Volume 35, Issue 1, 2026
DOI: 10.69980/03276716.2026.05
A Study on Impact of AI-Based Virtual Assistants on Customer Experience and Satisfaction in Banking: A Moderated Mediation Model Integrating UTAUT2 and SERVQUALA Study on Impact of AI-Based Virtual Assistants on Customer Experience and Satisfaction in Ban
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI)-based virtual assistants are gaining popularity to enhance the customers' experiences in the banking sector; yet their impacts and associated mechanisms and outcomes are not well understood. In this study, we examine these relationships by integrating the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) with SERVQUAL in a moderated model. This study gathers primary data from 426 bank customers, and uses structural equation modeling (SEM) and hierarchical regression to test the model. It finds that performance expectancy (β = 0.292, p < 0.001), effort expectancy (β = 0.254, p < 0.001), social influence (β = 0.146, p = 0.002), and reliability (β = 0.383, p < 0.001) are significant predictors of customer experience, and reliability is the most significant. In addition, customer experience significantly positively affects customer satisfaction (β = 0.958, p < 0.001), indicating it is an important variable to explain customer satisfaction. The proposed model explains a large percentage of variance in customer satisfaction (R² = 0.620), with very good power. The moderating effects analysis also indicates that the moderating effects of digital literacy on the relationships between the antecedent factors and customer experience are large, with reliability having the largest moderating effect (β = 0.168, p < 0.001). The outcomes of further regression analyses also indicate that customer experience has a mediating effect, as the direct links between effort expectancy and social influence with customer satisfaction are no longer significant when it is considered. The study builds on the existing body of research in offering an experience-based approach that extends current theories on technology acceptance and service quality and the role of digital literacy as moderating factor. The research emphasises the importance of reliable AI systems and customer ability in enhancing customer experience and satisfaction in web banking.
Keywords
AI Based Virtual Assistants, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Experience, SERVQUAL.