Heliyon 9 (2023) e18770

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Heliyon
journal homepage: www.cell.com/heliyon

ChatGPT’s influence on customer experience in digital marketing:

Investigating the moderating roles
Osama Ahmed Abdelkader
Marketing Department, College of Business Administration, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence model intended for conversational purposes that has grown in
ChatGPT popularity in digital marketing, offering organizations a vital tool for engaging with clients and
Chatbots enhancing their marketing efforts. The main objective of this research is to investigate the impact
Digital marketing
of ChatGPT on the customer experience in digital marketing. Additionally, the study intends to
Marketing
Consumer behavior
investigate the moderating impacts of business type and technology familiarity and comfort on
the customer experience. Furthermore, the research explores the moderating roles of gender, age,
and education level. The data for this study were collected electronically from 394 clients who
have interacted with ChatGPT in digital marketing using an open-access questionnaire. The re­
sults support the significance of the moderating role of (Familiarity and Comfort with Technol­
ogy, Business Type, Age, and Education level on the relation between customer experience with
ChatGPT and overall satisfaction with digital marketing, while Gender is not supported. This
article’s findings are intended to contribute to the current literature on the use of conversational
AI models in digital marketing and customer experience, providing insights and recommendations
for future research.

1. Introduction

As the usage of internet platforms and technology expands, digital marketing has become an increasingly significant component of
modern corporate transactions [1]. Chatbots have evolved as a prominent tool in digital marketing for improving customer experience
since they provide a simple and personalized approach for businesses to communicate with their consumers [2]. The chatbot is
computer software that replicates human-to-human interaction through text-based communications [3] and it may be programmed to
do a variety of tasks, including answering consumer questions, making suggestions, and assisting with transactions [4]. While
customer experience refers to the total image and perception based on the interactions across their full journey of usage [5,6].
Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer ChatGPT is a family of language models developed by OpenAI that can respond to text
prompts in a human-like manner [7,8]. These models are developed using huge datasets [9]. According to WOS database, there are
around 26 thousand manuscripts including in their titles the term of “Artificial Intelligence” have been published between 1970 until
now, but only 13 of them included the word “ChatGPT” in their titles, all of them were published in the last three years [10]. Therefore,
the apparent lack of studies published on the topic of chat poses some challenges that researchers must now face to research this
important topic.
ChatGPT has been used in a variety of natural language processing applications, including translation, software programming,

E-mail address: [email protected].

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18770
Received 30 April 2023; Received in revised form 26 July 2023; Accepted 27 July 2023
Available online 2 August 2023
2405-8440/© 2023 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
O.A. Abdelkader Heliyon 9 (2023) e18770

medicine, and authoring and content creation [1,11–13]. The most current version of ChatGPT, “ChatGPT-3,” released in 2020, is one
of the biggest language models ever produced, with 175 billion parameters [8]. In digital marketing, there is a growing corpus of
studies that have investigated the influence of chatbots on customer experience [14]. However, much of these studies have concen­
trated on technical aspects of chatbots, such as accuracy and functionality, and have not fully considered the impact of other factors on
customer experience, such as familiarity and comfort with technology, perceived personalization, relevance, accuracy, and conve­
nience [15–17].

1.1. The research gab

The literature on the use of conversational AI models in marketing and customer experience is limited. Previous studies have
focused on the impact of these models on customer satisfaction, but they have not explored the moderating roles of factors such as
business type, technology familiarity and comfort, gender, age, and education level. This study fills this gap by investigating the
moderating role of these factors in the relationship between customer experience with ChatGPT and overall satisfaction with digital
marketing. Previous studies have also investigated the impact of conversational AI models on other aspects of the customer experience,
such as perceived helpfulness, perceived engagement, and perceived anthropomorphism. These studies have found that conversational
AI models can have a positive impact on these aspects of the customer experience. However, more research is needed to understand the
specific factors that influence the impact of conversational AI models on customer experience.
A survey questionnaire will be used to obtain data from a sample of consumers who have engaged with chatbots in digital mar­
keting as part of the study’s quantitative research approach. To test the proposed hypotheses and investigate the moderating effects of
Familiarity and comfort with technology and the kind of company, the data will be examined using moderated regression analysis and
ANOVA. The study’s findings will help researchers get a better understanding of the aspects that drive customer experience in digital
marketing, as well as insights into how organizations may employ chatbots to improve customer satisfaction. The research will also
have an impact on the design and deployment of chatbots in digital marketing since it will give advice on how to customize chatbots for
different types of organizations.

