AI-powered chatbots are transforming customer service by enhancing efficiency and reducing costs. Despite these advantages, chatbots still struggle with handling complex inquiries effectively. This study explores how revealing a chatbot's AI nature and adjusting its social presence using generative AI can address these challenges by affecting user trust and satisfaction. We also examine how IT identity influences this relationship as a moderating factor. To test our hypotheses, we conducted an online experiment with 327 participants. Our findings demonstrate that openly disclosing a chatbot's AI nature significantly enhances user trust. Surprisingly, attempts to imbue the chatbot with a social presence did not influence user trust. Our findings indicate a positive relationship between trust and customer satisfaction. However, this relationship depends on the role of IT identity as a moderator. Specifically, individuals with strong IT Identity backgrounds exhibit a weaker connection between trust and satisfaction. These results underscore the importance of transparency in chatbot design and suggest that developers should carefully consider the role of IT Identity when optimizing user experiences. Future research should examine how cultural factors, device types, and the long-term impact of IT identity shape user trust and satisfaction in chatbot interactions.

Agarwal, R., & Karahanna, E. (2000). Time flies when you're having fun: Cognitive absorption and beliefs about information technology usage. MIS Quarterly, 24(4), 665-694.

Aguinis, H., Beaty, J. C., Boik, R. J., & Pierce, C. A. (2005). Effect size and power in assessing moderating effects of categorical variables using multiple regression: A 30-year review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(1), 94-107.

Albertson, L. A. (1980). The Social-psychology of telecommunications. Communication Research, 7(3), 387-400.

Bowman, S. R. (2023). Eight things to know about large language models. Arxiv Preprint Arxiv:23(4).00612.

Carter, M., & Grover, V. (2015). Me, My Self, and I(T): Conceptualizing information technology identity and Its implications. MIS Quarterly, 39(4), 931-957.

Carter, M., Petter, S., Grover, V., & Thatcher, J. B. (2020). IT Identity: A measure and empirical investigation of its utility to IS research. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 21(5), 1313-1342.

Cascella, M., Montomoli, J., Bellini, V., & Bignami, E. (2023). Evaluating the feasibility of ChatGPT in healthcare: An analysis of multiple clinical and research scenarios. Journal of Medical Systems, 47(1), 33.

Castelo, N., Boegershausen, J., Hildebrand, C., & Henkel, A. P. (2023). Understanding and improving consumer reactions to service bots. Journal of Consumer Research, 50(4), 848-863.

Cheng, X. S., Bao, Y., Zarifis, A., Gong, W. K., & Mou, J. (2022). Exploring consumers' response to text-based chatbots in e-commerce: The moderating role of task complexity and chatbot disclosure. Internet Research, 32(2), 496-517.

De Cicco, R., Silva, S. C. E., & Alparone, F. R. (2020). Millennials' attitude toward chatbots: an experimental study in a social relationship perspective. International Journal of Retail &
Distribution Management, 48(11), 1213-1233.

Fügener, A., Grahl, J., Gupta, A., & Ketter, W. (2022). Cognitive challenges in Human-artificial intelligence collaboration: Investigating the path toward productive delegation. Information Systems Research, 33(2), 678-696.

O., Kellner, R., & Maedche, A. (2023). More than a bot? The impact of disclosing human involvement on customer interactions with hybrid service agents. Information Systems Research, 1(0), 1-20.

Gong, X., Chen, C., & Lee, M. K. (2020). What drives problematic online gaming? The role of IT identity, maladaptive cognitions, and maladaptive emotions. Computers in Human Behavior, 110(0), 106386.

Grewal, D., Noble, S. M., Roggeveen, A. L., & Nordfalt, J. (2020). The future of in-store technology. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48(1), 96-113.

Hassandoust, F., Techatassanasoontorn, A. A., & Tan, F. B. (2024). Importance of IT and role identities in information systems infusion. Information Systems Frontiers, 26(1), 333-367.

Hauser, D. J., Moss, A. J., Rosenzweig, C., Jaffe, S. N., Robinson, J., & Litman, L. (2023). Evaluating CloudResearch's approved group as a solution for problematic data quality on MTurk. Behavior Research Methods, 55(8), 3953-3964.

Huang, D., Markovitch, D. G., & Stough, R. 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, 76(0), 103600.

Jovanovic, M., Baez, M., & Casati, F. (2021). Chatbots as conversational healthcare services. Ieee Internet Computing, 25(3), 44-51.

Komiak, S. X., & Benbasat, I. (2004). Understanding customer trust in agent-mediated electronic commerce, web-mediated electronic commerce, and traditional commerce. Information Technology and Management, 5(0), 181-207.

Komiak, S. Y. X., & Benbasat, I. (2006). The effects of personalization and familiarity on trust and adoption of recommendation agents. Mis Quarterly, 30(4), 941-960.

