Generative AI in Customer Churn Processes : The integration and role of Generative AI in Customer Churn

Sammanfattning

The customer churn process is vital to a company’s profitability, which indicates that the company needs to adapt to evolving customer demand and adopt disruptive technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) to remain competitive. Though studies within generative AI highlight benefits and risks, there are few studies which evaluate how generative AI impact customer satisfaction and its influence on customer churn processes. To fill this research gap, the current study will investigate generative AI’s applicability in the churn process, and its effect on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty which affect customer churn. The main goal of this study is to explore the benefits, barriers, and risks of integrating generative AI technology into the customer churn process. Furthermore, it also aims to explore what role generative AI can have in both the proactive and reactive part of the churn process. This study uses a case study of a Swedish Telecommunications Organization, qualitative semi-structured interviews, and thematic analysis to collect and analyze data from employees of the case company. Using an abductive approach, data and theory is simultaneously collected, which aids in identifying themes and explaining patterns. Fourteen interviews resulted in eight themes: three benefits (Automation, Analysis, and Customer-centricity), two barriers (Technology, Current churn process), and three risks (Variation handling, Economic implications, and Brand vulnerability). The findings of the study show that generative AI has potential to be implemented both reactively and proactively in the churn process, potentially enhancing customer satisfaction, loyalty, and reducing churn rates. However, findings highlight the necessity for balancing generative AI with humans due to barriers and risks associated with the technology.