1.2. Research questions

The current study seeks to answer the following research questions which are summarized by Fig. 1 as follows:
RQ1. How does ChatGPT affect the customer experience in digital marketing?
RQ2. In digital marketing, how does familiarity and comfort with technology affect the link between perceived personalization,
perceived relevance, perceived accuracy, and perceived convenience, as well as overall satisfaction with ChatGPT among customers?
RQ3. How does business type influence the link between perceived personalization, perceived relevance, perceived correctness,
perceived convenience, and overall customer satisfaction?
RQ4. Is demographic information (gender, age, and education level) influencing total consumer satisfaction?

1.3. Research objectives

This study has the following five objectives:

RO1: To examine the relationship between perceived service quality (perceived personalization, perceived relevance, perceived
accuracy, and perceived convenience) and overall satisfaction among customers.
RO2: To investigate the role of familiarity and comfort with technology in moderating the relationship between perceived service
quality and overall satisfaction.
RO3: To explore how the type of business moderates the relationship between perceived service quality and overall satisfaction.
RO4: To determine whether familiarity and comfort with technology mediate the relationship between the type of business and
overall satisfaction.

Fig. 1. The structure of the research questions.

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RO5: To provide insights and recommendations for businesses on how to improve overall satisfaction among customers by
enhancing perceived service quality and leveraging technology effectively.
RO6: To investigate the variations in overall satisfaction based on gender, age, and educational level.

2. Literature review

This section reviews previous studies related to the subject of the current study and explains how its hypotheses were built. What
has been achieved through previous studies is divided into four sub-sections to be focused on a coherent manner that serves the
objectives of the study. These sub-sections include measuring customer experience and satisfaction, comfort and familiarity with
technology, business type impact, demographic impact, and research hypotheses.
Chatbots have grown in popularity as a tool for improving the customer experience in digital marketing. They offer businesses a
quick and personalized way to communicate with clients and can automate customer service tasks, freeing up human agents to focus on
more complex issues [18]. Additionally, chatbots can collect user data, which can be used to improve marketing campaigns and
personalize the customer experience [19]. ChatGPT is a large language model that can be used to train chatbots to be more engaging
and informative. It is trained on a massive dataset of text and code, which allows it to understand and generate human-like text.
Since ChatGPT was released in November 2020 and its latest version, ChatGPT-3, was released in November 2022, it is logical that
the field of research on this topic still has many research gaps that require pioneering efforts from researchers to fill them [20]. This
section of the study includes a review of previous studies about this subject and the identification of some research gaps that the current
study can address through the following sub-sections.

2.1. Measuring customer experience and satisfaction

This subsection focuses on the literature review about three main axes; defining of overall customer satisfaction and customer
experience, how customer experience benefited from ChatGPT, and how can overall customer satisfaction and customer experience be
measured in current study about ChatGPT in digital marketing?
Overall customer satisfaction means a measure of how well a company’s products, services, and overall customer experience meet
customer expectations [21,22], while customers’ experience is defined as the total image and perception of a brand based on the
interactions across their full journey of usage [5,6]. It is essential for increasing client loyalty and repeat dealing [14].
According to literature, chatbots may deliver a variety of benefits in terms of improving the customer experience in digital mar­
keting [23]. Chatbots can boost customer engagement by offering rapid support and reducing response times by eliminating the need
for consumers to wait for a human agent to respond [6]. It can assist clients in identifying the items or services that best fit their
requirements by making tailored suggestions, enhancing customer satisfaction [15,21]. ChatGPT can be used to improve chatbots in
several ways. For example, it can be used to generate more natural and engaging conversation, to provide more accurate and infor­
mative answers to questions, and to create more personalized marketing messages. As chatbots become more sophisticated, ChatGPT is
likely to play an increasingly important role in improving the customer experience in digital marketing.
Literature review shows that customer experience includes four main elements should be measured; Perceived Personalization
(PP), Perceived Relevance (PR), Perceived Accuracy (PA), Perceived Convenience (PC) [18,22,23]. Furthermore, measuring Overall
Satisfaction (OS) is essential for statistical analysis purposes as well as for customer experience components [15]. Customer satisfaction
can be measured by three main components; declaration of satisfaction [3], recommendation to others [22], and intend of using again
in future [19].

2.2. Comfort and familiarity with technology

This subsection reviews the literature to investigate the impact of customers’ comfort and familiarity with technology on overall
satisfaction about ChatGPT in digital marketing.
Customers want chatbots to give tailored and relevant replies that are accurate and useful, as well as an easy-to-use and convenient
chatbot interface, but not all AI chatbots are equally easy to use, that could be explained through Table 1 which shows a comparing
among the top 5 selected AI Chatbots according to the major 5 criteria for measuring the ease of use.

