Skip to main content
Book cover

International Workshop on Chatbot Research and Design

CONVERSATIONS 2022: Chatbot Research and Design pp 118–133Cite as

A Framework and Content Analysis of Social Cues in the Introductions of Customer Service Chatbots

  • 249 Accesses

Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNCS,volume 13815)

Abstract

Organizations are increasingly implementing chatbots to address customers’ inquiries, but customers still have unsatisfactory encounters with them. In order to successfully deploy customer service chatbots, it is important for organizations and designers to understand how to introduce them to customers. Arguably, how a chatbot introduces itself as well as its services might influence customers’ perceptions about the chatbot. Therefore, a framework was developed to annotate the social cues in chatbot introductions. In order to validate our framework, we conducted a content analysis of introductions of customer service chatbots (n = 88). The results showed that the framework turned out to be a reliable identification instrument. Moreover, the most prevalent social cue in chatbot introductions was a humanlike avatar, whereas communication cues, indicating the chatbot’s functionalities, hardly occurred. The paper ends with implications for the design of chatbot introductions and possibilities for future research.

Keywords

  • Self-introduction
  • Customer service chatbots
  • Social cues
  • Anthropomorphism
  • Content analysis

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-25581-6_8
  • Chapter length: 16 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-031-25581-6
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.

References

  1. Araujo, T.: Living up to the chatbot hype: The influence of anthropomorphic design cues and communicative agency framing on conversational agent and company perceptions. Comput. Hum. Behav. 85, 183–189 (2018)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  2. Brackeen, B.: How to Humanize Artificial Intelligence with Emotion (2017). https://medium.com/@BrianBrackeen/how-to-humanize-artificial-intelligence-with-emotion-19f981b1314a. Accessed 21 Sept 2022

  3. Brandtzaeg, P.B., Følstad, A.: Why people use chatbots. In: Kompatsiaris, I., Cave, J., Satsiou, A., Carle, G., Passani, A., Kontopoulos, E., Diplaris, S., McMillan, D. (eds.) INSCI 2017. LNCS, vol. 10673, pp. 377–392. Springer, Cham (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70284-1_30

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  4. Brandtzaeg, P.B., Følstad, A.: Chatbots: changing user needs and motivations. Interactions 25(5), 38–43 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1145/3236669

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  5. Chaves, A.P., Gerosa, M.A.: How should my chatbot interact? A survey on social characteristics in human–chatbot interaction design. Int. J. Hum.–Comput. Interact. 37(8), 729–758 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Crolic, C., Thomaz, F., Hadi, R., Stephen, A.T.: Blame the bot: anthropomorphism and anger in customer–chatbot interactions. J. Mark. 86(1), 132–148 (2022)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  7. De Cicco, R., da Costa e Silva, S.C.L., Palumbo, R.: Should a chatbot disclose itself? Implications for an online conversational retailer. In: Følstad, A., Araujo, T., Papadopoulos, S., Law, E.L.-C., Luger, E., Goodwin, M., Brandtzaeg, P.B. (eds.) CONVERSATIONS 2020. LNCS, vol. 12604, pp. 3–15. Springer, Cham (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68288-0_1

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  8. Drift: The 2018 State of Chatbots Report (2018). https://www.drift.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2018-state-of-chatbots-report.pdf. Accessed 20 Sept 2022

  9. Feine, J., Gnewuch, U., Morana, S., Maedche, A.: A taxonomy of social cues for conversational agents. Int. J. Hum.-Comput. Stud. 132, 138–161 (2019)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  10. Fiore, S.M., Wiltshire, T.J., Lobato, E.J.C., Jentsch, F.G., Huang, W.H., Axelrod, B.: Toward understanding social cues and signals in human-robot interaction: effects of robot gaze and proxemic behavior. Front. Psychol. 4, 859 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Følstad, A., Brandtzæg, P.B.: Chatbots and the new world of HCI. Interactions 24(4), 38–42 (2017)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  12. Følstad, A., Nordheim, C.B., Bjørkli, C.A.: What makes users trust a chatbot for customer service? An exploratory interview study. In: Bodrunova, S.S. (ed.) INSCI 2018. LNCS, vol. 11193, pp. 194–208. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01437-7_16

