Investigating the Role of Technical and Process Quality in Chatbots:   A Case Study from the Insurance Industry

Tommi Pirilä; Joni Salminen; Victoria Sophie Osburg; Vignesh Yoganathan; Bernard J. Jansen

Investigating the Role of Technical and Process Quality in Chatbots: A Case Study from the Insurance Industry

Tommi Pirilä
, Joni Salminen
, Victoria Sophie Osburg
, Vignesh Yoganathan
, Bernard J. Jansen

KPMG
Qatar Computing Research Institute
Montpellier Business School

Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference output › Conference publication

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Though artificial intelligence (AI) can benefit customer service, there are also user acceptance and quality concerns. We investigate these challenges that impact AI preference and adoption in a real customer service scenario. We focus on Emma, a customer service chatbot at a large Finnish insurance company. Our analysis, based on a survey of 225 consumers using the chatbot, shows that users are reasonably satisfied with Emma, though they are generally do not prefer it to a human. Process quality, relating to “soft” aspects of interaction, is essential for strengthening the users' AI preference. The chatbot's problem-solving ability acts as a hygiene factor, which alone cannot ensure adoption. As a pleasing and useful interaction is a prerequisite for AI user experience, organizations should consider both technical and process quality when implementing chatbots for customer service.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 55th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2022
Editors	Tung X. Bui
Publisher	IEEE
Pages	1236-1245
Number of pages	10
ISBN (Electronic)	9780998133157
Publication status	Published - 3 Jan 2022
Event	55th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2022 - Virtual, Online, United States Duration: 3 Jan 2022 → 7 Jan 2022

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Volume	2022-January
ISSN (Print)	1530-1605

Conference

Conference	55th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2022
Country/Territory	United States
City	Virtual, Online
Period	3/01/22 → 7/01/22

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved.

Funding

We would like to thank If, the Finnish insurance company, for collaborating with us on this research.

Funders
Finnish insurance company

Keywords

Sales
Insurance

Cite this

Pirilä, T., Salminen, J., Osburg, V. S., Yoganathan, V., & Jansen, B. J. (2022). Investigating the Role of Technical and Process Quality in Chatbots: A Case Study from the Insurance Industry. In T. X. Bui (Ed.), Proceedings of the 55th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2022 (pp. 1236-1245). (Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences; Vol. 2022-January). IEEE.

Pirilä, Tommi ; Salminen, Joni ; Osburg, Victoria Sophie et al. / Investigating the Role of Technical and Process Quality in Chatbots : A Case Study from the Insurance Industry. Proceedings of the 55th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2022. editor / Tung X. Bui. IEEE, 2022. pp. 1236-1245 (Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences).

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abstract = "Though artificial intelligence (AI) can benefit customer service, there are also user acceptance and quality concerns. We investigate these challenges that impact AI preference and adoption in a real customer service scenario. We focus on Emma, a customer service chatbot at a large Finnish insurance company. Our analysis, based on a survey of 225 consumers using the chatbot, shows that users are reasonably satisfied with Emma, though they are generally do not prefer it to a human. Process quality, relating to “soft” aspects of interaction, is essential for strengthening the users' AI preference. The chatbot's problem-solving ability acts as a hygiene factor, which alone cannot ensure adoption. As a pleasing and useful interaction is a prerequisite for AI user experience, organizations should consider both technical and process quality when implementing chatbots for customer service.",

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Pirilä, T, Salminen, J, Osburg, VS, Yoganathan, V & Jansen, BJ 2022, Investigating the Role of Technical and Process Quality in Chatbots: A Case Study from the Insurance Industry. in TX Bui (ed.), Proceedings of the 55th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2022. Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, vol. 2022-January, IEEE, pp. 1236-1245, 55th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2022, Virtual, Online, United States, 3/01/22.

Investigating the Role of Technical and Process Quality in Chatbots: A Case Study from the Insurance Industry. / Pirilä, Tommi; Salminen, Joni; Osburg, Victoria Sophie et al.
Proceedings of the 55th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2022. ed. / Tung X. Bui. IEEE, 2022. p. 1236-1245 (Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences; Vol. 2022-January).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference output › Conference publication

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Pirilä T, Salminen J, Osburg VS, Yoganathan V, Jansen BJ. Investigating the Role of Technical and Process Quality in Chatbots: A Case Study from the Insurance Industry. In Bui TX, editor, Proceedings of the 55th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2022. IEEE. 2022. p. 1236-1245. (Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences).