When people feel anxious, it’s human nature to turn to others for help. For example, an apprehensive taxpayer might want guidance from an IRS agent in interpreting a new tax law. A distressed patient might want to speak with a nurse when making sense of his blood test results.
Why Anxious Customers Prefer Human Customer Service
When people feel anxious, it’s human nature to turn to others for help. Yet many companies in high-anxiety settings – like financial services and healthcare – are funneling nervous customers to self-service technologies (“SSTs”) – kiosks, websites, and smartphone apps – isolating them at the precise moment when they’re most keen for connection. It is clear that these technologies are less expensive to offer than human support. But what’s less clear is the toll these self-service interactions may take on customers.
Research finds that anxious customers interacting through self-service technology feel dissatisfied with their decisions even when those decisions appear aligned with their goals. This dissatisfaction reduces their trust in the service provider. Fortunately, the results also reveal how a simple, and surprisingly low-cost, change – offering access to a readily-available human – can reverse the negative effects of customer anxiety.