New paper: Forced vs Voluntary Chatbot Use: How It Shapes Customer Satisfaction and Blame

As chatbots become an integral part of customer service, mistakes remain inevitable. Whether it’s a failure to understand the customer’s intent or an error in executing an order, such failures raise a key question: Who do customers blame— themselves or the company? Blame attribution shapes customers’ subsequent behaviour. For instance, if I think that I received … Continue reading New paper: Forced vs Voluntary Chatbot Use: How It Shapes Customer Satisfaction and Blame

Accountability for chatbot errors: Air Canada’s legal battle

When Air Canada’s chatbot gave wrong information to a customer, and the customer complained, the airline argued that it was not responsible for the chatbot’s mistakes. They tried to get away from honouring the wrong information provided by the chatbot, saying that the customer should have consulted the company’s website instead. Canadian courts disagreed, and … Continue reading Accountability for chatbot errors: Air Canada’s legal battle

Perceived blame, matters

In customer service, things are bound to go wrong, at some point. When that happens, it is important to not only understand what went wrong, but also what is the perceived cause of the problem, because that impacts on the recovery strategy. Take interacting with a chatbot, for instance. As discussed in a previous … Continue reading Perceived blame, matters

Can the health locus of control help us understand who will download and use contact tracing apps?

I secured a small grant to investigate UK residents’ perceptions of contact tracing apps. I am just waiting for ethical approval, before I can start collecting data via interviews and, after that, a survey. In the meantime, I am checking the latest published research on related topics. Based on my previous work, I know that … Continue reading Can the health locus of control help us understand who will download and use contact tracing apps?