Impact of Human-Like Empathy of AI Chatbots and Privacy Concerns on Consumer Complaint Behavior in E-Commerce

Abstract

This research examines the influence of AI chatbots' human-like empathy (HLE) on consumers' complaint behaviour (CCB) and its implications on brand trust (BT) and privacy concerns (PC). From prior literature, we review the shifts in the role of AI chatbots in customer service concerning the ability to mimic human feelings and improve brand-consumer interaction. Choosing the quantitative approach to the research, the online questionnaire survey was carried out with 400 respondents who had recently used AI chatbots. Our analysis revealed that AI chatbots HLE help ease consumers' anxiety (CA), build trust in the brand, and prompt a positive complaint attitude. Further, the results establish the moderating effect of privacy concerns on the relationships of AI chatbots HLE with consumers' complaint behaviour and attitudes. The findings of this study stress the relevance of creating empathetic AI systems to improve customer satisfaction and retention while considering possible privacy concerns. This investigation of AI chatbots in the customer service context may provide valuable insights for the business world regarding strategies based on empathy and security concerns for consumer data. It is, therefore, suggested that future studies should investigate in more depth the relationships between HLE, PC, and CCB to improve the creation of efficient AI-powered customer service solutions.