Impact of Chatbot in Transforming the Face of Retailing- An Empirical Model of Antecedents and Outcomes

Abstract

Background: Chatbot has emerged as a significant resolution to the swiftly growing customer care demands in recent times. Chatbot has emerged as one of the biggest technological disruptions. In simple words, a software agent that facilitates interaction between computers and humans in natural language. It is a simulated, intellectual dialogue agent functional in a range of consumer engagement circumstances. It is the easiest and simplest means to enable interaction between the retailers and the customers. Aim: Most of the research work on chatbot is concerned with the technical aspects. The recent research on chatbot pays little attention on the impact it has created on users’ experience. Through this work, the author made an effort to know the customer-oriented impact that the chatbot has on the shoppers. The aim of this study was to develop and empirically test a framework that identifies the customer oriented attributes of chatbot and the impact these attributes create on customers. Objective: Objectives: The study intended to bridge the gap between conceptual and actual attributes and their applications on the subject of Chatbot. The following research objectives addressed the various aspects of Chatbot affecting the different characteristics of consumers’ shopping behaviors: Objective: a) Identification of various attributes of chatbot that bears an impression on consumer’s shopping behavior. Objective: b) Evaluation of the impact of chatbot on consumer’s shopping behavior that leads to the development of chatbot usage and adoption by the customer. Methodology: For the purpose of analysis, the author carried out Factor analysis and Multiple regression using SPSS version 23 for the identification of various attributes of Chatbot and their impact on shoppers. A self-administered questionnaire was developed. Industry experts in the field of retailing and academician evaluated the questionnaire. Primary information from the respondents was gathered using this questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised of Likert scale on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 stands for strongly disagree and 5 stands for strongly agree. Data was collected from 126 respondents, out of which 111 respondents were finally considered for study and analysis purpose. Results/Findings: The empirical results showed that the study identified various attributes of chatbot like trust, usefulness, satisfaction, readiness to use and accessibility. It was also found that chatbot greatly influenced the customers in providing them with shopping experience, which can be very helpful to the businesses for increasing the sales and creating repurchase intention in the customers. Conclusion: The recent research on chatbot pays little attention on the impact it is creating on customers who are actually interacting with it on regular basis. The research paper extends information for understanding and appreciating the customer oriented attributes of artificially intelligent Chatbot. In this regard, the author developed a model framework and proposed the attributes identified. Through the work, author also made an effort to empirically test the impact of the identified attributes on the shoppers.