WHEN USING AI BOTS TURNS CUSTOMERS AWAY

Summary from the TLDR Marketing newsletter

Customers are 23.7% less likely to continue using a service when it is provided by AI instead of a human if warmth is important. The drop in preference is stronger when the service is associated with fun or pleasure, with a 29.8% decrease in usage intention, compared to 17.5% when the focus is on efficiency. AI is perceived as 19.5% less warm than human staff, but using informal language helps reduce this effect. Companies like Henn na Hotel and McDonald's abandoned full AI setups due to poor customer response, while hybrid models like Starbucks' app chatbot have been more successful.