Chatbots have been around since the early days of computers, with the first conversational bot used in 1966. However, it has only been in recent years that chatbots have been discussed in the context of business strategy. This influx in interest can be connected to the recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the development of Natural Language Processing. NLP allows AI systems to analyze human language to derive meaning from conversations, with the goal of making the interaction between computers and humans feel exactly like interactions between humans.

In 2016, Facebook launched a bot within their Messenger application, known as a social bot. A social bot is a type of bot that simulates human behavior in automated interactions on social network sites. This new Facebook feature allows any business to build a bot within Messenger. With over a billion people a month using Facebook Messenger and over 100,000 bots within the application, they are changing the way consumers and brands interact. Socialbots offer a potential new channel of communication for businesses and consumers, that provides customers with instant communication.

Young adults hold a significant proportion of purchasing power, giving them considerable influence, and attracting attention from businesses and academics. Compared to older generations, these consumers have grown up surrounded by technology and heavily rely on it in everyday life. Consequently, young adults’ consumption behavior and need for technology could have positive implications for the adoption of social bots in the buyer journey.

Social bots have a number of different uses for customers such as customer service, entertainment, curiosity, productivity, and socializing. Having a presence on Facebook Messenger could have significant implications for a business, due to the social networking site having 2.23 billion active users every month and Messenger being the top downloaded mobile application.