IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joreco/v84y2025ics0969698925000293.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Consumers' questions as nudges: Comparing the effect of linguistic cues on LLM chatbot and human responses

Author

Listed:
  • Wu, Qian
  • Zheng, Han

Abstract

Large Language Models (LLMs) enable natural language interactions, offering much potential for personalized consumer engagement in e-commerce. While prior studies have explored how chatbot expressions influence consumers, they often overlook the role of consumers as communicators who shape interactions through strategic language use. Additionally, evidence suggests that question cues can nudge humans to respond differently, but whether LLM chatbots adapt similarly to these cues remains underexplored. Informed by nudging theory, this study proposes that consumers can strategically use question cues to nudge LLM chatbots in response generation. Through a semantic analysis of 5676 responses to 1419 consumers' questions, we investigate the effects of cognitive and socio-emotional question cues on the informational and socio-emotional responses from humans and three LLM chatbots: ChatGPT, Claude and GLM. Findings suggest that, despite differing processing mechanisms, the nudging effect of question cues on LLM chatbots is similar as that on SNS users. Unlike humans, LLM chatbots exhibit a more pronounced tendency to focus exclusively on either informational or socio-emotional responses, rarely combining both aspects as seamlessly as humans do. This research underscores the importance of question formation in shaping consumer-chatbot interactions, suggesting that chatbots outperform humans in providing consistent informational responses regardless of question specificity and emotionality, while SNS users handle complex emotional queries more adeptly, showing their complementary roles in e-commerce.