Table 1
Comparing among the top 5 AI chatbots according to the major 5 criteria for measuring the ease-of-use.
Ease-of-use criteria Chatbot name: ChatGPT Bard ChatSonic Genie Bing Total average

Developer name: OpenAI Google AI Chatsonic.ai AI21 Labs Microsoft

1. Clarity of instructions 3/5 4/5 4/5 3/5 4/5 3.6/5

2. Ease of navigation 3/5 4/5 4/5 2/5 4/5 3.8/5
3. Responsiveness 4/5 4/5 4/5 3/5 4/5 3.9/5
4. Error messages 3/5 4/5 4/5 2/5 4/5 3.8/5
5. Learning curve 4/5 4/5 4/5 3/5 4/5 3.9/5
Total average 3.6/5 4.4/5 4.3/5 3.7/5 3.9/5 3.85/5

Source: [7,20], and [9].

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Customers’ comfort and familiarity with technology may impact how they engage with chatbots and their overall pleasure with the
encounter, for example, they are more inclined to utilize and find chatbots useful [18]. On the other side, there are a few studies that
found that customers’ comfort and familiarity with technology has a significant impact on their satisfaction with chatbots and sug­
gested that their satisfaction with chatbots was only significant for customers who were already familiar with chatbots ([24,25]). The
question here, which the current study aims to answer, is to what extent does ease affect the relationship between customer experience
and overall satisfaction?

2.3. Business type impact

This subsection includes an exploration of previous studies on the influence of business type on the relationship between customer
experience and overall customer satisfaction about ChatGPT in digital marketing. In other words, the answer to the question: is there a
moderating role for business types in the impact of the customer experience on overall customer satisfaction?
Thousands of businesses across the world utilize ChatGPT to engage with their consumers through the Internet in a variety of
industries [1,20,26]. Most globally recognized companies have created websites based on ChatGPT in a variety of industries, including
retail and e-commerce (e.g., Amazon, Walmart, Alibaba, eBay, ASOS, IKEA, and Target) [20], technology and communication (e.g.,
Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, IBM, Intel, Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, SAP, Ericsson, and Nokia,
Huawei) [4], transportation and travel (e.g., Uber, Booking.com (e.g., Pfizer, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, and Glaxo) [12,13,16].
AI chatbots are not the same in their purpose and optimal performance and usage, Table 2 shows how the optimal performance of
each chatbot corresponds to different types of business.
The business type may also have an impact on the customer experience about chatbot usage. Various business types may have
distinct qualities and client demands that impact how chatbots are viewed and used [9,27]. A chatbot utilized in a retail firm, for
example, may be seen differently than a chatbot used in a healthcare business [6]. The type of company may also have an impact on
chatbot design and deployment, such as the language used, and the types of interactions enabled [13]. The current study intends to
evaluate the moderating influence of business types on the relationship between customer experiences and overall satisfaction con­
cerning ChatGPT in digital marketing, which is a gap in the literature.

2.4. Demographic impact

The aim of this subsection is to investigate the findings of related previous studies about the moderating roles of three demographic
characteristics (gender, age, and education level) between the customer experience towards ChatGPT and overall satisfaction in digital
marketing.
Gender: The study by Li et al., (2020) found that chatbots are more likely to be perceived as male than female, even when no
information about their gender is provided. It is possible that this bias could lead to males being more likely to use chatbots than
females. For example, chatbots that are used for customer service may be more likely to be used by females, while chatbots that are
used for gaming may be more likely to be used by males. However, more research is needed to confirm this. Another study by Aljasser
and Sasidhar (2016) suggested that women were more satisfied with their banking experience than men, and that this satisfaction was
positively correlated with loyalty. The authors suggest that this may be because women are more likely to value personalized service
and to feel comfortable interacting with female customer service representatives [28].
Age: The studies by Siswi and Wahyono (2020) and Li et al., (2020) found that younger people were more likely to be satisfied with
the chatbot’s ability to provide accurate and helpful information [29]. Another study by Wirtz et al. (2022) suggested that people aged
18–34 were more likely to rate their customer experience with Chatbot higher [30]. Furthermore, the study by Yoo and Kim (2020)
indicated that older users, on the other hand, may be more skeptical of chatbots and may not use them as often. This may be because
younger people are more familiar with technology and are more likely to expect a chatbot to be able to understand and respond to their
needs quickly and efficiently.
Education level: The study by Wirtz et al. (2022) found that people with a bachelor’s degree or higher were more likely to rate their
customer experience with Chatbot higher [30]. Another study by Zhang et al. (2021) suggested that people with higher levels of
education were more likely to trust chatbots to provide accurate and helpful information [22]. While the study by Rudolph et al.,
(2023) indicated that Chatbot developers should consider the education level of their users when designing chatbots. Users with higher
education levels are more likely to use chatbots for complex tasks, while users with lower education levels are more likely to use
chatbots for simple tasks. This may be because people with higher education levels are more likely to be familiar with artificial

