Perceived Service Quality and Trust in AI Customer Service Chatbots: A Quantitative Analysis of Reliability, Responsiveness, and Empathy

This thesis attempts to explain the influence of service quality dimensions: reliability, responsiveness and empathy on the consumer trust in an AI customer service chatbot context. With AI customer service chatbots taking over customer service, it’s important to know what influences trust in these AI customer service chatbots. In this study, three service quality dimensions (reliability, responsiveness and empathy) are investigated, and their individual and combined influence on trust. We administered a quantitative cross-sectional survey to 121 participants who had prior experience using AI powered customer service chatbots. Perceived reliability and empathy were shown to significantly predict consumer trust, though responsiveness was found statistically significant it was excluded from the final conceptual model due to low internal consistency. The results highlight the expectation for AI systems to perform with accuracy, as well as to display human-like understanding and emotional engagement. The study adds to the emerging discussion around AI customer service chatbots by focusing on trust as a standalone outcome driven by specific service quality dimensions. Along with this, it suggests insights for developers aiming to enhance the design of chatbots for trust building in digital service environments.