The moderating role of government support in chatbot adoption intentions among Malaysian government agencies

PurposeThis study aims to use a survey to examine the factors encouraging Malaysian government agencies (MGAs) to adopt chatbots, which are a new artificial intelligence technology.Design/methodology/approachThe minimum sample size was 98 according to the complexity model, and the respondents were top MGA management personnel. The questionnaire was emailed to all MGAs, and data were collected using snowball sampling in the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework. Out of 348 top management personnel contacted, 341 agreed to participate in the study.FindingsTechnology readiness (TR), organizational readiness (OR) and citizen demand were all positively related to chatbot use intention. Government support (GS) strengthened the relationship between OR, TR and chatbot adoption intentions. The findings demonstrated the ability of the TOE framework to ascertain the factors influencing MGA chatbot adoption.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was limited to Malaysian federal government agencies.Practical implicationsThe findings provide useful information for a better understanding of factors influencing the adoption of chatbots among Malaysian government agencies. Related parties, such as the head of department, could use these findings to plan further action to empower counter service by integrating chatbot adoption.Originality/valueThe study revealed the capability of the TOE framework to identify the factors influencing the decision to adopt chatbots among Malaysian government agencies. GS was found to have moderation effect on the relationship between OR and TR toward the intention to adopt a chatbot.