Artificial Intelligence along the Customer Journey: A Customer Experience Perspective

by Ada Maria Barone, Emanuela Stagno

Overview

The development of several AI solutions has revolutionized the way in which consumers behave. Serving as a guide to the role that AI plays on different aspects of consumers’ life, this book provides a comprehensive understanding of the main artificial intelligence (AI) solutions available in the market. In particular, the authors adopt a customer experience approach to investigate how different AI technologies play a role at different stages of the customer journey (e.g., from pre-purchase to post-purchase decisions).

Covering a range of technologies, such as augmented reality, voice assistants, chatbots and robots, readers will be able to learn which strategies and AI solutions are more effective at different stages of the customer journey.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783031487910
Publisher:	Springer Nature Switzerland
Publication date:	12/20/2023
Edition description:	1st ed. 2023
Pages:	127
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Ada Maria Barone is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the Institute of Management Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London. Her main research interests lie at the intersection of marketing, sustainability, and consumer psychology, with a special focus on the understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying consumers’ sustainable behaviours (e.g., disposal decisions, plant-based consumption). Another stream of research she is interested in is focused on the understanding of the antecedents of consumers’ and employees’ acceptance of artificial intelligence technologies.

Emanuela Stagno is a Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Sussex Business School. She conducts research in judgment, decision-making, and consumer behavior, with a particular emphasis on consumer decisions when dealing with financial and physical hardships and new technologies. One of her research streams focuses on understanding how and when hardship influences consumers’ attention, cognitive processes, and behavior. Another of her research streams explores how new technologies (i.e., smart surveillance technologies) influence citizens’ behavior and sociability.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction.- 1. A brief guide to artificial intelligence.- 2. Key artificial intelligence technologies along the customer journey.- 2.1. AI-powered self-service technologies.- 2.2. Chatbots.- 2.3. Voice assistants.- 2.4. Service robots.- 2.5. Augmented reality.- 2.6. Virtual reality.- 3. A new framework for modelling artificial intelligence technologies along the customer journey.- 3.1. Study design and procedure.- 3.2. Study results.- 4. A customer experience perspective on artificial intelligence.- 5. Appendix.- 6. References.- Chapter 2. AI-powered self-service technologies.- 1. Conventional vs. AI-powered SSTs: key characteristics and differences.- 2. AI-based SSTs: the rise of checkout-free and just walk out technologies.- 3. AI-powered self-service technologies along the customer journey: current applications and potential for the future.- 4. Conclusion.- 5. References.- Chapter 3. Chatbots.- 1. What are chatbots and why they are important for customer experience.- 2. The drivers of consumers’ cognitive, affective, and behavioural responses to chatbots.- 2.1 Consumers’ expectations and perceptions of chatbots.- 2.2. How to design chatbots for successful customer experiences: the role of human-like features.- 2.3 Disclosure of chatbot identity.- 3. The impact of chatbots on the customer journey: what we know so far and directions for future research.- 4. Conclusion.- 5. References.- Chapter 4. Voice Assistants.- 1. Drivers of VAs’ adoption.- 2. Privacy concerns as a deterrent of VA adoption.- 3. The impact of voice assistants on the customer journey.- 4. Directions for future research.- 5. Conclusion.- 6. References.- Chapter 5. Robots in Retail.- 1. Service robots and their main characteristics.- 2. When and why do consumers prefer robots over human employees?.- 3. Collaboration between robots and service employees.- 4. Service robots across the customer journey.- 5. Service robots in the face of service failure.- 6. Directions for futureresearch.- 7. Conclusion.- 8. References.- Chapter 6. Augmented Reality.- 1. Augmented reality in advertising: the power of AR in the pre-purchase stage.- 2. Augmented reality in retailing: virtual try-on applications.- 3. Augmented reality in retailing: augmented environments and product presentations.- 4. Directions for the future for augmented reality across the customer journey: business opportunities and avenues for further research.- 5. Conclusion.- 6. References.- Chapter 7. Virtual Reality and the Customer Journey.- 1. The main dimensions of virtual reality.- 2. Virtual reality experiences in the customer journey.- 3. Directions for future research.- 4. Conclusion.- 5. References.- Chapter 8. Conclusions.- 1. References.- Index.