Customer Satisfaction with Telephone-Based Self-Service Technology: Investigating the Role of ‘Gender’ of the Voice Assistant

Abstract

ABSTRACT Digitalization across industries is increasingly changing the way customers interact with service providers. One of the most significant influences of digitalization on service outcomes is driven by technology-enabled services i.e. self-service technologies (SSTs). Despite continuous advancement of service delivery from traditional methods to modern SSTs, the technology-oriented interfaces differ in their level of complexity which may affect customer satisfaction. Two independent experiments were undertaken to observe customer satisfaction with telephone-based SSTs. Study 1 featured a 2 (Level of SST Complexity: High/Low) X 2 (Gender of Voice Assistant: Male/Female) between subjects design, while a follow-up study featured a 2 (Service Delivery Outcome: Success/Failure) X 2 (Gender of Voice Assistant: Male/Female) between-subjects factorial design. Results confirm the proposition that a higher level of SST complexity is more likely to lead to decreased customer satisfaction and intention to continue using the SST and this effect is more when the telephone-based SST uses a female voice assistant rather than a male voice assistant. Findings of the follow-up study suggest that customer dissatisfaction following a telephone-based SST failure is more likely with a male voice assistant rather than a female voice assistant. Results are critical for customer-centric firms that depend on effective implementation of SSTs.