The paper that I am writing about, today, is one of those where the first time we read it, we think: “Well, that's obvious.” The paper in question is entitled “Unpacking task-technology fit: how hotel booking mobile applications’ agility and resilience strengthen trust and stickiness” by Ferry Tema Atmaja, Lizar Alfansi, Effed Darta Hadi, Muhartini … Continue reading How mobile apps can strengthen customer stickiness
Category: Marketing in everyday life
The Guilt Paradox: How a Negative Customer Emotion Can Drive Positive Outcomes
We naturally assume that negative customer emotions result in negative outcomes for a business. Fear, for instance, leads to avoidance, while anger leads to negative word of mouth. However, according to a study by Anne-Madeleine Kranzbühler, Alfred Zerres, Mirella H. P. Kleijnen and Peeter W. J. Verlegh, there is a negative customer emotion that, under specific … Continue reading The Guilt Paradox: How a Negative Customer Emotion Can Drive Positive Outcomes
When more is more – the value of AI explanations for credence products
The quality of credence products, like car repairs or medical treatments, is very difficult to assess before purchase because those products contain many intangible attributes that are difficult to observe and understand. For example, I can’t really see the components that make a vaccine effective – I need to trust (hence the descriptive “credence”) that vaccines are … Continue reading When more is more – the value of AI explanations for credence products
LLMs can flatter you into being wrong
Much has been written about the dangers of LLMs’ hallucinations. Hallucinations occur when the model confidently presents an incorrect answer. This happens because LLMs are not knowledge systems. For example, when Co-Pilot made up the existence of a fictitious match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham. But hallucinations are not the only epistemic risk linked to … Continue reading LLMs can flatter you into being wrong
The Reputational Risk of Disclosing AI Use
I am currently marking coursework where students were allowed to use generative AI, but they have to detail how they used it and include screenshots. And this reminded me of a paper that I read some time ago, entitled "Competence Penalty Is a Barrier to the Adoption of New Technology". This paper reports a study … Continue reading The Reputational Risk of Disclosing AI Use
New white paper: Balancing Responsiveness and Reliability – Liquid Innovation in Practice
The same qualities that make Generative AI agents valuable can become liabilities when this technology is deployed without appropriate controls. Their adaptability may produce inconsistent guidance across similar situations, while its fluency obscures the poor quality of the reply due to missing or wrong information. For many organisations, the operational advantages of deploying AI are … Continue reading New white paper: Balancing Responsiveness and Reliability – Liquid Innovation in Practice
Why High-Performing AI Fails the Human Test
With AI technology (particularly language models) performing increasingly well in traditional measures of expert knowledge such as medical licensing exams or the assessment of research environments, many are now considering how to deploy “out in the world” so that they can assist customers, patients, public services users, and so on. If yes, there is the potential to move … Continue reading Why High-Performing AI Fails the Human Test
Algorithms as the problem vs the solution to discrimination in the digital age
We know that algorithms are everywhere, from curating our news and social media feeds, to scoring our job and credit applications. And many have warned that algorithms deepen unfairness. For instance, in 2021, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) released a report breaking down how algorithms may harm consumers and markets, because they can: Personalise prices … Continue reading Algorithms as the problem vs the solution to discrimination in the digital age
The Algorithmic Transparency Paradox: Accountability vs Behaviour Distortion
When we don’t know that an algorithm has been used to make a decision that impacts us, we can’t challenge those decisions, or fix any mistakes. According to Anne-Britt Gran, Peter Booth and Taina Bucher, such lack of awareness constitutes a new form of digital divide: “Not only does a lack of algorithm awareness pose … Continue reading The Algorithmic Transparency Paradox: Accountability vs Behaviour Distortion
Capturing human complexity in categories
I suspect that we have all had the experience of filling in a form and not finding a box that exactly describes us. That’s because those forms are trying to fit us into neat categories, whereas our identities, behaviours and preferences are often fluid, contextual, and relational. So, there is a clash between the managerial … Continue reading Capturing human complexity in categories
Ana Canhoto 