IIM Lucknow study finds out what kind of language by chatbots can help gain customer trust

A recent study conducted by IIM Lucknow has found that online travel agencies (OTA) using chatbots should use "concrete language" for big failures and "abstract language" for minor issues to help gain customer trust.

The study, published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, is co-authored by Payal Mehra, Professor at IIM Lucknow and research scholar Rishab Chauhan.

It examines how language used for apologies impacts customer acceptance and forgiveness.

“We apologise for the delay in processing your booking. Your refund of USD 100 will be credited within three business days" while an abstract apology might simply state, "We apologise for the delay. Your refund will be credited soon,” Mehra said while explaining how a concrete apology should sound.

The researchers did three comprehensive studies to assess customers’ responses to different kinds of apologies.

The participants interacted with chatbots, designed using the "Bot Penguin" platform, which offered either abstract or concrete apologies based on their programming.

Using advanced research techniques such as confirmatory factor analysis, the researchers ensured the findings were reliable and applicable to real-world situations.

The research found that concrete language is more effective in gaining customers’ forgiveness for major failures, while abstract language is effective for minor glitches.

"Chatbots should adopt an abstract apology style for minor issues, avoiding unnecessary details while assuring customers of the company’s commitment to their satisfaction. For more significant problems, a concrete apology is more effective, providing details and emphasising the company's efforts to prevent recurrence, said Mehra.

"While much research has focused on traditional customer service channels like phone calls or face-to-face interactions, this study is among the first to examine how chatbot language affects customer forgiveness in the context of OTAs," she said in an interview with PTI.

The study also discovered that customer preferences for the language of the apology were not influenced by the type of service—whether the service was pleasure-oriented or use-oriented.

It also noted that sincerity and empathy are important factors in chatbot communication.

If the customers sense a genuine apology from the company and that it cares about resolving their issues, they tend to forgive any issue easily.

"These findings have implications beyond the OTA sector, extending to industries such as retail, banking, healthcare and telecommunications. The research team suggests that future research could explore the impact of chatbot apology language in different cultures and service sectors and investigate other language styles used in customer service," she said.

(with PTI inputs)