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The development of self-service technologies, while intended to better serve customers by offering them autonomy, has created situations in which individuals may require additional help. The purpose of this paper is to explore perceptions of chat as an assistance channel, to identify its perceived role in a customer service environment.

In all, 23 semi-structured interviews held with both chat and non-chat users assessed perceptions of chat in an assistance encounter. A thematic analysis was used.

The findings highlight a paradoxical perception of chat in a customer assistance context. On the one hand, customers perceive live chat as mainly beneficial in a customer service context, alleviating embarrassment, perceived threats and potential dissatisfaction linked to assistance requests. On the other hand, the elusive nature of a chat conversation interlocutor (human or artificial) adversely affects how customers interpret assistance from companies.

This research underscores the perceived threats of assistance encounters and shows the ambivalent role of chat in such a context. It also highlights chat’s specific features that make it a relevant medium for assistance requests.

This study helps companies better understand customers’ perceptions of assistance requests and chat in that context. Companies can use the findings to develop better ways to address assistance needs and offer transparent and fully personalized human chat to provide an inclusive service.

This paper highlights the ambivalent role of chat as an assistance channel, easing assistance requests but also entailing a potential negative spillover effect, when negative chat perceptions of an artificial interlocutor have consequences.

The service recovery literature provides little guidance to firms on how users of self-service technology (SST) perceive assistance provided by human and non-human service agents following a service obstacle. This research responds by addressing two important research questions about SST recovery: (1) how are perceptions of assistance provided following a service obstacle influenced by a customer's psychological needs? and (2) does supporting the psychological needs of customers positively impact continuance intentions following a service obstacle?

Data are collected to address the research questions via five experiments that explore how assistance provided by a non-human (vs human vs no assistance) service agent contributes to perceptions of psychological support and continuance intentions following a service obstacle while volitionally using SST.

The results show that while users of SST would prefer to do so without an obstacle requiring intervention of a service agent, if assistance is required then the psychological need support elicited from a non-human service agent was vital to an effective recovery. Further, the findings highlight some boundary conditions for this relationship, with the impact of customer perceived need support on continuance intentions found to be sensitive to fit between the task and assistance provided and the complexity of the task being completed.

Much of the prior service recovery literature has emphasized the different types of tactics that can be used (e.g. apologizing, monetary compensation and explaining what happened), failing to appreciate the role of different types of service agents or the underlying psychological process that explain the relative merit of such tactics. The present research shows that for these tactics to influence continuance intentions, they must be provided by a relevant service agent and support a customer's psychological need for autonomy, competence and relatedness. The hypothesized impact of psychological need support on continuance intentions was also observed to be contingent upon the fit between the task and the type of assistance provided, where the level of task complexity attenuated this fit.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the distinction between human-delivered service and technology-based, automated customer assistance.

This is a conceptual paper. There is no methodology.

The concept of service is primarily delivered when a human helps another. When technology is infused into the process and becomes the major component of delivering the aid that is requested, the process is automated customer assistance. Thus, “self-service” is not service. It is automated customer assistance.

The definition of service is refined to describe the process of a human helping another person. When technology is used to provide the needed aid, it is no longer a service. Instead, it is automated customer assistance. The implication is that researchers should closely examine how users assess and perceive the two separate approaches to providing the needed aid.

The definition of service is refined to describe the process of a human helping another person. When technology is used to provide the needed aid, it is no longer a service. Instead, it is automated customer assistance. Researchers should closely examine how users assess and perceive the two separate approaches. Industry professionals should be mindful of the distinction between the delivery of service, which requires staff, and the provisioning of technology to provide assistance, which requires little to no staff. Intentionality should drive when customers are better helped by a human or by technology.

The value provided helps both providers create and users express when human-based service is needed versus assistance provided by technology.

The purpose of this paper is to bridge together seemingly disparate yet interconnected paradigmatic antecedents of e-tailing and servicescape, i.e., product assortment, order fulfillment, shopping assistance and its consequences for shopping efficiency.

The proposed conceptual model is well grounded in the extensive literature from e-tailing as well as retailing domain and to assess the plausibility of the model. Total 246 female online apparel shoppers were surveyed from an Indian university and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling through SmartPLS.

