The value of humanization in customer service

As algorithm-based agents become increasingly capable of handling customer service queries, customers are often uncertain whether they are served by humans or algorithms, and managers are left to question the value of human agents once the technology matures. The current paper studies this question...

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Main Authors: GAO, Yang, RUI, Huaxia, SUN, Shujing
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2021
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/6253
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sis_research/article/7256/viewcontent/0541.pdf
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Institution: Singapore Management University
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spelling sg-smu-ink.sis_research-72562021-11-10T04:11:37Z The value of humanization in customer service GAO, Yang RUI, Huaxia SUN, Shujing As algorithm-based agents become increasingly capable of handling customer service queries, customers are often uncertain whether they are served by humans or algorithms, and managers are left to question the value of human agents once the technology matures. The current paper studies this question by quantifying the impact of customers' enhanced perception of being served by human agents on customer service interactions. Our identification strategy hinges on the abrupt implementation by Southwest Airlines of a signature policy, which requires the inclusion of an agent's first name in responses on Twitter, thereby making the agent more humanized in the eyes of customers. Multiple empirical analyses consistently show that customers are more willing to engage, and upon engagement, more likely to reach a resolution, with more humanized agents. Furthermore, we find that customers do not behave more aggressively to more humanized agents, hence humanization incurs no additional cost to agents. 2021-01-01T08:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/6253 info:doi/10.24251/HICSS.2021.673 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sis_research/article/7256/viewcontent/0541.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Analyzing the Impact of Digitization on Business Operations artificial intelligence customer service humanizationquasi-experiment social media Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Databases and Information Systems
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic Analyzing the Impact of Digitization on Business Operations
artificial intelligence
customer service
humanizationquasi-experiment
social media
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
Databases and Information Systems
spellingShingle Analyzing the Impact of Digitization on Business Operations
artificial intelligence
customer service
humanizationquasi-experiment
social media
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
Databases and Information Systems
GAO, Yang
RUI, Huaxia
SUN, Shujing
The value of humanization in customer service
description As algorithm-based agents become increasingly capable of handling customer service queries, customers are often uncertain whether they are served by humans or algorithms, and managers are left to question the value of human agents once the technology matures. The current paper studies this question by quantifying the impact of customers' enhanced perception of being served by human agents on customer service interactions. Our identification strategy hinges on the abrupt implementation by Southwest Airlines of a signature policy, which requires the inclusion of an agent's first name in responses on Twitter, thereby making the agent more humanized in the eyes of customers. Multiple empirical analyses consistently show that customers are more willing to engage, and upon engagement, more likely to reach a resolution, with more humanized agents. Furthermore, we find that customers do not behave more aggressively to more humanized agents, hence humanization incurs no additional cost to agents.
format text
author GAO, Yang
RUI, Huaxia
SUN, Shujing
author_facet GAO, Yang
RUI, Huaxia
SUN, Shujing
author_sort GAO, Yang
title The value of humanization in customer service
title_short The value of humanization in customer service
title_full The value of humanization in customer service
title_fullStr The value of humanization in customer service
title_full_unstemmed The value of humanization in customer service
title_sort value of humanization in customer service
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2021
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/6253
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sis_research/article/7256/viewcontent/0541.pdf
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