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It is statistically believed that 80% of marketing and sales leaders plan to integrate chatbots into customer experience in 2024. AI chatbots are becoming increasingly prevalent across industries with companies, from law firms and fashion houses to telecommunications and fast-food restaurants, implementing AI chatbot features and services in their daily workflow.
However, one of the fields where AI chatbots are becoming increasingly adopted is customer service. Whether it’s to cut costs, be innovative, or simply join the migrating evolution of technological advances in customer relations, chatbots seem to be here to stay, but how do people feel about this fact?
CivicScience’s consumer data offer a deep-dive into the sentiments of customer service chatbots among U.S. consumers who have interacted with them recently. Let’s look at the general consensus on the matter.
Are People In Favor of Customer Service Chatbots?
Recent data reveal a whopping 45% of U.S. adults find using customer service chatbots unfavorable, up from 43% in 2022. As awareness of chatbots has increased, so too has negative opinions of them. Only 19% of people state that they generally find customer service chatbots to be a favorable feature that is helpful or beneficial in addressing their queries.
When it comes to dealing with customer service after a purchase has been completed, most people (43%) prefer to communicate with customer service personnel by phone. The next most popular communication method cited was email (20%). However, more consumers today prefer live chat and/or chatbots (17%) compared to 2022 (13%).
Based on these findings, most people want to address customer service complaints or questions surrounding purchased services or goods with a real person rather than a chatbot, which can be rule-based or more advanced conversational AI bots. Yet, interestingly, chatbots are marginally preferred over in-person meetings – which could be because younger people prefer online relations:
- Gen Z – those between 18 and 24 – feel more favorable about using chatbots (37%).
- Those 55 and older feel the least favorable about customer service chatbot use (7%).
Answer our Polls: Which industry generally has the most room for improvement when it comes to customer service?
Customer Service Satisfaction Across the Board Is Mixed
Regarding customer service satisfaction, two-thirds of consumers said they were satisfied with their last experience concerning a purchase, while a third were left unsatisfied. CivicScience learned that, in general, 17% of consumers who were happy with their last customer service experience prefer communication via chatbot, which is four points higher than those who were not satisfied.
This suggests that those who actually use chatbots seem to have a better experience with them than those who choose not to engage with them often.
In contrast, 48% of customers who were happy with their last customer service interaction were more likely to have communicated via a phone call, while 20% were likely to have used email assistance. However, there were similar statistical findings surrounding those who were left unsatisfied with these customer service communication methods.
Join the conversation: How likely is it that you would file a complaint against a company for poor customer service?
Consumers Are Slightly More Likely To Think Chatbots Are ‘Helpful’
Perhaps due to advances in chatbot technology and conversational AI, chatbots appear to be improving according to consumers – 44% of people who have used them agree they’re at least somewhat helpful, up from 34% in 2022. Two years ago, 29% said CS chatbots were ‘never’ helpful; now, just 24% feel the same way.
However, there is still work to do. Consumers are still more likely to find customer service chatbots to be unhelpful than helpful.
Who Are Today’s Chatbot Users?
CivicScience’s ongoing data tracking provides a glimpse into consumers who are in favor of customer service chatbots. In general, they tend to be tech-friendly, AI adopters. Here are just a few insights:
- They’re significantly more likely to use ChatGPT and generative AI than the average American.
- Close to 4-in-10 use and like AI voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa, and 20% intend to.
- Half do most of their shopping online instead of in stores, compared to just 30% of people who don’t like chatbots.
- They’re less likely to feel concerned about AI and technology replacing the jobs of American workers than non-users.
The younger generation is quickly embracing the transition to chatbot-mediated customer service, as well as other uses of chatbots, while the older generation remains more hesitant and wary about their use. While usage of CS chatbots appears to be growing, the majority of the population still prefers traditional customer service.
As sentiments and attitudes surrounding customer service chatbots change, businesses can stay ahead of the curve with a deeper understanding of the wants and needs of their customer segments.
