What makes customers more aggressive, the failure of a service employee or that of artificial intelligence?
That was the thought-provoking question explored by Professor Thomas Dobbelstein, Honorary Research Professor at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and Chairperson of the DUT Business School Board, during an international retail and consumer science conference held in Zagreb, Croatia this week.
Professor Dobbelstein, who is based at DHBW Ravensburg in Germany, presented a collaborative research paper alongside Professor Wibke Heidig from Albstadt-Sigmaringen University of Applied Sciences (Germany) and Professor Stefanie Kühn from Stellenbosch University. Their paper, which was titled “The Human vs. AI Dilemma: Impact of Chatbot Identity on Customer Aggression and Retention during Service Failures,” formed part of the 31st Conference on Recent Advances in Retailing and Consumer Science, which was held between 07 July and 10 July 2025.
Pictured from left to right: Professor Thomas Dobbelstein (Durban University of Technology and DHBW Ravensburg), Professor Wibke Heidig (Albstadt-Sigmaringen University of Applied Sciences) and Professor Stefanie Kühn (Stellenbosch University), presenting at the global conference in Zagreb, Croatia.
In the study, the researchers recreated a common travel frustration, with guests trying to rebook a hotel stay and failing. Half of the participants were assisted by a chatbot, while the other half interacted with a human hotel employee. The results revealed something surprising. People were more aggressive, less loyal and more likely to complain publicly when they dealt with a human rather than a machine.
“Many of us assume that AI chatbots frustrate people but our findings show that in difficult situations, customers actually tend to be more forgiving of artificial intelligence than of humans,” said Professor Dobbelstein. “When things go wrong, businesses might be better off letting the chatbot handle the first response before involving human staff.”
The research offers fresh insights into how businesses can rethink customer service strategies in a digital world, especially during service issues. It also adds to a growing global interest in how people relate to AI and where trust and empathy are placed in human and machine interactions.
The conference, hosted at Zagreb’s historic Esplanade Hotel, which is a historical landmark originally built for passengers travelling on the famous Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul, attracted experts, academics and thought leaders from across the world. This latest international engagement highlights DUT’s commitment to meaningful research and global collaboration and reaffirms Professor Dobbelstein’s influential role in advancing cutting-edge thinking around customer experience, AI and service innovation.
Pictured from left to right: Professor Wibke Heidig (Albstadt-Sigmaringen University of Applied Sciences), Professor Thomas Dobbelstein (Durban University of Technology and DHBW Ravensburg) and Professor Stefanie Kühn (Stellenbosch University), at the Esplanade Hotel’s concierge desk in Zagreb, Croatia.
Alan Khan