The outcomes of the study indicate that the e-customer may derive a substantial share of shopping assistance and service interface through product assortment offered by e-tailing sites. Customer-perceived performance of this e-shopping process – a crucial element of e-tail servicescape – directly affects the shopping assistance, along with order fulfillment capability of retail scope.

The study used a sample of graduate students at a north-west university in India, which limits the generalizability of the research to other consumer groups. The paper links a significant body of literature within a conceptually developed framework and identifies key research areas in the e-tailing realm.

By better understanding the role of product assortment as a value-added feature in online value co-creation process, the e-tail managers can leverage the proposed integrated capability to improve e-tailing performance and customer outcomes in the form of business.

With rapid advancements in internet-led communication, we are witnessing the dawn of a new era of e-tail innovations around us which is expected to change the way people experience shopping.

This research is an attempt to enrich the level of understanding about online shopping environment in light of relationships among virtual and physical facets of e-tail, i.e., product assortment, order fulfillment, shopping assistance and shopping efficiency. The authors investigate customer-perceived product assortment performance in e-tailing and its significances on shopping outcomes.

Purpose: This chapter discusses the role and use of chatbots adopted by the different categories of banks (private and public sector banks) in India. The chapter presents brief essential services offered by Indian chatbots regarding accuracy, technology providers and virtual assistance, ways to connect, etc. This chapter concluded that most of the questions answered by the Indian chatbots are already available on the banks’ websites, and there is a need for enhancement in the capabilities of Indian chatbots.

Need for the Study: The need for the study is based on the working of banking chatbots, customer query handling, and the efficiency of the chatbots in India. The chapter helps to analyze the services offered by various banks.

Methodology: This chapter is based on secondary data collected from banks’ websites and articles from various journals. The study is based on nine banks (both private and public sectors) those are having working chatbots (SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda). The present study is focused on chatbots, their services, and software applications for various customer-handling capacities.

Findings: The research concluded that Indian banks are investing a small amount in using chatbots, yet Indian chatbots are deficient regarding far too provincial administrations as they are adequate just for standard and basic inquiries. Also, Indian customers are not properly aware of chatbots and virtual assistance.

Practical Implications: This study provides an overview of the working chatbots in India (for both public and private sector banks) and their functions, as well as the capacities of these chatbots. The previous conducted studies are based on the uses, importance, and working of chatbots/artificial intelligence (AI) in banking. In this study, after discussing the different services, it is found that Indian banks need to update their AI/Virtual assistance with more features.

Customers’ proactive helping behaviours involving personal initiative taking may present an effective solution for assisting other customers in avoiding harmful brands. Accordingly, this study aims to propose a model explaining the role of positive psychological capital (self-efficacy and optimism) in influencing customers’ proactive helping behaviours involving personal initiative taking. The study additionally provides greater clarity regarding the moderating effect of emotional self-control within the suggested model.

Survey data were collected from 256 respondents in South Africa, who reported on their perceptions and the degree to which they engage in proactive helping behaviours to assist other customers in avoiding harmful brands. Hypotheses were tested using regression analysis.

General self-efficacy and social optimism influence customers’ proactive helping behaviours. Emotional self-control moderates the indirect effect of general self-efficacy on customers’ proactive helping behaviours through social optimism.

Greater insight is obtained into the interplay between factors representing a positive psychological state and self-control of negative emotions and these factors’ effect on customers’ proactive helping behaviours involving personal initiative taking.

The research extends knowledge of proactive helping behaviours involving personal initiative taking to assist other customers in avoiding harmful brands and subsequently provides a baseline for further research in this regards. Practically, the research is useful to social agents of society concerned with promoting responsible purchasing practices.

The purpose of this study is to investigate older shopper behavior in a retail environment. The study focused on how the environment elements of supermarket stores influence older customers to interact with other customers when they shop for groceries.

Various qualitative research techniques were undertaken, including interviews with retail architecture experts, store employees, a psychologist and a gerontologist; in addition, five interviews followed by three focus groups were conducted with older shoppers in Brazil.

