Do Not Think Ahead of Me: High‐Personalization Chatbots Can Backfire During the Goal Formation Stage
研究发现高个性化聊天机器人在消费者目标形成阶段会因降低决策自主性而产生负面效果，但对目标完成阶段的消费者无此影响，且受消费者自我构念（独立/互依）调节。
ABSTRACT With the development of artificial intelligence (AI), firms are eager to harness the power of AI for customer service by deploying high‐personalization chatbots to actively capture real‐time consumer behaviors and provide personalized services across the decision stages. Prior research has highlighted the benefits of chatbot personalization and regards it as a firm's competitive advantage. However, consumers do not seem to favor high‐personalization chatbots throughout different decision stages. Across five studies, this research demonstrates that high‐personalization chatbots may backfire in the goal formation stage. However, this is not the case for consumers in the goal fulfillment stage. The authors reveal the underlying mechanism, namely reduced decision autonomy driving this adverse effect, and demonstrate the moderating effect of whether consumers have interdependent selves (vs. independent selves). These findings suggest that it is vital for firms to carefully adopt high‐personalization chatbots and consider the specific decision stages in chatbot deployment, particularly the goal formation stage.