UNDERSTANDING THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE SUSTAINED USE OF CHATBOTS WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract

Conversational user interfaces also known as chatbots have become widely adopted within the banking sector, as they present numerous advantages such as cost reduction, increased efficiency and quicker servicing of customers. However, these benefits only materialize if organizations ensure the sustained use of these technologies. Hence, identifying the main factors that drive the sustained use of these services is critical to assess new technology adoption given that a very high number of IT implementations fail. Researchers have relied on technology acceptance models to analyze the adoption of these new technologies within organizations; however, little is known about the factors that ensure their sustained use. The concept of sustained use is considered by researchers not simply as an extension of adoption behavior, but rather as having a long-term focus and as being determined by different sets of antecedents. Using a qualitative methodology based on in-depth interviews with employees of a leading bank operating in a number of developing economies, this research addresses the gap in the literature by investigating the factors that contribute to the sustained use of conversational user interfaces. Findings reveal that eight main internal and external factors are essential to promote the sustained use of chatbots, the most prominent of which are: a positive human-technology relationship, a favorable corporate culture, an adequate regulatory framework and the technology’s high perceived efficiency.