IRGA 2024 - BOTRAPP

Against the backdrop of the widespread deployment of recruitment tools that use artificial intelligence (AI), many organizations are adopting or planning to implement recruitment chatbots. The BOTRAPP project aims to study their impact on different groups of people who interact with AI-powered tools, using a mixed-methods approach that combines qualitative and quantitative data analysis:

• First parties ( in our project, recruiters)—that is, individuals who work with or use AI tools designed for recruitment to make decisions that affect other individuals.
• The second group (in our project, the candidates)—that is, the individuals who live, work, and are directly affected by AI tools used in recruitment.

The first component (a qualitative study based on the analysis of in-depth interviews) focuses on first-party recruiters, as we aim to analyze the effects of implementing AI tools designed for recruitment (including, in particular, chatbots) on the redefinition of their roles, their tasks, the meaning they derive from their work, and the changing nature of their relationships with candidates.

The second component focuses specifically on chatbots (analysis of quantitative data collected experimentally) and takes a holistic approach, examining both “first parties” and “second parties” simultaneously. The goal is to examine the effects of several manipulated chatbot characteristics (e.g., voice, design, level of anthropomorphism) on the attitudes and behaviors of candidates and recruiters. This application of concepts from digital marketing and e-commerce constitutes exploratory research in the French-speaking context.

This project is fully aligned with the research strategy of the CERAG laboratory and theUniversité Grenoble Alpes and will help strengthen the development of an emerging multidisciplinary field in France: HR marketing, which is bringing together a growing number of researchers and responding to strong demand from organizations struggling to attract new employees and retain their current workforce. To carry out this cross-disciplinary project, two faculty members from UGA have been assigned to combine their expertise in HR and digital marketing and supervise a doctoral dissertation in management sciences.

BOTRAPP aims to provide managers and organizational leaders with insights in the form of best-practice guides to help recruiters—who are now required to work with new tools—maintain a sense of purpose in their work, and to design and implement chatbots that maximize positive feedback from both recruiters and candidates.