Artificial Intelligence or Human Service, Which Customer Service Failure Is More Unforgivable? A Counterfactual Thinking Perspective

ABSTRACT With the continuous development and progress of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, intelligent customer service stands on the tip of the wind and waves of AI. This rapid development of the customer service industry has made the comparison and collision between AI customer service and artificial customer service a hot topic. This paper proposes a model exploring how the customer service failure of AI and human personnel influences customer satisfaction differently, with the mediation variable of counterfactual thinking and the moderation variables of psychological distance and empathy. Four studies using experimental design were conducted. Study 1 ( N = 80) investigates whether the service failure of AI and human personnel influences customer satisfaction differently, finding that AI customer service can lead to higher customer satisfaction than human service. Study 2 ( N = 80) demonstrates the mediation effect of counterfactual thinking, finding that AI service failure produces lower counterfactual thinking and higher customer satisfaction than human service failure. Study 3 ( N = 200) demonstrates the moderation effect of psychological distance in the process of AI and the human service failure influencing customer satisfaction. Study 4 ( N = 200) illustrates the moderation effect of empathy from the perspective of the uncanny valley effect. These findings can provide evidence for research on AI service, and provide guidance for the improvement and development of AI and human service for the customer service industry.