Antecedents of intention to use chatbots in service encounters: A meta‐analytic review

Abstract

AbstractThe trend of using artificial intelligence based chatbots for service encounters has seen a significant spike in recent times. Many studies have attempted to explain the adoption of the technology for various service applications; this study synthesizes the literature through a meta‐analysis, for which data from 70 independent studies, with a combined sample size of 20,026 was considered, to understand the influencers of the attitude and intention to use chatbots for service encounters. In addition, this study also sought to understand the moderating role of the culture, the technological characteristics captured through the variables transactional/non‐transactional, and informative/entertaining of the hypothesized relationships. Meta structural equation modelling (meta‐analytic SEM) was used to analyse the data. The results indicate playfulness, attitude, usefulness, facilitating condition and social influence of the chatbots are the key factors in influencing user adoption. Further, technological characteristics and culture were found to significantly moderate certain relationships in the model. Practical and theoretical implications have also been discussed.