Does Customers’ Emotion toward Voice-based Service AI Cause Negative Reactions? Empirical Evidence from a Call Center

Abstract

Many companies are introducing voice-based artificial intelligence (AI) into their call centers. Little is known about the relationship between customers’ emotions to voice-based AI service and customers’ negative reactions. This study investigates the link between customers’ emotions toward voice-based AI service and customers’ negative reactions. Our results reveal that customers’ emotion toward voice-based AI service could significantly affect their complaint behavior, and customers’ complaints differ among emotion types. Customers’ negative and positive emotions toward voice-based AI services have a significantly negative and positive effect, respectively, on customer complaint behavior than neutral emotions. We also find that the exchange round of human-computer interaction moderates the effect of the customer emotion by attenuating its effect on customer complaints. This study is the first to empirically test the impact of customers’ emotions toward voice-based AI service on customers’ complaint behavior in the service industry.