Table 2
The Optimal performance of best suitable chatbots for selected business types.
Organization type Best suitable chatbot Optimal performance

Marketing and public relation ChatGPT or Bard Generating creative content, such as press releases, blog posts, and social media posts.
Customer service ChatSonic or Genie Answering customer questions, providing support, and resolving issues.
Education ChatGPT or Bard Generating educational content, such as lesson plans, quizzes, and presentations.
Research ChatGPT or Bard Accessing and processing information from the real world, such as scientific papers and news articles.
Art and design ChatSonic Generating AI images, such as illustrations, logos, and product designs.

Source: [7,20], and [9].

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intelligence and are more likely to trust a chatbot to provide accurate and helpful information.
Overall, the research suggests that gender, age, and education level can all have a moderating effect on the relationship between
customer experience and overall satisfaction about Chatbot in digital marketing. However, more research is needed to fully understand
these relationships with focusing on ChatGPT not all chatbots in general.

2.5. Research hypotheses

Based on the literature review and the mentioned references through the previous subsections, the objectives of current study can
be achieved through testing the following hypotheses:
H1. “Familiarity and Comfort with Technology” will positively moderate the relationship between the components of “Customer
Experience” (Perceived Personalization, Perceived Relevance, Perceived Accuracy, Perceived Convenience), and “Overall
Satisfaction”.
H2. “Business Type” will positively moderate the relationship between the components of “Customer Experience” (Perceived
Personalization, Perceived Relevance, Perceived Accuracy, Perceived Convenience), and “Overall Satisfaction”.
H3. “Gender” will positively moderate the relationship between the components of “Customer Experience” (Perceived Personali­
zation, Perceived Relevance, Perceived Accuracy, Perceived Convenience), and “Overall Satisfaction”.
H4. “Age” will positively moderate the relationship between the components of “Customer Experience” (Perceived Personalization,
Perceived Relevance, Perceived Accuracy, Perceived Convenience), and “Overall Satisfaction”.
H5. “Education Level” will positively moderate the relationship between the components of “Customer Experience” (Perceived
Personalization, Perceived Relevance, Perceived Accuracy, Perceived Convenience), and “Overall Satisfaction”.

3. Method

The purpose of this research is to investigate the influence of ChatGPT on customer experience in digital marketing. A cross-
sectional survey methodology will be used in the study to gather data electronically via an open access link from clients who have
engaged with ChatGPT in digital marketing.

Table 3
The variables & items of the study questionnaire.
No. Variables/Items References

1 Familiarity and Comfort with Technology FCT:

⁃I am comfortable using technology to interact with businesses. [18]
⁃I consider myself to be familiar with the technology used in digital marketing. [15]
⁃I feel confident using ChatGPT in digital marketing. [19]
2 Customer Experience with ChatGPT:
2.1 Perceived Personalization PP:
⁃The information provided by ChatGPT was personalized to my needs. [23]
⁃ChatGPT demonstrated an understanding of my preferences and needs. [18]
⁃ChatGPT provided recommendations and suggestions that were relevant to me. [22]
2.2 Perceived Relevance PR:
⁃The information provided by ChatGPT was relevant to my needs. [23]
⁃ChatGPT provided me with information that was useful and informative. [18]
⁃ChatGPT provided me with relevant options and alternatives. [22]
2.3 Perceived Accuracy PA:
⁃The information provided by ChatGPT was accurate and reliable. [3]
⁃ChatGPT provided me with correct and up-to-date information. [22]
⁃I trust the information provided by ChatGPT. Author
2.4 Perceived Convenience PC:
⁃ChatGPT was easy to use and navigate. [23]
⁃ChatGPT provided me with a quick and efficient solution to my inquiry. [22]
⁃ChatGPT saved me time and effort compared to other methods of interaction. [18]
3 Overall Satisfaction OS:
⁃I am satisfied with my experience interacting with ChatGPT. [3]
⁃I would recommend ChatGPT to others. [22]
⁃I would use ChatGPT again in the future. [19]
4 Business Type BT: Author
⁃Retail (e.g., clothing, electronics, home goods) Author
⁃Healthcare (e.g., hospitals, clinics, pharmacies) Author
⁃Finance (e.g., banks, credit unions, investment firms) Author
⁃Travel and hospitality (e.g., hotels, airlines, car rental companies) Author
⁃Technology (e.g., software, hardware, telecommunications) Author
⁃Education (e.g., schools, colleges, universities) Author
⁃Other (please specify)

