Leveraging responsible artificial intelligence to enhance salespeople well-being and performance

ABSTRACT

While artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have emerged as powerful tools for improving sales encounters and performance, the negative impacts of AI on frontline service employees are inevitable. However, research on responsible AI and its influence on frontline service employees’ well-being and performance from an ethical perspective is scarce. In this study, we draw on the ethics-of-care perspective to uncover the impact of responsible AI on frontline service employees’ well-being and sales outcomes. We designed two-stage data collection by surveying employees (N = 322) in the AI-related industry and used partial least squares structural equation modeling for data analysis. The results show that organizations’ ethics-of-care behaviors guided by responsible AI principles and values positively influence frontline service employees’ well-being, ultimately driving adaptive and customer-oriented selling activities and enhancing sales performance. This study contributes to the literature on responsible AI and frontline service employees’ well-being.

摘要

虽然人工智能 (AI) 技术已成为提升销售体验和绩效的重要工具，但AI对一线服务员工的负面影响是不可避免的。然而，目前从关怀伦理视角探索负责任的人工智能对一线服务员工幸福感和绩效影响的研究仍处于初步发展阶段，有待深入探讨。本研究植根于关怀伦理的视角，揭示负责任的人工智能对一线服务员工幸福感和销售的影响。为此，这项研究对人工智能相关行业员工（N = 322）进行了两阶段问卷数据收集，并采用偏最小二乘结构方程模型进行数据分析。研究结果显示，以负责任的人工智能原则和价值观为指导的组织关怀伦理行为对一线服务员工的幸福感产生积极影响，最终推动适应性和以客户为导向的销售活动，提高销售绩效。本研究为负责任的人工智能和一线服务员工幸福感相关文献做出了重要贡献。

KEYWORDS:

• Responsible AI
• ethics of care
• frontline service employees’ well-being
• customer-oriented selling
• adaptive selling
• sales encounters

关键词:

• 负责任的人工智能
• 关怀伦理
• 一线服务员工的幸福感
• 以客户为导向的销售
• 适应性销售
• 销售接触

Acknowledgments

This study obtained formal approval from NUBS China Research Integrity and Ethics Committee at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, with the approval number of ‘Ethics_eric_ns_124’.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Derived data supporting the findings of this study are available on request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Major Humanities and Social Sciences Research Projects in Zhejiang higher education institutions [grant number: 2023QN033]; Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University [grant number: REF-20-02-04].