# Chatots in Airport Customer Service--Exploring Use Cases and Technology Acceptance
## 7 Discussion  
Our study investigating potential use cases for chatbot applications in airport customer service and their respective acceptance by traveling customers shows that the majority of respondents are generally familiar with using chatbots, with almost 85% of them claiming to have already used such a conversational technology. Consequently, we may argue that chatbots have become mainstream and are commonly used and accepted in various fields of application. As for the context of airport customer service, travelers perceive the use of chatbots as particularly beneficial in situations where they require real-time feedback and information on flights, when they have questions regarding check-in and luggage, or when they require help regarding transportation from and to the airport or concerning parking. Other relevant use cases include visa and immigration inquiries and the search for specific airport contact numbers. All of these results are in line with earlier suggestions by [PERSON] et al. (2013); [PERSON] and [PERSON] (2016), and [PERSON] et al. (2017).  
In order to more deeply investigate travelers' acceptance of chatbots for these kinds of application scenarios, we tested a conceptual model constructed based on previous work in technology acceptance. First, we evaluated whether people's _Age_ and _Gender_ have an effect on their _Behavioral Intention_ to use a chatbot. Surprisingly, in contrast to previous work by [PERSON] (2016) and [PERSON] et al. (2016), our data do not point to such a connection. One reason for this lack of influence may be found in people's familiarity with the use of chatbots, with only about 15% of our participants stating that they had never used a chatbot before. Another hypothesis that we had to reject from our assumptions concerns the potential moderating effect that people's _Affinity for Technology_ would have on their _Behavioral Intention_ to use a chatbot. Again, our data contradict previous suggestions (e.g., ([PERSON] et al., 2016) in that they do not support such a connection.  
On the other hand, our study confirms previous work by [PERSON] et al. (2016) and [PERSON] et al. (2017) in that it underlines the significant influence of _Perceived Usefulness_ (PU), _Trust_, _Perceived Ease of Use_ (PEU), and _Perceived Enjoyment_ (PE) on the _Behavioral Intention_ (BI) to use a chatbot. To this end, it is shown that PU is by far the most important determinant of BI, explaining approx. 40% of its variance. A possible explanation for this is the strong task orientation that chatbots offer, which aligns with travelers' concrete information needs.  
Overall, these research results have implications for airports that consider implementing a chatbot to support their customer service. First, it may be assumed that travelers are already familiar with the concept and use of a chatbot. Second, from our empirical analysis, it may be concluded that _Perceived Usefulness_ is by far the most important factor  
Figure 6: _Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Enjoyment_, and _Trust_ explain almost 77% of the variance in German-speaking respondents’ _Behavioral Intention_ to use chatbots for airport customer service scenarios.  
that decides over whether such a chatbot will be adopted by travelers. To this end, it has also been shown that, in particular, use cases involving important flight and check-in information are perceived to be helpful and may thus be considered a door opener for the successful implementation of chatbot technology at airports. Yet, next to usefulness, it is also technology trust that needs to be addressed by developers. Here, our research shows that travelers need to feel that the information provided by such a chatbot is reliable and trustworthy. Lastly, chatbots should not only serve a utilitarian function but also be easy and fun so as to not provoke frustration but rather provide a joyous addition to the overall travel experience.