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3.1. Research community and sampling

Customers who have interacted with ChatGPT in digital marketing are the study’s target group. The sample size for survey research
will be estimated using a sample size calculator, with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 5%. The survey will be sent to a
convenience sample of individuals who match the following inclusion criteria: (1) being 18 years of age or older; (2) having engaged
with ChatGPT in digital marketing; (3) being able to read and comprehend English; and (4) being willing to participate in the study.

3.2. Research instrument building and validity

The stages of preparing the questionnaire as a main research instrument went through several successive stages to ensure its
validity. The questionnaire was created after reviewing prior literature in the field of research and brainstorming with more than 15
digital marketing clients. The original version of the questionnaire was given to a group of experts and professionals to confirm its
validity in meeting the study objectives. Before adopting the final version and distributing it to the research community, it was
submitted to a survey sample of 30 digital marketing customers to ensure the quality of the linguistic language in line with the
objective of each paragraph of the questionnaire.
The survey questionnaire includes four components as shown by Table 3. The first component will collect demographic information
such as age, gender, and educational level. The second component will employ a 5-point Likert scale to measure the amount of Fa­
miliarity and comfort with technology. The final portion will use a 5-point Likert scale to assess the consumer experience using
ChatGPT in digital marketing, including perceived personalization, relevance, accuracy, and convenience. Using an open-ended
question, the fourth portion will study the moderating impact of the type of business on customer experience.

3.3. Data analysis

The survey results will be examined using descriptive statistics, such as means, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages,
to summarize the sample’s demographic characteristics and variable distribution. To test the research hypotheses and investigate the
moderating effects of the type of business and the level of familiarity and comfort with technology on customer experience, inferential
statistics such as correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and moderated regression analysis will be used. SPSS statistical
software will be used to evaluate the data.

3.4. Ethical considerations

All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University
IAU and its Standing Committee for Research Ethics on Living Creatures (Review Ethics ID: IRB-2023-534-ASCS). The participants’
privacy and confidentiality were protected by using a secure online survey platform, storing the data in a password-protected file, and
using anonymous IDs to identify the participants. The participants were informed about the purpose of the study, the voluntary nature
of their participation, and their right to withdraw at any time without penalty. The participants’ informed consent was obtained before
proceeding with the study.

4. Results and discussions

This section of current study presents and discusses the results through the following three sub-sections: data description, the
results of hypotheses test, and discussions.

4.1. Data description

Table 4 shows the demographic description of the collected data. The variables’ descriptive statistics can be described as follows:

Table 4
The Demographic description of collected data.
Characteristics Items Frequencies (394) %

Gender Male 213 54

Female 181 46
Age 18–24 122 31
25–34 153 39
35–44 67 17
45–54 36 9
55 and above 16 4
Education level High school diploma or less 28 7
Some college or associate degree 150 38
Undergraduate degree 204 52
Postgraduate degree 12 3

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The mean ratings for perceived personalization (M = 4.23, SD = 0.99), relevance (M = 4.15, SD = 0.98), correctness (M = 4.12, SD =
1.02), convenience (M = 4.08, SD = 1.00), and overall satisfaction (M = 4.20, SD = 0.96) in digital marketing suggest a high degree of
customer experience using ChatGPT. The mean score for familiarity and comfort with technology was 3.96 (SD = 0.99), indicating that
individuals had a moderate level of familiarity and comfort with technology. Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics of the
collected data according to gender, age, and education level.

