Trust and digital privacy: willingness to disclose personal information to banking chatbot services

This study explored digital privacy concerns in the use of chatbots as a digital banking service. Three dimensions of trust were tested in relation to user self-disclosure in order to better understand the consumer-chatbot experience in banking. The methodology selected for this research study followed a conclusive, pre-experimental, two-group one-shot case study research design which made use of a non-probability snowballing sampling technique. Privacy concerns were found to have a significantly negative relationship with user self-disclosure in both treatment groups. Respondents exposed to their preferred banking brand experienced lower user self-disclosure and brand trust than those exposed to a fictitious banking brand within the South African context. It is recommended that companies using chatbots focus on easing privacy concerns and build foundations of trust. The gains that chatbots have made in the form of increased productivity and quality of customer service rely on relationships with users who need to disclose personal information. Through this study, we concluded that, despite its power to influence decision-making, the power of a brand is not enough for consumers to considerably increase self-disclosure. Rather, a bridge of trust (through education, communication and product development) is needed that encompasses all three elements of trust, which are brand trust, cognitive trust and emotional trust. Limited research exists on the relationship between financial services marketing and chatbot adoption. Thus, this study addressed a theoretical gap, by adding brand trust to existing studies on cognitive and emotional trust regarding user self-disclosure.