The Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Customer Relationship Management: A Qualitative Study
Jeremy Fei Wang*
Abstract
Ever since the commercialization of the Internet in the 90s, technology has been evolving faster than ever with the advent of cloud computing, social media, ubiquitous mobile devices, the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and more. A staggering number of three billion internet users, five billion mobile users, and six billion devices are now connected through this massive global network of networks, facilitating customer information exchange and interaction never before seen in history. Driven by recent technological advances in computing power, big data, high-speed internet connection, and easier access to models built with advanced algorithms, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the next wave of innovation, which has already come into widespread awareness in the consumer world with the emergence of virtual assistants and chatbots (e.g., Amazons Alexa, Apples Siri, Googles Assistant), image recognition (e.g., Facebook Photos, Google ImageNet), personalized recommendations (e.g., Netflix, Amazon) and autonomous driving (e.g., Tesla, Google Waymo). This qualitative research study intends to learn about the impact of AI on customer relationship management (CRM), specifically in the area of customer service of problem resolution. Most prior research focuses on the AI technologies leveraged in CRM systems, such as machine learning, natural language processing, voice recognition, chatbots, data analytics, and cloud infrastructure. Few extant studies have used a qualitative research methodology to gather data from industry experts to truly understand the impact of AI technologies on customer relationship management, especially in the area of customer service and problem resolution. This study aims to fill this research gap. This research contributes to the literature on AI in the context of CRM and is of value to both academics and practitioners as it provides a detailed analysis and documentation of the impact of AI on the customer service domain.
Keywords
Article References:
Astalin, P. K. (2013). Qualitative research designs: A conceptual framework. Inter j. of social science & interdisciplinary research, 2(1), 118-124.
Brinkmann S. (2016). The Interview: The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (1st ed.).
Brinkmann, S., & Kvale, S. (2015). Interviews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Inter-viewing. Sage publications.
Chakravarti, D., and Crabbe, R. (2019). Qualitative Research for Consumer Psychology. In Handbook of research methods in consumer psychology, (pp. 61-92). Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351137713-4
Cohen, D., & Crabtree, B. (2006). Qualitative research guidelines project. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Retrieved July 2019, from - http://www.qualres.org/HomeSemi-3629.html
Gantz, J. F., Vesset, D., & Wardley, M. (2017). A trillion-Dollar boost: The economic impact of AI on customer relationship management. IDC: Analyze the future.
He, J., Liu, H., & Li, X. (2019). Mobile app recommendation: An involvement-enhanced approach. MIS Quarterly, 43(3), 827-849. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2019/15049
Hossain MM, Faruq MO, and Sharmin K. (2022). Measuring the impact of corporate social responsibility on customer satisfaction: insight from Cumilla city areas. Can. J. Bus. Inf. Stud., 4(1), 12-23. https://doi.org/10.34104/cjbis.022.012023
Khalid, O., Khan, S. U., and Zomaya, A. Y. (2019). Big Data Recommender Systems: Vol. 2 Application Paradigms. The Institute of Engineering and Technology.
Kumar Deb, S., Jain, R., and Deb, V. (2018). Artificial intelligence creating automated insights for customer relationship management.
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2014). Designing Qualitative Research. Sage publications.
McCracken, G. (1988). The Long Interview. Sage publications.
Mezgebe A. (2020). Effect of electronic marketing on customer satisfaction: the case of four star hotels in Addis Ababa, Int. J. Manag. Account., 2(4), 74-95. https://doi.org/10.34104/ijma.020.074095
Moreno, A., and Redondo, T. (2016). Text analytics: The convergence of big data and artificial intelligence. Inter. J. of Interactive Multimedia and Artificial Intelligence, 3(Special Issue on Big Data and AI), 57-64. https://doi.org/10.9781/ijimai.2016.369
Rai, A., Constantinides, P., & Sarker, S. (2019). Editors comments: next-generation digital plat-forms: toward human - AI hybrids. MIS Quar-terly, 43(1), iii–x. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3370135.3370136
Rudrapal, D., Das, S., & Debbarma, N. (2012). Voice recognition and authentication as a proficient biometric tool and its application in online exam for PH people. Inter J. of Computer Applications, 39(12), 6-12. https://doi.org/10.5120/4870-7297
Siau, K., & Wang, W. (2018). Building trust in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics. Cutter business technology journal, 31 (2), 47-53.
Siau, K. L., and Yang, Y. (2017). Impact of artificial intelligence, robotics, and machine learning on sales and marketing. Midwest Association for Information Systems Conference (MWAIS 2017), Springfield, Illinois. http://aisel.aisnet.org/mwais2017/48
Singh, J., Flaherty, and K., Onyemah, V. (2019). Sales profession and professionals in the age of digitization & artificial intelligence technologies: concepts, priorities, & questions. J. of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 39(1), 2-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2018.1557525
Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., & DeVault, M. (2015). Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods: A Guidebook and Resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Zhang, S., Sun, A., and Tay, Y. (2018). Deep Learning Based Recommender system: A Survey and New Perspectives. ACM Computing Surveys, 1, 1-35. https://doi.org/10.1145/3285029
Zhang, S., Yao, L., and Tay, Y. (2019). Deep learning based recommender system: A survey and new perspectives. ACM Computing Surveys, 52(1), 1-38, Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1145/3285029
Article Info:
Academic Editor
Dr. Doaa Wafik Nada, Associate Professor, School of Business and Economics, Badr University in Cairo (BUC), Cairo, Egypt.
Ph.D, Associate Professor of Management Information Sytems, Director of the China Program, 74 King Street Saint Augustine, FL 32084, United States.
Cite this article
Wang JF. (2023). The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on customer relationship management: a qualitative study, Int. J. Manag. Account. 5(5), 74-88.https://doi.org/10.34104/ijma.023.0074090