In a digitally empowered business world, a growing number of family businesses are leveraging the use of chatbots in an attempt to improve customer experience. This research investigates the antecedents of chatbots’ successful use in small family businesses. Subsequently, we determine the effect of two distinctive sets of human–machine communication factors—functional and humanoid—on customer experience. We assess the latter with respect to its effect on customer satisfaction. While a form of intimate attachment can occur between customers and small businesses, affective commitment is prevalent in customers’ attitudes and could be conflicting with the distant and impersonal nature of chatbot services. Therefore, we also test the moderating role of customers’ affective commitment in the relationship between customer experience and customer satisfaction. Data come from 408 respondents, and the results offer an explicit course of action for family businesses to effectively embed chatbot services in their customer communication. The study provides practical and theoretical insights that stipulate the dimensions of chatbots’ effective use in the context of small family businesses.

在数字化的商业世界中，越来越多的家族企业正在利用聊天机器人来改善客户体验。这项研究调查了聊天机器人在小型家族企业中成功使用的前因。随后，我们确定了两组不同的人机交流因素（功能性和人形）对客户体验的影响。我们评估后者对客户满意度的影响。虽然客户和小企业之间可能会出现一种亲密的依恋形式，但情感承诺在客户的态度中很普遍，并且可能与聊天机器人服务的疏远和非个人性质相冲突。所以，我们还测试了客户情感承诺在客户体验和客户满意度之间的关系中的调节作用。数据来自 408 名受访者，结果为家族企业提供了明确的行动方案，以有效地将聊天机器人服务嵌入到客户沟通中。该研究提供了实践和理论见解，规定了聊天机器人在小型家族企业中有效使用的维度。