MEASUREMENT OF CHATBOT ACCEPTANCE FOR BUSINESS INCUBATION IN THAILAND

Abstract

Startups in Thailand are valued by government agencies, private sectors, and educational institutions through various mechanisms such as funding, infrastructure, and business incubation programs. The business incubation program plays an important role in educating, guiding business development, and mentoring early-stage startups (the idea state). Technology is constantly being introduced to support the business incubation process. Chatbot technology is one of the growing popular technologies. It acts as a virtual assistant providing users with information and advice.

This research aims to determine the acceptance of chatbot technology as a virtual business incubator that acts as an incubator program staff, providing startups with business development advice, information, and basic knowledge. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the technology acceptance of a sample group of startups in Thailand. Results demonstrated that perceived usefulness and service quality were the factors affecting satisfaction with use. In addition, satisfaction with use was a factor affecting the intention to adopt. Therefore, it can be concluded that if the virtual incubation assistant technology has a good service model and makes users perceive its benefits, they will be satisfied and desire to utilize it. Virtual incubation assistant technology has the potential to help incubate businesses and provide early-stage startups with advice and basic knowledge.