scholarly journals EXPRESS: Blame the Bot: Anthropomorphism and Anger in Customer-Chatbot Interactions

2021 ◽  
pp. 002224292110456
Author(s):  
Cammy Crolic ◽  
Felipe Thomaz ◽  
Rhonda Hadi ◽  
Andrew T. Stephen
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Purchase Intentions ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Expectancy Violations ◽  
Emotional Context ◽  
International Telecommunications ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Practical Implications

Chatbots have become common in digital customer service contexts across many industries. While many companies choose to humanize their customer service chatbots (e.g., giving them names and avatars), little is known about how anthropomorphism influences customer responses to chatbots in service settings. Across five studies, including an analysis of a large real-world dataset from an international telecommunications company and four experiments, the authors find that when customers enter a chatbot-led service interaction in an angry emotional state, chatbot anthropomorphism has a negative effect on customer satisfaction, overall firm evaluation, and subsequent purchase intentions. However, this is not the case for customers in non-angry emotional states. The authors uncover the underlying mechanism driving this negative effect (expectancy violations caused by inflated pre-encounter expectations of chatbot efficacy) and offer practical implications for managers. These findings suggest it is important to both carefully design chatbots and consider the emotional context in which they are used, particularly in customer service interactions that involve resolving problems or handling complaints.

Effect of Emotions in a Lexical Decision Task

2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hélène Maire ◽  
Renaud Brochard ◽  
Jean-Luc Kop ◽  
Vivien Dioux ◽  
Daniel Zagar
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Lexical Decision Task ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Attentional Orienting ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Sequence Effect ◽  
Emotion Induction ◽  
Before And After

Abstract. This study measured the effect of emotional states on lexical decision task performance and investigated which underlying components (physiological, attentional orienting, executive, lexical, and/or strategic) are affected. We did this by assessing participants’ performance on a lexical decision task, which they completed before and after an emotional state induction task. The sequence effect, usually produced when participants repeat a task, was significantly smaller in participants who had received one of the three emotion inductions (happiness, sadness, embarrassment) than in control group participants (neutral induction). Using the diffusion model ( Ratcliff, 1978 ) to resolve the data into meaningful parameters that correspond to specific psychological components, we found that emotion induction only modulated the parameter reflecting the physiological and/or attentional orienting components, whereas the executive, lexical, and strategic components were not altered. These results suggest that emotional states have an impact on the low-level mechanisms underlying mental chronometric tasks.

Challenge or chance? Understanding the impact of anti-corruption campaign on China’s hotel industry

2021 ◽  
pp. 135481662110015
Author(s):  
Yang Yang ◽  
Caiping Wang ◽  
Honggang Xu
Keyword(s):  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Class Level ◽  
Administrative Position ◽  
Food And Beverage ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Provincial Capital ◽  
Hotel Sector ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Anti-corruption has garnered increasing attention, especially in China, where President Xi launched an influential and far-reaching anti-corruption campaign in late 2012. A better understanding of the effects of anti-corruption efforts on the hotel sector can reveal insights into the development of the Chinese hotel industry. Based on the quarterly data on China’s hotel industry in 49 cities from quarter 2 of 2010 to quarter 4 of 2015, this study investigates how the anti-corruption campaign (measured by anti-corruption inspections and the number of corruption lawsuits) has influenced hotel industry demand in China. Hypotheses are developed from China’s unique cultural environment of guanxi combined with rent-seeking theory and the crowding-out principle. Empirical results confirm a significant and negative effect of the anti-corruption campaign on hotel lodging and food and beverage demand. Several factors, including a city’s administrative position as a provincial capital, hotel class, level of tourism dependence, and local residents’ entertainment expenditure, are found to moderate the effect of the anti-corruption campaign on hotels’ lodging demand significantly. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in light of these findings.

scholarly journals Dogs can infer implicit information from human emotional expressions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Albuquerque ◽  
Daniel S. Mills ◽  
Kun Guo ◽  
Anna Wilkinson ◽  
Briseida Resende
Keyword(s):  
Emotional State ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Implicit Information ◽  
Emotional Display ◽  
Affective Information ◽  
Social Decision Making ◽  
Current Behaviour