4.2. The results of hypotheses test

Significant of significance level: (***) p > 0.001, (**) p > 0.01, and (*) p > 0.05.
Fig. 2 and Table 6 summarize the results of the hypotheses test. (H1), results of moderating regression analysis indicate that fa­
miliarity and comfort with technology substantially moderate the connections between perceived personalization (β = 0.32, p > 0.01),
relevance (β = 0.30, p > 0.01), accuracy (β = 0.29, p > 0.01), and convenience (β = 0.29, p > 0.01) and overall satisfaction. The
interaction effects between the independent variables and familiarity and comfort with technology were significant, indicating that
perceived personalization, relevance, accuracy, and convenience had a greater impact on overall satisfaction in participants who were
more familiar and comfortable with technology. The influence weights of the customer experience elements could be compared
through Table 5.
(H2), ANOVA was used to examine the role of business type in influencing the link between perceived personalization, relevance,
correctness, convenience, and overall satisfaction. According to the findings, the type of business moderates the associations between
perceived personalization (F = 3.62, p > 0.05), relevance (F = 3.28, p > 0.05), accuracy (F = 3.14, p > 0.05), and convenience (F =
3.01, p > 0.05) with overall satisfaction. The interaction effects between the independent variables and business type were substantial,
demonstrating that the influence of perceived personalization, relevance, correctness, and convenience on overall satisfaction varied
significantly among business types. The sample results showed the following values of means M & Standard Deviation SD for each
business type: Healthcare (M = 4.2, SD = 0.3), Travel and hospitality (M = 4.1, SD = 0.4), Finance (M = 3.9, SD = 0.5), Retail (M = 3.8,
SD = 0.4), Technology (M = 3.7, SD = 0.4), and Education (M = 3.6, SD = 0.3).
(H3), ANOVA was used to investigate the moderating role of gender in ChatGPT’s influence on customer experience in digital
marketing. There was no significant interaction between gender and ChatGPT’s effect on customer experience, (F = 0.34, p < 0.05.)
This suggests that gender had no effect on the association between ChatGPT and customer experience, and that ChatGPT’s influence on
customer experience was constant across genders.
(H4), ANOVA was used to evaluate the moderating role of age in ChatGPT’s influence on customer experience in digital marketing.
The findings revealed that age had a significant moderating influence on the link between ChatGPT and customer experience (F = 8.54,
p > 0.001). The mean score for customer experience was considerably higher for younger customers compared to older consumers,
showing that the favorable effect of ChatGPT on customer experience was larger for younger consumers.
(H5), ANOVA was used to explore the effect of education level on the influence of ChatGPT on customer experience in digital
marketing. The findings revealed that education level had a significant moderating influence on the association between ChatGPT and
customer experience (F = 4.63, p > 0.01). Participants with a higher education level had a considerably better mean score for customer
experience than those with a lower education level, implying that ChatGPT’s beneficial influence on customer experience was larger
for those with a higher education level.

Fig. 2. The results structure of the hypotheses test.

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Table 5
The impact weights of customer experience elements.
Customer experience elements Mean S.D.* CI* on .05 level Influence weight

⁃Perceived Personalization 4.23 0.99 4.132 ≤ 4.328 39.6%

⁃Perceived Relevance 4.15 0.98 4.053 ≤ 4.247 25.9%
⁃Perceived Accuracy 4.12 1.02 4.019 ≤ 4.221 20.7%
⁃Perceived Convenience 4.08 1.00 3.981 ≤ 4.179 13.8%

* SD: Standard Deviation, CI: Confidence Interval.

Table 6
The hypotheses test results.
Hypotheses/variables pass Sig. Statistical measures Test Results

H1: CE → FCT → OS ** Moderated Regression Analysis Supported

H2: CE → BT → OS * ANOVA Supported
H3: CE → Gender → OS ANOVA Not supported
H4: CE → Age → OS *** ANOVA Supported
H5: CE → Education Level → OS ** ANOVA Supported

Significant of significance level: (***) p > 0.001, (**) p > 0.01, and (*) p > 0.05.

