Consumer Behavior and Customer Service on Social Media Platforms

Abstract

This research investigates how policy changes affect customer attitudes and behaviors, as well as firms' service operations outcomes, in the context of social media customer service. It aims to fill the gap in knowledge regarding the interaction between customers and social media customer service agents and its effect on companies’ customer service operation performance. The first essay examines how social media customer service agents’ personalized profiles can influence customer emotions, complaints, and satisfaction. The findings suggest that humanized customer service leads to an increase in positive sentiment in public tweets, fewer complaints, and a higher probability of customer satisfaction. The study highlights the importance of human warmth in customer service in eliciting positive customer attitudes and satisfaction on social media. The second essay explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on changes in customer behavior in the context of social media customer service. The findings show that during the lockdowns and physical distancing, customers expressed more positive emotions and were more likely to express satisfaction after interacting with customer service agents, but female customers expressed a lower level of satisfaction after interacting with the agents. The findings of these studies contribute to our understanding of the impact of humanized customer service and the COVID-19 pandemic on customer behavior and satisfaction and have implications for companies seeking to provide a more positive and personalized customer experience on social media platforms.