Examining factors influencing attitude and adoption of chatbots among consumers

Chatbot implementation for assisting customers as a virtual agent can be seen as a tool for helping an organisation serve better customer service. Malaysia is among the countries forging ahead with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. One of the core technologies mentioned is adopting artificial intelligence tools such as chatbots. In the last few years, there has been a growing interest in AI-based chatbot adoption in various business transactions. However, in the context of Malaysia, research on chatbot adoption is still new and is a less explored and examined topic in the information systems domain. Furthermore, most of the studies were not guided by information systems (IS) theories. Therefore, this study aims to identify factors that influence
chatbot adoption by adapting the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the IS theory reference. An online survey method was applied using the purposive sampling technique. Within a month, data were collected from 135 postgraduate students of Universiti Utara Malaysia, however only 121 questionnaires were useable for subsequent analysis since there were 14 respondents who were not chatbot users. Correlational and regressional analyses were used to validate the research model and assess the presented research hypotheses. This research reveals that chatbot adoption is influenced by attitudes towards chatbots. Meanwhile, attitudes towards chatbots are influenced by their perceived usefulness and ease of use. This study offers theoretical and practical contributions for academics and professionals. The limitations of the study have been addressed, and some valuable suggestions for future research work are offered.