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When it comes to inquiring aboutahemcertain products, shoppers prefer the inhuman touch. That is what we found in a study of consumer habits when it comes to products that traditionally have come with a degree of embarrassmentthink acne cream, diarrhea medication, adult sex toys, or personal lubricant. While brands may assume consumers hate chatbots, our series of studies involving more than 6,000 participants found a clear pattern: When it comes to purchases that make people feel embarrassed, consumers prefer chatbots over human service reps. In one experiment, we asked participants to imagine shopping for medications for diarrhea and hay fever. They were offered two online pharmacies, one with a human pharmacist and the other with a chatbot pharmacist. The medications were packaged identically, with the only difference being their labels for diarrhea or hay fever. More than 80% of consumers looking for diarrhea treatment preferred a store with a clearly nonhuman chatbot. In comparison, just 9% of those shopping for hay fever medication preferred nonhuman chatbots. This is because, participants told us, they did not think chatbots have mindsthat is, the ability to judge or feel. In fact, when it comes to selling embarrassing products, making chatbots look or sound human can actually backfire. In another study, we asked 1,500 people to imagine buying diarrhea pills online. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: an online drugstore with a human service rep, the same store with a humanlike chatbot with a profile photo and name, or the same store with a chatbot that was clearly botlike in both its name and icon. We then asked participants how likely they would be to seek help from the service agent. The results were clear: Willingness to interact dropped as the agent seemed more human. Interest peaked with the clearly machine-like chatbot and hit its lowest point with the human service rep. Why it matters As a scholar of marketing and consumer behavior, I know chatbots play an increasingly large part in e-retail. In fact, one report found 80% of retail and e-commerce business use AI chatbots or plan to use them in the near future. Companies need to answer two questions: When should they deploy chatbots? And how should the chatbots be designed? Many companies may assume the best strategy is to make bots look and sound more human, intuiting that consumers dont want to talk to machines. But our findings show the opposite can be true. In moments when embarrassment looms large, humanlike chatbots can backfire. The practical takeaway is that brands should not default to humanizing their chatbots. Sometimes the most effective bot is the one that looks and sounds like a machine. What still isnt known So far, weve looked at everyday purchases where embarrassment is easy to imagine, such as hemorrhoid cream, anti-wrinkle cream, personal lubricant, and adult toys. However, we believe the insights extend more broadly. For example, women getting a quote for car repair may be more self-conscious, as this is a purchase context where women have been traditionally more stigmatized. Similarly, men shopping for cosmetic products may feel judged in a category that has traditionally been marketed to women. In contexts like these, companies could deploy chatbotsespecially ones that clearly sound machine-liketo reduce discomfort and provide a better service. But more work is needed to test that hypothesis. The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work. Jianna Jin is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Notre Dames Mendoza College of Business. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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E-Commerce
Twenty years ago, getting promoted to manager was a major milestone. Today its a punishment. Thats according to recent research from LinkedIn. In a survey of more than 10,000 LinkedIn users, nearly 7 in 10 said they would leave their job if they had a bad manager. But only 30% said they want to become a people manager within the next few years. So, why the change? Why doesnt anyone want to be the boss anymore? We could sum up the answer in seven words: Nobody showed them how to lead effectively. The data backs this up. Global consulting firm West Monroe surveyed 500 managers and found that 66% of those received eight hours or less of manager training. Of those who had been managers for less than a year, a stunning 43% had received no training at all. Why is this lack of training so problematic? And, more importantly, how can you inspire and prepare the next generation of leaders at your organization? Sign up here for my free email course on emotionally intelligent leadership. The leadership training gap The problem is the skills that get people promoted arent the ones that help them excel at the next level. Management experts Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, and James Noel explore this concept in their book The Leadership Pipeline. They describe five different leadership roles: Leading self Leading others Leading leaders Functional leaders Business leaders The passage from one role to another requires new learning and new behavior, assert the authors. Whats more, they say, the leader who transitions from one role to the next has to acquire a new way of leading and leave the old ways behind. This calls for a fundamental adjustment in skills and in the way you use your time. The challenge here is that many of the things leaders need to stop doing are things they enjoy doing and which have brought them success. For example, a sales manager may be great at closing deals. But once he or she is promoted, closing deals on their own should no longer be the most important thing. Rather, they should be concerned with helping their reports to excelfor example, clarifying target setting, giving emotionally intelligent feedback, and coaching and development. This change in perspective will affect everything from what they believe is important to how they define success and how they allocate their time. It will also impact the effect they have on their people and the organization as a whole. The change in perspective should continue as a leader continues to transition across roles. A leader of leaders must recruit the right leaders and hold them accountable for their role in developing their people. A functional leader has to not only lead but also build competitive advantages and agendas that enable the company to do things better than competitors. A business leaders focus is long term, but he or she must also stay in touch with the short-term picture. Business leaders must develop strategy and build teams down the chain that assist in executing that strategy. One thing that all of these roles hold in common? They each demand emotional intelligence, skills and abilities like listening, empathy, effective processing, and delivering of feedback. How to fix your leadership problem How do you make sure your organization is preparing your leaders and managers for success? Here are some tips. Map leadership passages: Define the transitions in your organization (individual contributor, manager one, manager