Adoption Factors and Moderating Effects of Age and Gender That Influence the Intention to Use a Non-Directive Reflective Coaching Chatbot

Abstract

Chatbots are increasingly applied in various contexts including helping professions, such as organizational and life coaching. Coaching facilitates individual wellness, behavioral change, and goal attainment in a reflective, non-directive manner, and is considered one of the fastest-growing professions. The use of knowledge imparting service chatbots have been studied; however, the application of chatbots in coaching has received scant research attention, raising the question about which factors and moderating effects play a role in the adoption of reflective, non-directive coaching chatbots. In this study, we applied a modified Unified Theory of the Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to determine factors and moderating effects of age and gender that influence the adoption of a goal-attainment coaching chatbot. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for the analysis of a cross-sectional UTAUT survey ( n = 226). Performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions had significant roles as direct determinants of intent to use the coaching chatbot. Gender moderated performance expectancy and age showed a moderation tendency on effort expectancy. This study on non-directive, reflective chatbots in the organizational, and life coaching domains contributes to our understanding of how to design chatbots aimed at helping people find their own answers.

The adoption of conversational assistants in the banking industry: is the perceived risk a moderator?

“…Hence, service marketers should strive for reducing the PR to customers to encourage them toward adopting CAs. However, studies of [ [23] , [24] ] did not find any significant influence of PR on chatbot adoption intention, which contrasts with the findings of this study. Despite inconsistent results reported by some of the studies, the present study sheds light on the significant evidence of PR associated with CAs in the banking context.…”

“…However, the significance of the other constructs was not found in the analysis. Terblanche and Kidd (2022)[ 24 ] PX, EE, FC, SI and PR Adoption intention of coaching chatbot Gender, age PX, SI, and FCs played significant roles as direct factors influencing the intention to use the coaching chatbot. The impact of PE was found to be moderated by gender, while age showed a tendency to moderate the effect of EE.…”

Antecedents of intention to use chatbots in service encounters: A meta‐analytic review

“…The study revealed that knowledge about using chatbots and performing various tasks using the conversational agents is essential to enhance the adoption of chatbot technology. This result in fact, concurs with the findings of Terblanche and Kidd (2022).…”

Examining Students’ Acceptance and Use of ChatGPT in Saudi Arabian Higher Education

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