4.3. Discussions

This subsection of the current study is discussing the answers to its research questions through comparing its results and suggestions
with those of the previous relevant studies. First, while the benefits of chatbots are obvious, the influence of other aspects on the
customer experience towards ChatGPT and their overall satisfaction in digital marketing have not been thoroughly investigated in the
previous literature. On this context, the current study aimed to investigate the moderating roles of 5 variables included customers’
comfort and familiarity with technology, business type, gender, age, and education level.
The Customers’ comfort and familiarity with technology may impact how they engage with chatbots and their overall pleasure
with the encounter; for example, they are more inclined to utilize and find chatbots useful [18]. The question here, which the current
study aimed to answer, is to what extent does ease affect the relationship between customer experience and overall satisfaction? the
results reported that familiarity and comfort with technology play a significant role in moderating the customer experience with
ChatGPT and overall satisfaction in digital marketing. Higher degrees of familiarity and comfort with technology improved the in­
fluence of ChatGPT on the customer experience. These results of the current study are consistent with the results of most previous
studies, whether general studies on chatbots or recent specialized studies on ChatGPT (e.g. Refs. [5,31], and [6]). While the study was
conducted by Trivedi & Jain (2019) found that other factors, such as the chatbot’s ability to understand the customer’s needs and
provide accurate information, were more important in determining satisfaction. Also, the study by Gnewuch et al. (2018) indicated
that the impact of customers’ comfort and familiarity with technology on their satisfaction with chatbots was only significant for
customers who were already familiar with chatbots. Their findings suggest that businesses should focus on other factors when
designing and deploying chatbots, such as the chatbot’s ability to understand the customer’s needs and provide accurate information.
Here, there is no contradiction between the results of the current study and those of this group of other studies. Rather, the results of the
current study determine the basic essence of the impact of chat on customer experience, which is supported by most of the previous
studies, as previously mentioned.
Business type: according to the study’s results, the impact of business type has a significant moderating role on the relationship
between customer experience with ChatGPT and overall satisfaction in digital marketing. That means the impact of ChatGPT on the
customer experience varied dramatically across business types, this result consistent with all previous studies (e.g., Refs. [5,6,31], and
[22]). For businesses with a large customer base, ChatGPT can be a valuable tool for providing 24/7 customer support and answering
common questions [5]. This can free up human customer service representatives to focus on more complex issues, leading to improved
customer satisfaction. However, for businesses with a small customer base, ChatGPT may not be necessary or cost-effective [31]. In
these cases, human customer service may still be the best way to provide a personalized and satisfactory experience. Overall, busi­
nesses that use ChatGPT more than others till now are those that need to provide customer support continuously (e.g., digital mar­
keting, customer services, sales, and education services) [22]. Where ChatGPT can be a valuable tool for these businesses, as it can help
them improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and grow their businesses. On the other hand, businesses that use ChatGPT less than
others till now are those that deal with complex products or services, sensitive customer data, or public information (e.g., finance
services, manufacturing, and governmental services) [22]. ChatGPT may not be able to provide the same level of support or security as
a human customer service representative in these cases.
Gender: according to the study’s results, gender has no significant moderating effect on the relationship between customer
experience with ChatGPT and overall satisfaction with digital marketing. The impact of ChatGPT on customer experience did not
change substantially across male and female consumers, contradicting. This result does not agree with the suggestions of most previous
studies on the effect of gender, but most of the previous studies were applied to chatbots in general and not to ChatGPT in particular.
For more explanation, the study by Li et al. (2020) found that chatbots are more likely to be perceived as male than female, even when

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no information about their gender is provided [19]. It is possible that this bias could lead to males being more likely to use chatbots
than females. For example, chatbots that are used for customer service may be more likely to be used by females, while chatbots that
are used for gaming may be more likely to be used by males. However, more research is needed to confirm this. Also, the study by
Aljasser and Sasidhar (2016) suggested that women were more satisfied with their banking experience than men, and that this
satisfaction was positively correlated with loyalty. The authors suggest that this may be because women are more likely to value
personalized service and to feel comfortable interacting with female customer service representatives [28].
Age: According to the study’s findings, age has a strong moderating impact on customers’ experiences with ChatGPT and their
overall satisfaction with digital marketing. In other words, younger ages were related to a stronger favorable association between
ChatGPT and customer experience. Customers with younger ages reported a more favorable influence of ChatGPT on their entire
customer experience in digital marketing. This result on the effect of age is consistent with all previous studies, whether applied to
chatbots in general [23] or ChatGPT in particular (e.g., Refs. [1,27]), but the current study indicated a mediating role between
customer experience and overall satisfaction. Furthermore, the studies by Siswi and Wahyono (2020) and Li et al. (2020) found that
younger people were more likely to be satisfied with the chatbot’s ability to provide accurate and helpful information [19,29]. In
addition, the study by Wirtz et al. (2022) suggested that people aged 18–34 were more likely to rate their customer experience with
Chatbot higher [30]. On the other hand, the study by Yoo and Kim (2020) indicated that older users may be more skeptical of chatbots
and may not use them as often [23]. Finally, the significant moderating role of age may be because younger people are more familiar
with technology and are more likely to expect a chatbot to be able to understand and respond to their needs quickly and efficiently.
Education Level: According to the study’s findings, customers with greater levels of education were related to a stronger favorable
association between ChatGPT and customer experience. Customers with higher levels of education reported a bigger favorable in­
fluence of ChatGPT on their entire customer experience in digital marketing. On the same context, the studies by Tlili et al. (2023) and
Wirtz et al. (2022) found that people with a bachelor’s degree or higher were more likely to rate their customer experience with
Chatbot higher [27,30]. Also, the study by Zhang et al. (2021) suggested that people with higher levels of education were more likely
to trust chatbots to provide accurate and helpful information [22]. While the study by Rudolph et al., (2023) indicated that Chatbot
developers should consider the education level of their users when designing chatbots [1]. Users with higher education levels are more
likely to use chatbots for complex tasks, while users with lower education levels are more likely to use chatbots for simple tasks. This
may be because people with higher education levels are more likely to be familiar with artificial intelligence and are more likely to
trust a chatbot to provide accurate and helpful information.