Suggested Citation

  • Wu, Qian & Zheng, Han, 2025. "Consumers' questions as nudges: Comparing the effect of linguistic cues on LLM chatbot and human responses," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:84:y:2025:i:c:s0969698925000293
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104250
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698925000293
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104250?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ian Ruthven & Steven Buchanan & Cara Jardine, 2018. "Relationships, environment, health and development: The information needs expressed online by young first‐time mothers," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 69(8), pages 985-995, August.
    2. Huang, Dongling & Markovitch, Dmitri G. & Stough, Rusty A., 2024. "Can chatbot customer service match human service agents on customer satisfaction? An investigation in the role of trust," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Fan Yu & Marco A. Janssen, 2020. "How Behavior Of Users Impacts The Success Of Online Q&A Communities," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(06), pages 1-23, September.
    4. Yan Zhang, 2013. "Toward a layered model of context for health information searching: An analysis of consumer‐generated questions," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 64(6), pages 1158-1172, June.
    5. Han Zheng & Dion Hoe‐Lian Goh & Edmund Wei Jian Lee & Chei Sian Lee & Yin‐Leng Theng, 2022. "Understanding the effects of message cues on COVID‐19 information sharing on Twitter," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(6), pages 847-862, June.
    6. Xing, Xinyu & Song, Mengmeng & Duan, Yucong & Mou, Jian, 2022. "Effects of different service failure types and recovery strategies on the consumer response mechanism of chatbots," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    7. Li, Chia-Ying & Zhang, Jin-Ting, 2023. "Chatbots or me? Consumers’ switching between human agents and conversational agents," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. Alton Y. K. Chua & Snehasish Banerjee, 2013. "So fast so good: An analysis of answer quality and answer speed in community Question‐answering sites," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 64(10), pages 2058-2068, October.
    9. Xie, Yuguang & Liang, Changyong & Zhou, Peiyu & Jiang, Li, 2024. "Exploring the influence mechanism of chatbot-expressed humor on service satisfaction in online customer service," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    10. Xuequn Wang & Xiaolin Lin & Bin Shao, 2023. "Artificial intelligence changes the way we work: A close look at innovating with chatbots," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 74(3), pages 339-353, March.
    11. Alton Y. K. Chua & Snehasish Banerjee, 2013. "So fast so good: An analysis of answer quality and answer speed in community Question-answering sites," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 64(10), pages 2058-2068, October.
    12. Minhyung Kang, 2022. "Motivational affordances and survival of new askers on social Q&A sites: The case of Stack Exchange network," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(1), pages 90-103, January.
    13. Markovitch, Dmitri G. & Stough, Rusty A. & Huang, Dongling, 2024. "Consumer reactions to chatbot versus human service: An investigation in the role of outcome valence and perceived empathy," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    14. Zhou, Cheng & Chang, Qian, 2024. "Informational or emotional? Exploring the relative effects of chatbots’ self-recovery strategies on consumer satisfaction," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Anika Ostermaier‐Grabow & Stephanie B. Linek, 2019. "Communication and Self‐Presentation Behavior on Academic Social Networking Sites: An Exploratory Case Study on Profiles and Discussion Threads on ResearchGate," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 70(10), pages 1153-1164, October.
    16. Li, Meichan & Wang, Rui, 2023. "Chatbots in e-commerce: The effect of chatbot language style on customers’ continuance usage intention and attitude toward brand," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    17. Yan Zhang, 2013. "Toward a layered model of context for health information searching: An analysis of consumer-generated questions," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 64(6), pages 1158-1172, June.
    18. Mele, Cristina & Russo Spena, Tiziana & Kaartemo, Valtteri & Marzullo, Maria Luisa, 2021. "Smart nudging: How cognitive technologies enable choice architectures for value co-creation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 949-960.
    19. Arikan, Esra & Altinigne, Nesenur & Kuzgun, Ebru & Okan, Mehmet, 2023. "May robots be held responsible for service failure and recovery? The role of robot service provider agents’ human-likeness," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    20. Song, Mengmeng & Zhang, Huixian & Xing, Xinyu & Duan, Yucong, 2023. "Appreciation vs. apology: Research on the influence mechanism of chatbot service recovery based on politeness theory," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    21. Pei-Fang Hsu & Tuan (Kellan) Nguyen & Chen-Ya Wang & Pei-Ju Huang, 2023. "Chatbot commerce—How contextual factors affect Chatbot effectiveness," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-22, December.
    22. Zhang, Yan & Zhang, Mingli & Luo, Nuan & Wang, Yu & Niu, Tao, 2019. "Understanding the formation mechanism of high-quality knowledge in social question and answer communities: A knowledge co-creation perspective," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 72-84.
    23. Qian Wu & Chei Sian Lee & Dion Hoe‐Lian Goh, 2023. "Understanding user‐generated questions in social Q&A: A goal‐framing approach," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 74(8), pages 990-1009, August.
    24. Zhe Liu & Bernard J. Jansen, 2017. "ASK: A taxonomy of accuracy, social, and knowledge information seeking posts in social question and answering," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 68(2), pages 333-347, February.
    25. Xiaomo Liu & G. Alan Wang & Weiguo Fan & Zhongju Zhang, 2020. "Finding Useful Solutions in Online Knowledge Communities: A Theory-Driven Design and Multilevel Analysis," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(3), pages 731-752, September.
    26. Ruan, Yanya & Mezei, József, 2022. "When do AI chatbots lead to higher customer satisfaction than human frontline employees in online shopping assistance? Considering product attribute type," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chih, Wen-Hai & Wang, Kai-Yu & Banda, Hope Wilfred, 2025. "Chatbots at the frontline: Unveiling antecedents of customers’ willingness to accept chatbot intervention in service recovery," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. Rese, Alexandra & Witthohn, Lennart, 2025. "Recovering customer satisfaction after a chatbot service failure – The effect of gender," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Zhang, Liangbo & Wang, Xueying & Majeed, Salman & Zhou, Zhimin, 2025. "How do sales promotions, communication agents, and psychological contracts determine purchase hesitation? Evidence from live stream influencers’ fan groups," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    4. Aslan, Marjan & Keating, Byron W., 2025. "Providing social support in technology-based service encounters: Activating intrinsic motivations to create better outcomes," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Chakraborty, Debarun & Polisetty, Aruna & G, Sowmya & Rana, Nripendra P. & Khorana, Sangeeta, 2024. "Unlocking the potential of AI: Enhancing consumer engagement in the beauty and cosmetic product purchases," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    6. Shahzad, Muhammad Farrukh & Xu, Shuo & An, Xin & Javed, Iqra, 2024. "Assessing the impact of AI-chatbot service quality on user e-brand loyalty through chatbot user trust, experience and electronic word of mouth," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    7. Habib, Muhammad Danish & Attri, Rekha & Salam, Mohammad Asif & Yaqub, Muhammad Zafar, 2025. "Retail consumers' conundrum: An in-depth qualitative study navigating the motivations and aversion of chatbots," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    8. Siran Wang & Qiang Yan & Lingli Wang, 2025. "Task-oriented vs. social-oriented: chatbot communication styles in electronic commerce service recovery," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 1793-1825, June.
    9. Zhou, Cheng & Chang, Qian, 2024. "Informational or emotional? Exploring the relative effects of chatbots’ self-recovery strategies on consumer satisfaction," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Markovitch, Dmitri G. & Stough, Rusty A. & Huang, Dongling, 2024. "Consumer reactions to chatbot versus human service: An investigation in the role of outcome valence and perceived empathy," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Lu, Yangyang & Zhang, Jing, 2025. "Balancing identity diversity and product contexts: Understanding consumer trust in AI-enhanced chatbot services," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    12. Lee, Kuo-Wei & Li, Chia-Ying, 2023. "It is not merely a chat: Transforming chatbot affordances into dual identification and loyalty," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    13. Park, Junsung & Yoo, Joon Woo & Cho, Youngju & Park, Heejun, 2023. "Examining the impact of service robot communication styles on customer intimacy following service failure," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    14. Martin Haupt & Anna Rozumowski & Jan Freidank & Alexander Haas, 2023. "Seeking empathy or suggesting a solution? Effects of chatbot messages on service failure recovery," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-22, December.
    15. Song, Mengmeng & Zhang, Huixian & Xing, Xinyu & Duan, Yucong, 2023. "Appreciation vs. apology: Research on the influence mechanism of chatbot service recovery based on politeness theory," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    16. Pham, Hong Chuong & Duong, Cong Doanh & Nguyen, Giang Khanh Huyen, 2024. "What drives tourists’ continuance intention to use ChatGPT for travel services? A stimulus-organism-response perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    17. repec:plo:pone00:0194139 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Cheng, Zhendong & Fan, Wenfang & Shao, Bingjia & Jia, Wenli & Zhang, Yong, 2024. "The impact of intelligent customer service agents’ initial response on consumers’ continuous interaction intention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    19. Hu, Qian & Pan, Zhao, 2023. "Can AI benefit individual resilience? The mediation roles of AI routinization and infusion," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    20. Juquelier, Antoine & Poncin, Ingrid & Hazée, Simon, 2025. "Empathic chatbots: A double-edged sword in customer experiences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    21. Choi, Sunhwa & Yi, Youjae & Zhao, Xiaohong, 2024. "The human touch vs. AI efficiency: How perceived status, effort, and loyalty shape consumer satisfaction with preferential treatment," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:84:y:2025:i:c:s0969698925000293. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.