Data: Do consumers trust chatbots?

October 3, 2018 11:27 AM

Chatbots are generating more buzz as new use cases emerge for artificial intelligence-based interactive messaging systems leveraging voice commands and text. Analysts say chatbots will handle 25 percent of the communications surrounding shopping and financial services by 2020.

Banks and merchants are rapidly deploying chatbots for answering basic account questions, shopping and accessing the internet of things. But new data suggests consumers don’t fully trust chatbots yet with payment account details and personal information. Here’s a look at what consumers think of chatbots and why it matters.

The vast majority of U.S. consumers—85 percent—have never made a purchase using a chatbot. But among the few who have tried it, eight out of 10 users would repeat the experience, according to a new survey by Worldpay. However, the fact that 19 percent of those who made a purchase via chatbot said they wouldn’t do it again is not a concern, said Casey Bullock, Worldpay’s general manager for North America e-commerce.

“While it’s true that almost 20% said they wouldn’t use a chatbot again to make a purchase, when more than 80 percent of people using a new and unfamiliar technology say they would do it again, it’s a sign that people will be leaning that way in the future,” Bullock said. Worldpay conducted its survey in partnership with Socratic Technologies among 503 U.S. adults in August 2018.

Tech-savvy young consumers are the most enthusiastic group when it comes to using chatbots. Men are also slightly more likely than women to have used a messaging or chat app to make a purchase, according to Worldpay’s survey. Among all consumers who’ve bought something with assistance from a chatbot, Generation Z accounted for 38 percent, followed by millennials at 25 percent, Generation X at 13 percent with baby boomers and retirees making up the remainder, Worldpay said.

“The bulk of people currently using chatbots are millennials or younger, and eventually this group will drive the most purchase volume, so it’s very important to realize where the momentum will be in the near future,” said Worldpay’s Bullock.

Most consumers are using chatbots for basic tasks. About 65 percent of consumers said their favorite use for chat apps is tracking whether packages they ordered have shipped or arrived, according to Worldpay’s survey. Fifty-five percent like using chatbots for general customer service. Forty-seven percent ranked researching items before buying them as their preferred chatbot activity, and the same percentage said they prefer using chatbots to explore promotions and deals.

Fewer than half of respondents, or 44 percent, said they prefer using chatbots for purchases, underscoring the challenge for financial services operators looking to integrate chatbots into more processes.

Consumers would also rather use smart speakers in their homes for general information than for making payments, a recent survey by AppDynamics indicates.

The majority of consumers said they would prefer to ask a voice assistant like Google Home or Amazon Echo for basic information like GPS directions or weather conditions. But consumers become more cautious about using voice assistants for handling personal decisions or money.

Forty percent of consumers said they would prefer to ask a voice assistant for restaurant recommendations, while only 28 percent would ask it for flight or travel updates and 24 percent would ask to get their bank balance. AppDynamics partnered with Wakefield Research to survey 1,000 U.S. millennials and 1,000 U.S. IT decision-makers between June 8 and June 18, 2018.

Less than half of U.S. consumers have used a chatbot, though figures vary according to different sources.

In a survey Sumo Heavy conducted during the second quarter of 2018, 37 percent of consumers said they had interacted with a chatbot. Of those who tried it, 72 percent rated the experience as helpful and informative, while 16 percent said it was of little to no value. Ten percent of respondents found the experience to be clunky and cumbersome, and 6 percent found it was complex and confusing. Sumo Heavy surveyed 1,021 U.S. consumers online.

“Chatbots have come a long way in a short time,” said Worldpay’s Bullock, noting that in the last two years chatbot technology has evolved to become more interactive and better at anticipating customers’ needs. But chatbot providers must tread carefully to balance consumer convenience and trust with a technology that consumers could reject if it becomes too intrusive, he warns.

“Ultimately chatbots needs to be designed so they’re useful but not onerous, and they don’t go too far in the direction of promotions and marketing. As long as chatbot design remains true to serving consumers' needs in a natural way that inspires consumer confidence, trust will follow,” Bullock said.