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  13. Følstad, A., Skjuve, M.: Chatbots for customer service: user experience and motivation. In: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Conversational User Interfaces, pp. 1–9 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Følstad, A., Taylor, C.: Investigating the user experience of customer service chatbot interaction: a framework for qualitative analysis of chatbot dialogues. Qual. User Exp. 6(1), 1–17 (2021)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  15. Gambino, A., Fox, J., Ratan, R.A.: Building a stronger CASA: extending the computers are social actors paradigm. Hum.-Mach. Commun. 1, 71–85 (2020)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  16. Gnewuch, U., Morana, S., Maedche, A.: Towards designing cooperative and social conversational agents for customer service. In ICIS. (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Go, E., Sundar, S.S.: Humanizing chatbots: the effects of visual, identity and conversational cues on humanness perceptions. Comput. Hum. Behav. 97, 304–316 (2019)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  18. Hayes, A.F., Krippendorff, K.: Answering the call for a standard reliability measure for coding data. Commun. Methods Meas. 1(1), 77–89 (2007)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  19. Jain, M., Kumar, P., Kota, R., Patel, S.N.: Evaluating and informing the design of chatbots. In: Proceedings of the 2018 on Designing Interactive Systems Conference, pp. 895–906. ACM (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Jovic, D.: The Future is Now - 37 Fascinating Chatbot Statistics (2022). https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/chatbot-statistics. Accessed 20 Sept 2022

  21. Khadpe, P., Krishna, R., Fei-Fei, L., Hancock, J.T., Bernstein, M.S.: Conceptual metaphors impact perceptions of human-ai collaboration. In: Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, vol. 4, no. CSCW2, pp. 1–26 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Kull, A.J., Romero, M., Monahan, L.: How may I help you? Driving brand engagement through the warmth of an initial chatbot message. J. Bus. Res. 135, 840–850 (2021)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  23. Kvale, K., Sell, O.A., Hodnebrog, S., Følstad, A.: Improving conversations: lessons learnt from manual analysis of chatbot dialogues. In: Følstad, A., Araujo, T., Papadopoulos, S., Law, E.L.-C., Granmo, O.-C., Luger, E., Brandtzaeg, P.B. (eds.) CONVERSATIONS 2019. LNCS, vol. 11970, pp. 187–200. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39540-7_13

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  24. Laban, G., Araujo, T.: Working together with conversational agents: the relationship of perceived cooperation with service performance evaluations. In: Følstad, A., Araujo, T., Papadopoulos, S., Law, E.L.-C., Granmo, O.-C., Luger, E., Brandtzaeg, P.B. (eds.) CONVERSATIONS 2019. LNCS, vol. 11970, pp. 215–228. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39540-7_15

