Navigating ethical challenges in e-commerce: responsible adoption and management of conversational agents through corporate digital responsibility
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2024-07-01
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en
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Abstract
The adoption of Conversational Agents (CAs) by e-commerce companies gained significant attention in recent years, focusing on the operational efficiency. However, the wide adoption of CAs also comes with ethical considerations. This study aimed to capture the experiences of managers or owners of small and big e-commerce companies in the responsible adoption and management of their CAs. This study leverages the Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) framework to examine the responsibility practices, tools, and strategies in the e-commerce sector. Following a qualitative approach this study is based on a comprehensive literature review and six semi-structured interviews with various managers and owners of small and big e-commerce companies. This study identifies key factors influencing the responsible adoption and management of CAs in the e-commerce sector, focusing on ethical considerations such as privacy, data security, biases, misinformation, user manipulation, and transparency. Furthermore, this study examines the role of a digital responsibility-driven culture, specialized digital responsibility management structures, and digital governance frameworks in enhancing and managing CAs in a digitally responsible way. Findings of this study contribute to the literature on the responsible adoption and management of CAs by exploring the effects of ethical considerations and CDR practices, tools, and strategies. The study reveals a substantial lack of knowledge in the understanding and management of ethical considerations among small e-commerce companies. Furthermore, it highlights the financial and human constraints small e-commerce companies must deal with in becoming digitally responsible. It also shows the importance of continuous alignment of ethical guidelines from co-creation with the CA’s developer throughout the CAs entire lifecycle. The research provides practical recommendations for e-commerce companies, offering digital responsibility tools, practices, and strategies to manage ethical considerations and improve their digital responsibility. These findings offer valuable insights in the responsible use of CAs in the e-commerce sector. Future research should focus on the long-term impacts of CDR strategies and the development of digital responsibility frameworks tailored for small e-commerce companies.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen