| Abstract [eng] |
The final Master's project aimed to investigate the impact of consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency towards AI and human decisions on service satisfaction. Global market trends indicate that AI systems are being increasingly deployed in various service sectors to improve operational efficiency (BCG, 2024). Businesses emphasise that one of the most important indicators for measuring the effectiveness of an AI strategy is improving customer experience and satisfaction (IBM, 2024). Nevertheless, a major barrier remains the ethical challenges associated with the implementation of AI (IBM, 2024). Business concerns are most acute with the increasing development of solutions based on this technology in areas of business where users directly interact with AI systems. It is unknown how the changing interaction patterns between consumers and service providers affect consumer reactions to AI solutions, especially in morally relevant service contexts. Furthermore, limited knowledge is gained about how consumers react when humans and AI make these decisions. While understanding the impact of consumer interactions with AI systems is important, there is still little research on how identical, morally questionable Human or AI decisions are assessed. Previous research provides evidence that human-AI interactions in morally relevant contexts affect trust; however, compared to satisfaction, trust has a smaller impact on consumers' positive intentions and firms' financial performance (Söderlund, 2023a). Existing research does not provide generalised conclusions on who, in morally ambiguous circumstances, consumers will tend to attribute higher moral agency (AI or human) and how this propensity affects satisfaction with services. To answer these problematic questions, the study's object, aim, objectives, and methods were defined. The object of the study is the impact of the moral agency attributed by consumers towards AI and human decisions on satisfaction with services. The study aims to provide theoretical and empirical justification for consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency towards AI and human decisions and its impact on service satisfaction. Objectives of the study:1. To uncover the relevance and problematics of the impact of consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency towards AI and human decisions on service satisfaction; 2. To theoretically justify a conceptual model explaining the impact of consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency towards AI and human decisions on service satisfaction; 3. To develop a research methodology to investigate the impact of consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency towards AI and human decisions on service satisfaction; 4. To empirically test the impact of consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency towards AI and human decisions on service satisfaction;5.To provide practical recommendations and directions for further research on the impact of consumers' propensity to attribute moral agency to AI and human decisions on service satisfaction. A quantitative, experimental design study revealed that in morally questionable service contexts, consumers' propensity to attribute morality is not influenced by the type of decision maker, AI or human. The ability of AI and humans to behave morally is rated similarly. The propensity to attribute agency is significantly higher in the case of a human decision maker. The propensity to attribute moral agency is significantly positively affected by the favourability of the decision. A favourable decision increases moral agency, an unfavourable decision decreases moral agency, but this relationship is independent of whether the decision was made by a human or an AI. Perceived AI agency remained similar for favourable and unfavourable decisions, and lower than for humans. The tendency to attribute moral agency has a significant positive impact on the perceived fairness of the decision-maker. However, the type of decision-maker does not moderate this relationship. Perceived fairness mediates the relationship between the propensity to attribute morality and service satisfaction. However, perceived fairness does not mediate the relationship between the propensity to attribute agency and satisfaction. Whilst not hypothesised, a direct, positive relationship has been observed between the tendency to attribute morality and consumer satisfaction; in the case of agency, this relationship is negatively skewed. |
