Automation will not only replace manual jobs, but also those involving analytical, intuitive and empathetic skills (Huang and Rust, 2018). artificial intelligence (AI), robots) in business is having an important impact on economies and employment, among other aspects. ![]() industrial, digital), the implementation of automated and computerized forms of interaction (e.g. The study further analyses a causal chain among the variables, proving that social presence and trust mediate the relationship between the chatbot identity disclosure and the attitude toward the online retailer.Īs with previous technology-based revolutions (e.g. Findings from an online experiment with 160 participants show that interacting with the chatbot whose identity has been primed through a disclosure leads to less perceived social presence, trust, and attitude toward the online retailer, compared to interacting with the chatbot whose identity has not been disclosed before the interaction. Specifically, this study compares the effects that the explicit disclosure of the chatbot identity has on social presence trust and users' attitudes toward the online retailer. The present study aims at disentangling this sort of ambivalence people have for chatbots through an investigation on how the explicit disclosure of the chatbot identity, before the interaction, influences consumers' perceptions. Today many consumers prefer interactions with companies via chat and instant messaging, however, although in most cases it is now a virtual agent to handle the interactions, many of them feel it would be eerie if a chatbot pretended to be human. We propose an initial model representing the HCR development identified in this study and suggest avenues for future research. The perceived impact on the users' broader social context was mixed, and a sense of stigma associated with HCRs was reported. Key chatbot characteristics facilitating relationship development included the chatbot being seen as accepting, understanding and non-judgmental. The relationship with the social chatbot was found to be rewarding to its users, positively impacting the participants' perceived wellbeing. As the relationship evolves to a stable state, the frequency of interactions may decrease, but the relationship can still be seen as having substantial affective and social value. The evolving HCRs are characterised by substantial affective exploration and engagement as the users' trust and engagement in self-disclosure increase. We find that at the outset, HCRs typically have a superficial character motivated by the users' curiosity. Guided by Social Penetration Theory, we interviewed 18 participants, all of whom had developed a friendship with a social chatbot named Replika, to understand the HCR development process. There has been a recent surge of interest in social chatbots, and human-chatbot relationships (HCRs) are becoming more prevalent, but little knowledge exists on how HCRs develop and may impact the broader social context of the users. ![]()
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