AbstractThe ability to infer emotional states and their wider consequences requires the establishment of relationships between the emotional display and subsequent actions. These abilities, together with the use of emotional information from others in social decision making, are cognitively demanding and require inferential skills that extend beyond the immediate perception of the current behaviour of another individual. They may include predictions of the significance of the emotional states being expressed. These abilities were previously believed to be exclusive to primates. In this study, we presented adult domestic dogs with a social interaction between two unfamiliar people, which could be positive, negative or neutral. After passively witnessing the actors engaging silently with each other and with the environment, dogs were given the opportunity to approach a food resource that varied in accessibility. We found that the available emotional information was more relevant than the motivation of the actors (i.e. giving something or receiving something) in predicting the dogs’ responses. Thus, dogs were able to access implicit information from the actors’ emotional states and appropriately use the affective information to make context-dependent decisions. The findings demonstrate that a non-human animal can actively acquire information from emotional expressions, infer some form of emotional state and use this functionally to make decisions.

Greener than Others? Exploring Generational Differences in Green Purchase Intent

2021 ◽  
pp. 147078532110341
Author(s):  
Chang-Dae Ham ◽  
Un Chae Chung ◽  
Woo Jin Kim ◽  
Seo Yoon Lee ◽  
Sang-Hwa Oh
Keyword(s):  
Generational Differences ◽  
Social Intelligence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Purchase Intentions ◽  
Generation Gap ◽  
Purchase Intent ◽  
Consumer Socialization ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Practical Implications

This study explored the generation gap in American consumers’ green perceptions and purchase intentions across four generations (Gen Z, Y, X, and Baby Boomers) from the perspectives of consumer socialization and social intelligence. Analyzing a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States ( N = 19,450), the survey results revealed that the American consumer’s green norms and beliefs varied by generation. A series of multiple regression analyses showed that each generation had similar but idiosyncratic beliefs in purchasing products from green companies. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Reflections on the theme issue outcomes

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 504-510
Author(s):  
Gunjan M. Sanjeev ◽  
Richard Teare
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Hospitality Industry ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Cost Competitiveness ◽  
Hotel Sector ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Selection Of

Purpose The paper aims to profile the theme issue of Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes titled “How is the need for innovation being addressed by the Indian hospitality industry?” with reference to the experiences of the theme editor, contributors from the industry and academia and the theme issue outcomes. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses structured questions to enable the theme editor to reflect on the rationale for their theme issue question, the starting-point, the selection of the writing team and material and the editorial process. Findings It highlights recent innovations that have taken place in the Indian hospitality industry especially in the areas of customer service, cost competitiveness, culinary management, revenue management and technology. Practical implications As hotel sector investment in India intensifies, this theme issue will be of interest to hoteliers, policy makers, analysts and others interested in the role that innovation can play in helping to facilitate differentiation between competing hotel products and services. Originality/value There is limited literature available on industry innovations in the Indian context. All the papers in this theme issue were written after several cycles of interaction between academics and practitioners and so they incorporate real–time, relevant and contemporary data.

scholarly journals Investigating the user experience of customer service chatbot interaction: a framework for qualitative analysis of chatbot dialogues

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asbjørn Følstad ◽  
Cameron Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
User Experience ◽  
Practical Relevance ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractThe uptake of chatbots for customer service depends on the user experience. For such chatbots, user experience in particular concerns whether the user is provided relevant answers to their queries and the chatbot interaction brings them closer to resolving their problem. Dialogue data from interactions between users and chatbots represents a potentially valuable source of insight into user experience. However, there is a need for knowledge of how to make use of these data. Motivated by this, we present a framework for qualitative analysis of chatbot dialogues in the customer service domain. The framework has been developed across several studies involving two chatbots for customer service, in collaboration with the chatbot hosts. We present the framework and illustrate its application with insights from three case examples. Through the case findings, we show how the framework may provide insight into key drivers of user experience, including response relevance and dialogue helpfulness (Case 1), insight to drive chatbot improvement in practice (Case 2), and insight of theoretical and practical relevance for understanding chatbot user types and interaction patterns (Case 3). On the basis of the findings, we discuss the strengths and limitations of the framework, its theoretical and practical implications, and directions for future work.