two, etc.). Specify what emotional skills are needed at each stage. Develop training: Whether designed in-house, with help from a leadership consultancy, or both, tailor management and leadership training to your organization. Schedule time: Each time a person is promoted, schedule the training and make sure you provide the time and resources they need to complete it. Provide a mentor: A mentor can guide the persons development, answer questions, and support them emotionally. Where possible, allow the person to choose their own mentor. Support mentors, too: Outline guidelines for how mentors can help, and a program for them to meet regularly (in addition to impromptu meetings when needed). Measure outcomes: Track metrics and results, but also look beneath the surface. Pay special attention to retention/turnover, team engagement, conflict rates. Remember, metrics are important but interviews with direct reports and team members can reveal much. Lead by example: Senior leaders must practice developing their emotional intelligence, share their mistakes and learnings, and ask for help. In doing so, they set the founation for the culture. Dont just dump a person into a new role and expect them to figure it out. Some will. Many wont. In contrast, if you prioritize leadership development, youll strengthen your teams and the organization as a wholenot just today but into the future. By Justin Bariso This article originally appeared in Fast Companys sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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E-Commerce
In September, my mom died after a short battle with colon cancer. She was 83 and lived a full life in which she had a fulfilling career in education, traveled the world visiting 100-plus countries, and was married to my father for more than 60 years. Its hard to lose a parent, and my workplace (like many) allowed me time off to be with family for the days before and after the funeral. But no matter how generous the policy at your workplace is, youre going to have to come back to work before youre done grieving. Grief happens following any significant event that creates a tear in the fabric of your life story. The death of a loved one is an obvious source of grief, but many kinds of events can trigger the grief process, including a fire at your home, or the loss of a job. Indeed, you may have heard of the five stages of grief. Those were originally described by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, who studied patients who had received a terminal diagnosis. The problem with Kubler-Rosss stages of grief (denial, bargaining, anger, depression, and acceptance) is that theyre purely descriptive. You need not go through these stages when grieving. They also dont form a linear path. You may bounce around among these emotions or actionsor experience only a few of them. You may be fine for long periods of time and then find yourself sobbing uncontrollably at a comment someone makes or a scene in a movie. Its a messy process thats different for every person (and different within a person for each thing you grieve). So, how do you deal with that messiness at work? Cut yourself some slack First things first, dont try to be a superhero. You dont have to have it all together immediately upon returning to work. If youre still feeling fuzzy and foggy a month or two after a significant loss, dont beat yourself up. Dont assume you should be over it already. By allowing yourself to feel what youre feeling, you can avoid the common trap of amplifying the difficulties of grief by feeling guilt over your grieving process. Instead, accept the process. You may not yet be at the point where you can accept your loss, but you can accept that grief itself is complex. In addition, you need to recognize that for some period after a loss, your work products may not be as sharp as they were before. That doesnt mean youll never recover. It just means that it takes time. Grieving can be a lot of mental work, and you need to let the process unfold. Let others know When you experience a loss, your work colleagues may or may not be aware. Even when you have a death in the family, there are likely to be some people around you who have not heard. Its okay to let your colleagues, clients, and other people in your work community know whats going on. There are several ways that letting other people know can benefit you. For one thing, people are often willing to give you some grace when you make mistakes when they know youre going through a difficult time. In addition, people may be willing to take on a little extra work on your behalf as you recover from a loss. It is not a sign of weakness to rely on others during a difficult period. Measure twice, cut once No matter how careful you are when youre working at your peak, you need to be extra careful in the stressful times that accompany grief. Slow down a lot of your work to minimize the number of mistakes you make. Reread emails and reports before sending them off. Take extra time when making important decisions to ensure that you havent missed anything important. Ask other people to look over key documents before sending them off. In addition, there are many decisions you make at work that have an emotional component. You may use the way you feel about an option to elect to go forward with it. The more anxiety youre experiencing, the harder it can be to separate that from the way you feel about a particular option. As a result, you may feel paralyzed when trying to make a difficult work decision. At times like that, bring in a decision partner to help you. That will help you to avoid significant delays in key projects. Dont go it alone Even people who have been psychologically healthy for most of their lives may struggle when grieving a significant loss. If you have never engaged with a mental health professional before, you may feel that theres a stigma associated with needing therapy. Theres no reason to avoid working with someone if you find the emotions and thoughts youre having in grief to be overwhelming. You would not stay away from a doctor if your foot was hurting significantly enough that you couldnt walk. Dont use fear of engaging with a therapist as an excuse to suffer without help. Instead, reach out to your community to get recommendations for a therapist who has experience working with grief. The resilience skills you learn are likely to benefit you beyond the situation youre dealing with now. In addition, there are many great resources out there that can give you suggestions for how to move forward. I was fortunate enough to interview Lisa Keefauver recently, and her book on grieving (while irreverent) is an excellent guide to dealing with loss. In addition, there are many great blogs that people have written with helpful tips that may get you through your worst days. Remember that when you walk down the street and see people walking with friends laughing and talking, that many of those people have suffered significant losses in their lives and have eventually emerged from grief. It may take time, but youll learn to integrate significant losses into your life.
Category:
E-Commerce
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