The Effect of Fear and Social Distancing on Chatbot Service Usage during a Pandemic: An Abstract

Abstract

Social distancing is an important non-pharmaceutical intervention that policymakers rely heavily on to stop the spread of COVID-19. In spite of its benefits, the practice of social distancing has been associated with negative consequences, such as the loss of motivation (Williams et al. 2020) and increased levels of anxiety (Tuzovic and Kabadayi 2020). Given the mixed views on the practice, in this research, we seek to examine what factor would influence customers’ evaluations of the practice and how the evaluations affect their behavior of using service technologies (e.g., chatbot technologies), which can help organizations limit human-to-human contact during service encounters (Gursoy and Chi 2020; Shin and Kang 2020). To answer these research questions, we propose a theoretical model by drawing upon the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen and Fishbein 1980; Fishbein and Ajzen 1975) and the feeling-as-information literature (Schwarz 2012). To examine the hypothesized model, we conducted an experimental study and recruited 200 U.S. consumers to participate in the study. The results show general support for our hypothesized relationships such that in a utilitarian (hedonic) service situation, customers’ fear of being contaminated affects their usage of chatbot services via their positive attitudes (subjective norms) toward social distancing and then their perceived usefulness of chatbots in practicing social distancing. We seek to provide meaningful theoretical contributions and practical implications through this research. First, as the theory of reasoned action has largely overlooked the influence of situational and emotional factors, we extend this theory by examining the moderating influence of service situations and by suggesting fear as a possible antecedent to subjective norms and attitudes. Second, our research contributes to the literature on chatbot services by proposing that, in addition to the perceptions toward chatbots, the perceptions toward a social interaction practice can also influence customers’ willingness to interact with chatbot service agents. Third, we broaden the growing body of social distancing literature by answering Ali et al.’s (2021) call to examine how social distancing can influence customers’ behavior during service encounters. Finally, we offer practical implications for managing frontline encounters during a pandemic.