Abstract
•Perceived intelligence of service chatbots is essential to developing the attitude•Perceived anthropomorphism can improve the continuation intention of service chatbots•Social self-efficacy can hamper the path of technology to continuation intention•The proposed hypotheses does not differ across age and gender groups.
The growing usage of chatbots in the service industry indicates the ongoing transformation occurring in this sector. However, minimal research has (i) investigated the important attributes related to chatbot-based service continuance intention and social self-efficacy. This study proposed an extended meta-UTAUT framework to investigate the gaps by including perceived intelligence and anthropomorphism (system factors) in the model. The model is analysed using structural equation modelling with 420 respondents. The study results indicated that perceived intelligence and anthropomorphism are more related to building attitude and continuing intention of using chatbot-based services than traditional meta-UTAUT constructs. Furthermore, the model results demonstrated that system factors are negatively associated with continuation intention when interactive with social self-efficacy. The study results extend the theoretical knowledge available in meta-UTAUT, technology-based services, and social cognitive theory. In addition to the academic contribution achieved, the study results develop insights into service practices for IT managers.