Whispers of Change: How ChatGPT Adoption Influences Customer Engagement

The advent of Natural Language Processing has revolutionized AI applications, with ChatGPT standing out for its versatility and adaptability. Given the feature of high customer engagement and involvement, an increasing number of User-generated Content platforms are adopting ChatGPT to deliver real-time, dialogic, and personalized customer services. However, no research has examined the net effect of adopting ChatGPT on customer engagement. Leveraging a unique research context where Expedia adopts the ChatGPT Plugin, this study collects consumer reviews of the same hotels listed on Expedia and Booking.com in California, US, and employs difference-in-differences designs. This study has three main findings. Firstly, a significant reduction in customer engagement with focal firm is observed. Secondly, an increase in customer satisfaction is observed. Lastly, high-valued customers exhibit decreased customer engagement behavior. Our research holds the potential to contribute to the research about consumer engagement in UGC communities and provide implications for the GPT adoption in consumer service.