Conversational agents in online organization-stakeholder interactions : a state-of-the-art analysis and implications for further research
Year of publication
2020
Authors
Syvänen, Salla; Valentini, Chiara
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to review the extant literature on chatbots and stakeholder interactions to identify major trends and shed light on knowledge gaps. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review was conducted combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. A code book based on early systematic literature reviews was developed and used to extract information from 62 discrete peer-reviewed English articles. An inductive approach was used to analyse definitions of chatbots, topics, metrics, perspectives and implications. Findings – Chatbots have been studied by many different disciplines, but not much from organizational, stakeholder and corporate communication perspectives. Existing studies focus on the technical developments of chatbots and chatbot language and conversations skills. Research has remained anchored at the micro-level understanding of the phenomenon, that is, the nature of chatbots, but has not yet taken into consideration the meso (organizational) or macro (societal) levels. Research limitations/implications – This study focused only on academic peer-reviewed papers in English and excluded conference proceeding, books, book chapters and editorials that may have offered other important and relevant reflections. The limited number of studies in communication-related disciplines shows that corporate communication scholars could contribute more to the discussion of chatbot–stakeholder interactions. Originality/value – This is the first research in the field of corporate communication that examines organizational chatbot–stakeholder interactions. Results of this review offer important information on chatbots’ organizational capabilities and affordances, which, arguably, must be taken into consideration when stakeholder engagement strategies are set.
Show moreOrganizations and authors
Publication type
Publication format
Article
Parent publication type
Journal
Article type
Review article
Audience
ScientificPeer-reviewed
Peer-ReviewedMINEDU's publication type classification code
A2 Review article, Literature review, Systematic reviewPublication channel information
Publisher
Volume
24
Issue
4
Pages
339-362
ISSN
Publication forum
Publication forum level
1
Open access
Open access in the publisher’s service
Yes
Open access of publication channel
Partially open publication channel
Self-archived
Yes
Other information
Fields of science
Business and management; Media and communications
Keywords
[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]
Publication country
United Kingdom
Internationality of the publisher
International
Language
English
International co-publication
No
Co-publication with a company
No
DOI
10.1108/JCOM-11-2019-0145
The publication is included in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection
Yes