Konya-Baumbach, E., Biller, M., & von Janda, S. (2023). Someone out there? A study on the social presence of anthropomorphized chatbots. Computers in Human Behavior, 139(0), 107513.

Kumar, N., & Benbasat, I. (2006). The influence of recommendations and consumer reviews on evaluations of websites. Information Systems Research, 17(4), 425-439.

Kung, T. H., Cheatham, M., Medenilla, A., Sillos, C., De Leon, L., Elepaño, C., . . . Maningo, J. (2023). Performance of ChatGPT on USMLE: Potential for AI-assisted medical education using large language models. PLoS Digital Health, 2(2), e0000198.

Lee, D. (2023). AI-based healthcare chatbot. Int. Res. J. Eng. Technol, 10(0), 563-568.

Lee, P., Bubeck, S., & Petro, J. (2023). Benefits, limits, and risks of GPT-4 as an AI chatbot for medicine. New England Journal of Medicine, 388(13), 1233-1239.

Levkovich, I., & Elyoseph, Z. (2023). Identifying depression and its determinants upon initiating treatment: ChatGPT versus primary care physicians. Family Medicine and Community Health, 11(4), 0.

Luo, X. M., Tong, S. L., Fang, Z., & Qu, Z. (2019). Frontiers: Machines vs. Humans: The impact of artificial intelligence chatbot disclosure on customer purchases. Marketing Science, 38(6), 937-947.

Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709-734.

McLean, G., Osei-Frimpong, K., & Barhorst, J. (2021). Alexa, do voice assistants influence consumer brand engagement?–Examining the role of AI powered voice assistants in influencing consumer brand engagement. Journal of Business Research, 124(0), 312-328.

Mozafari, N., Weiger, W. H., & Hammerschmidt, M. (2022). Trust me, I'm a bot - repercussions of chatbot disclosure in different service frontline settings. Journal of Service Management, 33(2), 221-245.

Nadarzynski, T., Miles, O., Cowie, A., & Ridge, D. (2019). Acceptability of artificial intelligence (AI)-led chatbot services in healthcare: A mixed-methods study. Digital Health, 5(0), 205-520.

Ooi, K. B., Tan, G. W. H., Al-Emran, M., Al-Sharafi, M. A., Capatina, A., Chakraborty, A., . . . Wong, L. W. (2023). The potential of generative artificial intelligence across disciplines: Perspectives and future directions. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 1(0), 1-32.

Rao, A., Pang, M., Kim, J., Kamineni, M., Lie, W., Prasad, A. K., . . . Succi, M. D. (2023). Assessing the Utility of ChatGPT Throughout the Entire Clinical Workflow: Development and Usability Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25(0), 48659.

Schuetzler, R. M., Grimes, G. M., Giboney, J. S., & Rosser, H. K. (2021). Deciding whether and how to deploy chatbots. Mis Quarterly Executive, 20(1), 1-15.

Shinde, N. V., Akhade, A., Bagad, P., Bhavsar, H., Wagh, S., & Kamble, A. (2021). Healthcare Chatbot System Using Artificial Intelligence. Paper presented at the 2021 5th International Conference on Trends in Electronics and Informatics (ICOEI).

Short, J., Williams, E., & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecommunications. Sociology of Knowledge and Sociology of Culture, 521(0),195.

Skjuve, M., Folstad, A., Fostervold, K. I., & Brandtzaeg, P. B. (2021). My chatbot companion - a study of human-chatbot relationships. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 149(0), 102601.

Torous, J., Bucci, S., Bell, I. H., Kessing, L. V., Faurholt-Jepsen, M., Whelan, P., . . . Firth, J. (2021). The growing field of digital psychiatry: Current evidence and the future of apps, social media, chatbots, and virtual reality. World Psychiatry, 20(3), 318-335.

Tsai, W.-H. S., Liu, Y., & Chuan, C.-H. (2021). How chatbots' social presence communication enhances consumer engagement: the mediating role of parasocial interaction and dialogue. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 15(3), 460-482.

Van Ittersum, K., Wansink, B., Pennings, J. M. E., & Sheehan, D. (2013). Smart shopping carts: How real-time feedback influences spending. Journal of Marketing, 77(6), 21-36.

Wang, X. Q., Lin, X. L., & Shao, B. (2023). Artificial intelligence changes the way we work: A close look at innovating with chatbots. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 74(3), 339-353.

Wu, C. H., Zhou, Y. S., Wang, R., Huang, S. J., & Yuan, Q. J. (2022). Understanding the mechanism between IT identity, IT mindfulness and mobile health technology continuance intention: An extended expectation confirmation model. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 176(0), 121449.

Yi, H. T., Yeo, C., Amenuvor, F. E., & Boateng, H. (2021). Examining the relationship between customer bonding, customer participation, and customer satisfaction. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 62(0), 102598.