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Measuring effectiveness of AI-based virtual service assistants by user mental health improvement: A research agenda
Journal of AI, Robotics & Workplace Automation,
2
(4),
361-368
(2023)
Abstract
This paper argues that traditional performance measures of artificial intelligence (AI)-based virtual service assistants (VSAs) fall short of capturing the human-like attributes of VSAs, their influences on human partners, and hence a VSA’s true potential. The current study suggests that the effectiveness of VSAs can be measured by examining the variables related to mental health improvements of the consumers or human partners as a direct result of their conversations, companionship and engagement with the VSAs. The paper presents a research agenda, highlighting the role of perceived leadership of the AI-based VSAs, consumer engagement with VSAs and the subsequent social support of the VSAs to their consumers. It suggests that the aforementioned will result in the enhancement of a variety of coping skills such as problem solving, emotional and time-focused coping, and a subsequent overall increase of trust in AI-based VSAs among their consumers.
Keywords: virtual service assistants; artificial intelligence; mental health; coping; consumer engagement; AI leadership
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Devdeep Maity is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Interim MBA Director at Delaware State University. His accomplishments include the Phillips, Paul D. & Lois Doctoral Dissertation Award, Dean’s Research Award, AMA-Sheth Doctoral Consortium Fellow, Outstanding Teaching Award and Outstanding Academic Scholar. His work has been published in Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Journal of Marketing Management, Computers in Human Behavior and Applied Marketing Analytics, and he has presented at numerous national and international conferences.
Juha Munnukka is a Senior Researcher of Marketing at the Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics, Finland. His research interests include consumer behaviour, digital marketing communication and influencer marketing. He has published in several journals, including Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of Services Marketing, Computers in Human Behavior, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Service Theory and Practice and Journal of Product and Brand Management.
Ashwini Gangadharan is an Associate Professor of Management at the Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. She specialises in teaching business management to both undergraduate and graduate students. Her primary areas of focus include organisational behaviour, principles of management, leadership and ethics. Her research interests lie at the intersection of artificial intelligence, leadership and mental health. With a specific focus on organisational behaviour, she has researched topics such as workplace incivility, emotional labour and the mental health of employees in the workplace. She is also interested in studying workplace spirituality and its influence on work outcomes. Her work has been published in Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, International Journal of Stress Management and IUP Journal of Organizational Behavior and she has presented her research at prestigious national and international conferences in the field of management.
