Investigating managers' understanding of chatbots in the Korean financial industry

Abstract

There is growing interest in chatbots as a leading technology for digital transformation in the financial industry. However, studies have largely investigated chatbots from the perspective of customers and developers, and very few examine chatbot services from the perspective of managers, who play a central role in the organizational adoption of chatbots. This paper aims to explore managers? perception of chatbots to help understand the initiation of financial chatbots and forecast the future of their service in South Korea, which has seen active use of chatbots by financial firms. We conducted semi-structured interviews with managers in charge of chatbot services in Korean financial firms and employed a core?periphery analysis of social representations. Our findings will enhance the understanding of the status of chatbot services in the Korean financial industry and provide theoretical implications and managerial insights.