Assessing the Impact of Chatbot-Human Personality Congruence on User Behavior: A Chatbot-Based Advising System Case

Chatbot personality has been demonstrated to influence user behavior, such as trust and intended engagement. However, previous research on chatbot-user personality congruence’s influence on user behavior is scant despite its significance in human-human conversations. This study explores the effect of chatbot-human personality trait congruence on user behavior in the context of a chatbot-based advising system. In this study, 54 college students interacted with chatbots with three different personalities (extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and rated their trust, usage intention, and intended engagement with the chatbots. Additionally, 18 participants were interviewed to gain further insights into their perceptions and evaluations of the chatbots. The findings show that chatbot-human personality congruence influenced behavior, particularly among extroverted participants. No significant differences were observed in the influence of chatbot-human personality congruence on the behavior of conscientious and agreeable participants. Implications and future research directions are presented.