Customer-to-customer interactions that are related to the environment elements of supermarkets tend to influence the shopping experience of the older shoppers, which has an impact on satisfaction. Although some customers may value social contact, some interactions can involve discomfort and embarrassment.

The study sheds light on the understanding of the influence of the environment elements of supermarket stores on customer-to-customer interactions, and it proposes such interactions to be a relevant strategy that is used by older customers to maximize their satisfaction, although such strategies can also lead to dissatisfaction.

The findings provide insights regarding the specific needs of older customers in a supermarket context, associated with the design and ambient elements of the store environment, which can be valuable for retailers and policy-makers.

Considering the limited understanding of older shoppers and their experiences, this study provides a thorough understanding of how the retail environment can influence customer-to-customer interactions that involve older shoppers. Moreover, the study captures how interactions, which are influenced by the retail environment, can result in dissatisfaction; however, such interactions can also be used by older customers to modify their satisfaction with the shopping experience.

When a failure occurs with a self-service technology (SST), do customers want to give back the “self” in self-service? The authors explore employee’s role in a self-service failure and how the presence of other customers can change that role. Specifically, they examine how the self-monitoring of customers behavior during a failure can change recovery preferences.

Data were collected from customers of a movie self-service ticket kiosk and a grocery self-checkout. Three experiments were conducted.

Results from these studies find that customers want employees to fully take over a transaction after a failure if it takes place in isolation. If other patrons are present or waiting in line, then customers prefer the employee to simply correct the problem and let them complete the transaction. Finally, the servicescape along with the presence of other customers in a self-service area can induce self-monitoring behaviors and alter optimal recovery strategies.

These findings have implications on the appropriate amount of recovery assistance customers need in a self-service experience.

This research reveals the social and functional complexities associated with executing a satisfactory SST failure recovery, particularly with respect to determining the extent to which the employee or customer should control the attempt.

This is the first study to examine the employee’s role in a self-service failure. While other studies have examined customers’ intentions in a self-service failure, authors examine how a service provider can assist in the recovery of a self-service failure.

The study’s objective is to measure the importance consumers attach to AI-based attributes, namely, chatbots, face recognition, virtual fitting room, smart parking and cashier-free station in retail stores. The study also examines the specific purpose of using these attributes for shopping.

A conjoint experiment was conducted using fractional factorial design. Consumers were given 14 profiles (AI attributes and its levels) to rank according to their visiting preferences.

The results revealed that the retail chatbot was considered the most important attribute, followed by face recognition, virtual fitting room, smart parking system and cashier-free station. Moreover, consumers prefer to use chatbots for in-store shopping assistance over alerts and updates, customer support and feedback. Similarly, consumers wish a face recognition facility for greetings while entering the store over other services. In addition, cluster analyses revealed that customer groups significantly differ in their preferences for AI-based attributes.

The study guides retail managers to invest in AI technologies to provide consumers with a technology-oriented shopping experience.

Our results provide an insight into the receptivity of AI technologies that consumers would like to experience in their favorite retail stores. The present study contributes to the literature by investigating consumer preferences for various AI technologies and their specific uses for shopping.

This study aims to provide service managers and researchers with a deeper understanding of the direct on-site interactions taking place between customers.

Using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT), 284 incidents are analysed to develop a typology of how service customers experience direct on-site CCI.

The research reveals a wide range of CCI. A typology consisting of nine distinct categories of CCI emerged: (1) shared use space, (2) assigned space and possessions, (3) information provision, (4) assistance, (5) social conversations, (6) disrespectful attitude, (7) queuing discipline, (8) transaction efficiency and (9) undesired customers and ‘camouflaged customers’. These categories can accommodate a multitude of customer behaviours that impact, negatively or positively, on the service experience of other customers.

Future studies could be conducted following a more inclusive research design capable of gaining CCI insights from employees and managers.

Practitioners can use the typology to systematically identify the full range of specific CCI behaviours affecting their businesses. It also assists them in the analysis and understanding of individual C2C (customer-to-customer) interactions. For academics the typology makes available a comprehensive framework to guide future research into CCI.

The study constitutes the first systematic attempt to classify direct on-site CCI across a wide range of services. The typology, unrestricted by any single-industry bias, is robust and conceptually broad, and therefore highly portable across service industries.