Willingness increases significantly: 70 percent want to interact with a chatbot
Chatting with a machine? What seemed bizarre to most people a few years ago has now become almost commonplace thanks to chatbots. The bots interact with customers and are increasingly being used by companies. The chatbot study by Pidas and the ZHAW School of Management and Law revealed, among other things, that around 70 percent of users can already imagine interacting with a bot.
Chatbots are now everywhere. Companies are trying to integrate chatbots into their processes and the topic is also finding its way into the media. But how effective are the chatbots that are already active? How do customers perceive them and do they really stand up to a practical test? The authors of the chatbot study got to the bottom of these issues and also tried to find out whether the chatbots effectively generate added value.
Together with the consulting firm Pidas, the Institute of Marketing Management at the ZHAW School of Management and Law surveyed around 900 representatively selected people from Switzerland in summer 2018 about their experiences with chatbots to date. "This study provides completely new insights into how customers perceive this new digital communication channel, as it is the first comprehensive study on the topic in German-speaking Europe. Companies can benefit greatly from this knowledge when developing their own chatbots," says Frédéric Monard, CEO of Pidas. The test subjects were not only interviewed, but also took part in an experiment. They were shown different chatbot dialogs and then asked various questions. This allowed many revealing insights into the perception of chatbots to be gained.
In general, the willingness to use chatbots has increased significantly in just one year. In 2017, only 40% of respondents were open to interacting with a robot; today, 70% could imagine interacting or have already done so. "We were surprised ourselves at how much users have opened up to possible interactions with chatbots since our last survey a year ago," says Dr. Pia Furchheim from the Institute of Marketing Management at the ZHAW.
Companies can actually create added value with the help of chatbots, but must focus on a specific use case, such as handling a process, reducing the bounce rate or increasing sales, and must never lose sight of their target group. In any case, artificial intelligence can provide useful support.
The study can here can be obtained free of charge.