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  25. Liebrecht, C., Tsaousi, C., van Hooijdonk, C.: Linguistic elements of conversational human voice in online brand communication: manipulations and perceptions. J. Bus. Res. 132, 124–135 (2021)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  26. Liebrecht, C., van der Weegen, E.: Menselijke chatbots: een zegen voor online klantcontact?: Het effect van conversational human voice door chatbots op social presence en merkattitude. Tijd. Com. 47(3) (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Lombard, M., Ditton, T.: At the heart of it all: the concept of presence. J. Comput.-Mediat. Commun. 3(2), JCMC321 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Lombard, M., Xu, K.: Social responses to media technologies in the 21st century: the media are social actors paradigm. Hum.-Mach. Commun. 2, 29–55 (2021)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  29. Luff, P., Gilbert, N.G., Frohlich, D. (eds.): Computers and Conversation. Academic Press, Cambridge (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Luger, E., Sellen, A.: “Like having a really bad PA”: the gulf between user expectation and experience of conversational agents. In: Proceedings of CHI 2016, pp. 5286–5297. ACM, New York (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Luo, X., Tong, S., Fang, Z., Qu, Z.: Frontiers: machines vs. humans: the impact of artificial intelligence chatbot disclosure on customer purchases. Mark. Sci. 38(6), 937–947 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Mozafari, N., Weiger, W.H., Hammerschmidt, M.: Resolving the chatbot disclosure dilemma: leveraging selective self-presentation to mitigate the negative effect of chatbot disclosure. In: Proceedings of the 54th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, p. 2916 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Nass, C., Moon, Y.: Machines and mindlessness: social responses to computers. J. Soc. Issues 56(1), 81–103 (2000)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  34. Nass, C., Steuer, J., Tauber, E.R.: Computers are social actors. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 72–78 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Nordheim, C.B., Følstad, A., Bjørkli, C.A.: An initial model of trust in chatbots for customer service—findings from a questionnaire study. Interact. Comput. 31(3), 317–335 (2019)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  36. Paluch, S.: Remote Service Technology Perception and Its Impact on Customer-Provider Relationships: An Empirical Exploratory Study in a B-to-B-Setting. Springer, Cham (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-8349-6936-1

  37. Shechtman, N., Horowitz, L. M.: Media inequality in conversation: how people behave differently when interacting with computers and people. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 281–288 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Spooren, W., Degand, L.: Coding coherence relations: reliability and validity. Corp. Ling. Ling. Theory 6(2), 241–266 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  39. Thormundsson, B.: Chatbot market revenue worldwide from 2018 to 2027 (2022). https://www.statista.com/statistics/1007392/worldwide-chatbot-market-size/. Accessed 20 Sept 2022

  40. Valério, F.A., Guimarães, T.G., Prates, R.O., Candello, H.: Here’s what I can do: chatbots’ strategies to convey their features to users. In: Proceedings of the XVI Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1–10 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  41. van der Goot, M.J., Hafkamp, L., Dankfort, Z.: Customer service chatbots: a qualitative interview study into the communication journey of customers. In: Følstad, A., Araujo, T., Papadopoulos, S., Law, E.L.-C., Luger, E., Goodwin, M., Brandtzaeg, P.B. (eds.) CONVERSATIONS 2020. LNCS, vol. 12604, pp. 190–204. Springer, Cham (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68288-0_13

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  42. van der Goot, M.J., Pilgrim, T.: Exploring age differences in motivations for and acceptance of chatbot communication in a customer service context. In: Følstad, A., Araujo, T., Papadopoulos, S., Law, E.L.-C., Granmo, O.-C., Luger, E., Brandtzaeg, P.B. (eds.) CONVERSATIONS 2019. LNCS, vol. 11970, pp. 173–186. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39540-7_12

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Louise Braat, Boet Bruijniks, Myrthe Jagers, Marco Krijthe, and Sammie Smaak for collecting and coding the sample. This research is part of the NWO-funded project ‘Smooth Operators: development and effects of personalized conversational AI’, grant no: KIVI.2019.009.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Utrecht University, Trans 10, 3512 JK, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Charlotte van Hooijdonk & Gabriëlla Martijn

  2. Tilburg University, PO Box 90153, 5000 LE, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Christine Liebrecht

Authors
  1. Charlotte van Hooijdonk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gabriëlla Martijn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Christine Liebrecht
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charlotte van Hooijdonk .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. SINTEF, Oslo, Norway

    Asbjørn Følstad

  2. University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Theo Araujo

  3. CERTH-ITI, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Symeon Papadopoulos

  4. Durham University, Durham, UK

    Effie L.-C. Law

  5. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Ewa Luger

  6. University of Agder, Grimstad, Norway

    Morten Goodwin

  7. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Petter Bae Brandtzaeg

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

van Hooijdonk, C., Martijn, G., Liebrecht, C. (2023). A Framework and Content Analysis of Social Cues in the Introductions of Customer Service Chatbots. In: , et al. Chatbot Research and Design. CONVERSATIONS 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13815. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25581-6_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25581-6_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-25580-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-25581-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)