NEWS & INSIGHT
Chatbots can have a positive impact on consumer experience when used correctly, suggests research from CUHK Business School. Across a series of experimental and field studies, the technology scored better than human agents when tasked with communicating rejection of consumer requests. “Our research finds that when consumers receive a rejection of their service request, they evaluate the service less negatively if the service is handled by a chatbot agent versus a human agent,” declared marketing professor at CUHK Business School Shen Hao. This is because consumers don’t expect a chatbot to cut them some slack in the same way they might hope a human agent would, as Shen elaborated. “Consumers tend to have low expectations about the level of flexibility in service from chatbots. Its perceived inflexibility serves as a buffer, potentially mitigating the negative impact of the service rejection on the overall evaluation of the service.” It stands to reason, therefore, that acceptance of a service request from a chatbot will be less appreciated than those granted by a human and the study supports this line of thinking. The psychology lies in consumer perceptions that chatbots are merely following a set of rules as opposed to showing a willingness to help. The study also found that chatbots were less effective at offering apologies for service failures, but only when the apology encompassed an emotional expression. When emotion was not involved, there was no difference in consumers’ appraisal of human or machine. “Our findings suggest that consumers still prefer human agents. However, this does not mean that a human agent is always the best choice,” Shen concluded. The study, entitled The rise of chatbots , was co-authored with researchers at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics and BI Norwegian Business School and published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology . TBD CHOICE OF CHATBOTS OVER HUMANS MAKES SENSE IN CASES OF REJECTION SCHOOL : Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School COUNTRY : Hong Kong, China
According to the United Nations, domestic and international aviation accounts for around 10 per cent of global emissions in the transport sector. Yet, responsibility for more than half of these emissions lies with just one per cent of the world’s population. Mindful of these figures, Leeds University Business School has introduced a slow travel policy in a bid to reduce its carbon emissions. Promoting slower travel may increase employee journey times but can alleviate the environmental damage caused by unnecessary business flights. For example, a return flight from London to Berlin emits around three times the emissions saved from a year of recycling, according to 2021 research published in Environmental Research Letters . This means that even if you are a perfect climate warrior in your everyday life, a single flight for work can give you a sky-high carbon footprint for the year. “I am excited that we have reached this milestone. Slow travel takes our responsibility as a higher education institution seriously and puts Leeds at the forefront of setting an example for the 21st century,” commented director of sustainability at Leeds University Business School Vera Trappmann. The school’s policy stipulates that its staff should avoid flying domestically and when their destination can be reached by rail within 11 hours. Long-haul flights should be reduced where possible, while first class and business class should be eschewed at all times. The move comes at a time when there are an increasing number of initiatives aimed at dispelling bad business travel habits. Climate Perks, for example, encourages organisations to offer employees a minimum of two paid ‘journey days’ to cover the time difference between flights and more environmentally friendly forms of travel on personal trips. EB LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE: A RESPONSIBLE NEW SCHOOL POLICY SCHOOL : Leeds University Business School COUNTRY : UK
Ambition | JULY/AUGUST 2024 | 9
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