5. Conclusions

This section of the study focuses on its contributions to both the academic and applied fields of the topic of ChatGPT impact on the
relationship between customer experience and overall satisfaction in digital marketing, also it includes the implications for future
research.

5.1. Reflections on academic and applied fields

Current study offers valuable contributions for organizations considering incorporating ChatGPT into their digital marketing ef­
forts. When deploying ChatGPT to improve customer experience, businesses should consider their consumers’ age, education level, and
familiarity & comfort with technology, as well as the types of their business. Businesses may optimize the impact of ChatGPT on the
customer experience and improve their entire digital marketing strategies by customizing it to the individual demands and features of
their consumers and business. It is expected that this study will be very useful for both academic and practical fields. In the academic
field, it provides valuable insights into the potential of ChatGPT to improve customer experience in digital marketing. This information
can be used to inform future research on ChatGPT and its impact on customer experience. In the practical field, this study can help
businesses to make informed decisions about whether to use ChatGPT in their digital marketing efforts. The study’s findings can also
help businesses to optimize the impact of ChatGPT on customer experience by customizing it to the specific needs of their customers
and business.
This study is likely to provide several advantages. For starters, it will give a better understanding of ChatGPT’s influence on the
customer experience in digital marketing. Second, it will determine whether there are any variances in this impact across different
business types. Finally, it will help to design more effective digital marketing techniques that can improve the client experience.
Fourth, it will provide valuable information for businesses that utilize ChatGPT to connect with consumers, allowing them to enhance
their services and strengthen customer relationships. Overall, the conclusions of this study will be beneficial to firms, marketers, and
scholars working in the field of digital marketing.

5.2. Implications for future directions

This study provides valuable insights into the potential of ChatGPT to improve customer experience in digital marketing. However,
there are still many unanswered questions about the impact of ChatGPT on customer experience. Future research is needed to explore
these questions and to further our understanding of the potential of ChatGPT to revolutionize digital marketing. There are four main
future directions of study: (1) Investigate the impact of ChatGPT on customer experience in different cultures and countries. (2) explore
the use of ChatGPT in different digital marketing channels. (3) Study the long-term impact of ChatGPT on customer relationships. (4)
Explore the ethical implications of using ChatGPT in digital marketing. Overall, the conclusions of this study provide valuable insights

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into the potential of ChatGPT to improve customer experience in digital marketing. However, there are still many unanswered
questions about the impact of ChatGPT on customer experience. Future research is needed to explore these questions and to further our
understanding of the potential of ChatGPT to revolutionize digital marketing.

6. Limitations and future research

There are some limitations in the current study that should be addressed in future research. First, future research might utilize a
representative sample to improve the study’s external validity. Second, the study relied on self-reported data, which is susceptible to
response bias. To give a more thorough assessment of the influence of ChatGPT on customer experience, a future study might add
objective measurements of consumer experience, such as behavioral data and physiological markers. Third, the study concentrated on
the influence of ChatGPT on customer experience rather than other marketing outcomes such as sales and brand loyalty. Further study
might investigate these findings to offer a more thorough review of ChatGPT’s performance in digital marketing. In addition to
resolving these constraints, further study should investigate other elements that may influence the link between ChatGPT and the
customer experience. Finally, the reproducibility of the article could be significantly increased and expanded in the following ways: (1)
The findings could be sent to marketing companies to be tested on a larger data set and given to a larger number of people. (2) The
findings could be used as a compass to develop a new questionnaire focusing on consumer behavior through the interaction of digital
marketing with ChatGPT.

Author contribution statement

Osama Ahmed Abdelkader; Conceived and designed the experiments; Performed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the
data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Data availability statement

Data included in article/supp. material/referenced in article.

Additional information

No additional information is available for this paper.

Declaration of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process

During the preparation of this work the author used Bard Google [32] in brainstorming and generate ideas, and Quill Bot [33] to
proofread and revise the grammar of the manuscript. After using this tool/service, the author reviewed and edited the content as
needed and takes full responsibility for the content of the publication.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgement

The author would like to express his deepest appreciation to Eng. Moaaz Osama (Email: [email protected]), the genius
expert in artificial intelligence and ChatGPT, for his outstanding professional support during the study stages.

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