An experimental study on the effect of emotion lines in comics

Semiotica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amitash Ojha ◽  
Charles Forceville ◽  
Bipin Indurkhya
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
One To One

Abstract Both mainstream and art comics often use various flourishes surrounding characters’ heads. These so-called “pictorial runes” (also called “emanata”) help convey the emotional states of the characters. In this paper, using (manipulated) panels from Western and Indian comic albums as well as neutral emoticons and basic shapes in different colors, we focus on the following two issues: (a) whether runes increase the awareness in comics readers about the emotional state of the character; and (b) whether a correspondence can be found between the types of runes (twirls, spirals, droplets, and spikes) and specific emotions. Our results show that runes help communicate emotion. Although no one-to-one correspondence was found between the tested runes and specific emotions, it was found that droplets and spikes indicate generic emotions, spirals indicate negative emotions, and twirls indicate confusion and dizziness.

Promoting authenticity through celebrity brands

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Kennedy ◽  
Stacey M. Baxter ◽  
Alicia Kulczynski
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Consumer Attitudes ◽  
Purchase Intentions ◽  
Consumer Perceptions ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Monetary Compensation ◽  
High Level ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to examine the importance of celebrity brands in influencing consumer perceptions of celebrity authenticity, which drives positive consumer attitudes and intentions. In addition, the notion of low-celebrity investment is investigated as a factor that diminishes the positive outcomes associated with celebrity brands. Design/methodology/approach Study 1 examines the effect of brand situation (endorsement versus celebrity brand) on consumer attitudes and intentions. Studies 2 and 3 investigate the role of celebrity authenticity in explaining the effects observed in Study 1. Study 4 examines celebrity investment as a bound of the phenomenon. Findings Study 1 demonstrates that consumers report heightened attitudes and intentions towards celebrity brands when compared to endorsements. Studies 2 and 3 provide evidence that authenticity explains the effects observed in Study 1. Results of Study 4 show that when consumers are aware of low-celebrity investment, the celebrity is viewed as inauthentic regardless of brand situation. Research limitations/implications This research is limited as it focuses only on known celebrity endorsers who were matched with products that had a high level of fit. In addition, purchase intentions were measured as opposed to the study of actual purchase behaviour. Practical implications This research has important implications for the development of endorsements and celebrity brands by demonstrating that consumers view celebrities as authentic when they are involved with brands for reasons other than monetary compensation. Originality/value This research shows that consumers have heightened attitudes and intentions towards celebrity brands compared to endorsements. This research identifies celebrity authenticity as the process underlying the observed phenomenon. However, celebrity investment is identified as a boundary condition demonstrating that knowledge of low investment results in a celebrity being viewed as inauthentic.

What are the interpersonal antecedents of women’s network satisfaction?

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 266-280
Author(s):  
Maryline Bourdil ◽  
Mickael Géraudel
Keyword(s):  
Women Entrepreneurs ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Network Performance ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Common Interests ◽  
Women's Networks ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine whether women entrepreneurs are satisfied with belonging to a women’s network, as this issue is crucial for network performance and legitimacy. Design/methodology/approach The authors tested the hypotheses on a sample of 127 French women entrepreneurs who belonged to women’s networks using multiple regression analysis. Findings The authors showed that these women entrepreneurs were satisfied when they developed strong ties and when cliques in the network were limited. Education had a negative effect: the higher the educational level, the less satisfaction with their networks the women reported. Research limitations/implications The sample was small and composed only of women entrepreneurs who were members of women’s networks and not women who had left them. Practical implications The survey findings suggest ways that managers can optimize network satisfaction to keep current members while continuing to add new ones: create an environment with no cliques where members can develop strong ties. This means connecting members with similar values or status and common interests, while making sure that cliques do not develop. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, satisfaction with professional women’s networks has never been studied. The authors’ highlight the role of strong ties in these networks and identify the contingent effect of cliques.

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