Smart banking chatbots and consumer engagement: the role of trust and privacy in AI-driven banking
Kumar Rohit, Pooja Kumari, Nidhi Singh, Hind Alofaysan
Abstract
This study examines the role of smart banking chatbots (SBCs) in shaping consumer trust and engagement in digital banking, with a focus on exploring the moderating impact of privacy concerns. Grounded in the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model, the research investigates how immersive experience impacts trustworthiness, which in turn influences consumer engagement, measured by intention to explore and cognitive absorption. Data collected from 287 banking customers using structured survey questionnaire. The findings of the study reveals that conversational agility and ubiquitous connectivity significantly enhance trustworthiness, whereas responsiveness, personalization, perceived control, and social presence do not. Furthermore, the study reveals that privacy concerns negatively moderate the impact of responsiveness, conversational agility, and social presence on trustworthiness. The study uniquely contributes to the literature on AI-human interactions in financial services. This study also offers strategic insights for banks on optimizing SBCs to enhance customer trust and engagement to provide better consumer experience while addressing privacy concerns.