How does AI agent (vs. IVR system) service failure impact customer purchase behavior: mediating effect of customer involvement

In recent years, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) agents in customer service has become a prominent area of study, focusing on their influence over consumer behavior. However, there is a noticeable gap in the current literature regarding AI agent service failures during product information consultations and their effects on customer purchase behavior. The present study, grounded in attribution theory, investigates the effects of various types of self-service failures in both Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems and AI agents on customer involvement and subsequent purchase behavior. The findings indicate that customers experiencing service failures with AI agents during the consultation stage are more inclined to make purchase behavior after human-led recovery compared to those encountering IVR system failures. Additionally, customer involvement is found to play a pivotal role as a mediator between types of service failures and purchase behavior. The results of this work may offer valuable theoretical and practical insights.