• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

Trust me, I’m a chatbot

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
July 14, 2021
in Science News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
IMAGE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Göttingen University researchers investigate effect of non-human conversation partners in customer services

IMAGE

Credit: Mozafari

More and more companies are using chatbots in customer services. Due to advances in artificial intelligence and natural language processing, chatbots are often indistinguishable from humans when it comes to communication. But should companies let their customers know that they are communicating with machines and not with humans? Researchers at the University of Göttingen investigated. Their research found that consumers tend to react negatively when they learn that the person they are talking to is, in fact, a chatbot. However, if the chatbot makes mistakes and cannot solve a customer’s problem, the disclosure triggers a positive reaction. The results of the study were published in the Journal of Service Management.

Previous studies have shown that consumers have a negative reaction when they learn that they are communicating with chatbots – it seems that consumers are inherently averse to the technology. In two experimental studies, the Göttingen University team investigated whether this is always the case. Each study had 200 participants, each of whom was put into the scenario where they had to contact their energy provider via online chat to update their address on their electricity contract following a move. In the chat, they encountered a chatbot – but only half of them were informed that they were chatting online with a non-human contact. The first study investigated the impact of making this disclosure depending on how important the customer perceives the resolution of their service query to be. In a second study, the team investigated the impact of making this disclosure depending on whether the chatbot was able to resolve the customer’s query or not. To investigate the effects, the team used statistical analyses such as covariance and mediation analysis.

The result: most noticeably, if service issues are perceived as particularly important or critical, there is a negative reaction when it is revealed that the conversation partner is a chatbot. This scenario weakens customer trust. Interestingly, however, the results also show that disclosing that the contact was a chatbot leads to positive customer reactions in cases where the chatbot cannot resolve the customer’s issue. “If their issue isn’t resolved, disclosing that they were talking with a chatbot, makes it easier for the consumer to understand the root cause of the error,” says first author Nika Mozafari from the University of Göttingen. “A chatbot is more likely to be forgiven for making a mistake than a human.” In this scenario, customer loyalty can even improve.

###

Original publication: Mozafari, Nika, Weiger, Welf H. and Hammerschmidt, Maik (2021), “Trust me, I’m a bot – repercussions of chatbot disclosure in different service frontline settings”, Journal of Service Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-10-2020-0380

Contact:

Nika Mozafari, MSc

University of Göttingen

Marketing and Innovation Management

Platz der Göttinger Sieben 3, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

Tel: +49 (0) 551 39-39-26546

Email: [email protected]

Media Contact
Melissa Sollich
[email protected]

Original Source

https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/3240.html?id=6341

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-10-2020-0380

Tags: BehaviorBusiness/EconomicsDecision-making/Problem SolvingManagement Science/Operations ResearchRobotry/Artificial IntelligenceSocial/Behavioral ScienceSocioeconomicsTechnology/Engineering/Computer Science
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Novel Technique for Lateral Femoral Cutaneous Nerve Ablation

September 24, 2025
blank

Unveiling Fusarium oxysporum Infection in Chickpeas

September 24, 2025

mHealth Lifestyle Interventions: Effective Weight Loss Strategies

September 24, 2025

Enhanced Visualization of Blood Flow Improves Artificial Heart Design

September 24, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Physicists Develop Visible Time Crystal for the First Time

    Physicists Develop Visible Time Crystal for the First Time

    69 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 17
  • Tailored Gene-Editing Technology Emerges as a Promising Treatment for Fatal Pediatric Diseases

    50 shares
    Share 20 Tweet 13
  • Scientists Achieve Ambient-Temperature Light-Induced Heterolytic Hydrogen Dissociation

    49 shares
    Share 20 Tweet 12
  • Rapid Spread of Drug-Resistant Fungus Candidozyma auris in European Hospitals Prompts Urgent Warning from ECDC

    48 shares
    Share 19 Tweet 12

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Novel Technique for Lateral Femoral Cutaneous Nerve Ablation

Unveiling Fusarium oxysporum Infection in Chickpeas

mHealth Lifestyle Interventions: Effective Weight Loss Strategies

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.