Factors influencing user attitude and satisfaction towards recruitment chatbots

Abstract

With the evolution of the procedure of hiring, the digitalization of recruitment process by using artificial intelligence technologies, such as chatbots, comes as a natural path. Based on that, this thesis aimed to investigate the effect of chatbots’ ease of use, usefulness, social presence, trust, and enjoyment on users’ attitude towards recruitment chatbots. Moreover, the mediation effect of attitude between these factors, and satisfaction and recruiter credibility were also assessed. A chatbot was developed with the purpose to simulate a recruitment process of a fast-food chain. To evaluate the interaction with the chatbot, a survey-based study with a sample of 155 participants has been conducted. The proposed hypotheses were tested using PLS-SEM. The results revealed that ease of use and enjoyment have a significant effect on users’ attitude toward the chatbot. Furthermore, user attitude plays a mediating role in the relationship between ease of use and enjoyment, on the one hand, and satisfaction and recruiter credibility, on the other. The effect of usefulness, social presence, and trust has shown to be insignificant at the level of recruitment chatbots. Based on the findings, contribution to theory is discussed and managerial implications on how to improve the recruitment process and make it smooth and effective by making recruitment chatbots easy to use and enjoyable are provided.

Date of Award	14 Oct 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Maher Georges Elmashhara (Supervisor) & Susana Silva (Co-Supervisor)