Leveraging human-robot interaction in hospitality services: Incorporating the role of perceived value,empathy, and information sharing into visitors’ intentions to use social robots

Social robots have become pervasive in the tourism and hospitality service environments. The empirical understanding of the drivers of visitors' intentions to use robots in such services has become an urgent necessity for their sustainable deployment. Certainly, using social androids within hospitality services requires organisations' attentive commitment to value creation and fulfilling service quality expectations. In this paper, via structural equation modelling (SEM) and semi-structured interviews with managers, we conceptualise and empirically test visitors' intentions to use social robots in hospitality services. With data collected in Singapore's hospitality settings, we found visitors' intentions to use social robots stem from the effects of technology acceptance variables, service quality dimensions leading to perceived value, and two further dimensions from human robot interaction (HRI): empathy and information sharing. Analysis of these dimensions' importance provides a deeper understanding of novel opportunities managers may take advantage of to position social robot-delivered services in tourism and hospitality strategies.     

Service robots or human staff: How social crowding shapes tourist preferences

Service providers in tourism and hospitality are beginning to welcome robots as a customer service option. Given this trend, it is important to explore the factors driving tourists' willingness to adopt such new technology. This study focuses on the role of crowding, an environmental factor widely observed in destinations susceptible to over-tourism, in shaping tourists' willingness to adopt service robots. Based on one survey and two experiments, the present research demonstrates that a destination which is more (vs. less) crowded generally motivates tourists to favor robot-provided services rather than those from human staff. Furthermore, findings reveal that this pattern manifests because more (vs. less) social crowding reduces tourists’ motivation to interact with others, as evidenced by social withdrawal tendency.     

The Impact of Consumer Involvement on the Consumers' Perception of Service Quality-Focusing on the Korean Hotel Industry

Abstract

The consumers' evaluations of service quality may be impacted by their assessments of the actual service received, the service provider, and/or the service facility. Within a service marketing context, the more an individual believes the service is personally relevant, the more involved the individual may become with various aspects of the service. This study integrates these two important variables in consumer behavior, which are consumer involvement and service quality. This paper investigates the effect of consumer involvement on the consumer's perceived service quality by focusing on the Korean hotel industry.     

The effects of acculturation,social distinctiveness,and social presence in a service failure situation

Going beyond the traditional East/West consumer differentiation in studying service failure, this article examined the effect of acculturation, both independently and together with social distinctiveness and social presence, on the perceptions and behavioral responses of Chinese–Australian consumers. The research employed a 3 × 2 × 2 between-subject experimental design in which data were collected from 224 Chinese–Australians. Results showed that the different acculturation levels of these consumers did not affect their perceptions and behavior in a service failure situation. Instead, where and with whom a service failure was experienced had pronounced effects on consumer behavior depending on the extent to which the consumers acculturated to the culture of their host country. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are also discussed.     

Who's on the tourists' menu? Exploring the social significance of restaurant experiences for tourists

Taking a Consumer Culture Perspective, this paper explores the co-production of meaning among participants in tourists' restaurant experiences. Responding to criticisms that interpreting consumer behaviour should focus both on the individual and also on the collective context of consumption (Askegaard and Linnet, 2011), our research explores the social significance of these experiences and how they feed into the tourist's identity project. 34 ethnographic interviews are led with a view to exploring how tourists co-produce meaning within their group and also with staff and other patrons in the context of restaurant experience and these are followed up with a further 57 semi-structured interviews. Restaurant experiences are shown to be both rich and complex in social meanings. Thematic analysis leads to the identification and discussion regarding four contexts where social meanings are co-produced, namely sharing experiences, family togetherness and transmission, cultural guidance and customer-to-customer interaction.     

社会化视角下接待业服务机器人对顾客体验的影响研究

随着人工智能和自动化技术日渐普及,服务机器人被越来越多地引入旅游接待业,但其应用尚处于探索阶段。在已有文献和理论基础上,本文依据互联网、社交媒体中接待业顾客对服务机器人的评价信息,以及对接待业顾客和员工进行深度访谈的数据,分析顾客对机器人服务的感知及体验。研究发现:(1)对机器人服务的感知涉及工具、社会化两个属性,社会化属性对顾客的愉悦体验产生重要影响;(2)服务机器人通过提升服务和营造愉悦氛围两条路径改善顾客体验。在此基础上,本文构建了服务机器人影响顾客体验的概念模型。本文从社会化视角探讨服务机器人的顾客体验感知,对服务机器人设计、服务场景管理和体验设计具有启示意义。     

A conceptual model of consumer evaluation of recreation service quality

The paper develops a model which is intended to explain the process by which a consumer evaluates recreation service quality. Much of the difficulty in measuring the quality of recreation services can be attributed to their intangibility, heterogeneity, and the inseparability of their production and consumption functions. Dimensions of recreation services are operationalized in the article, and the criteria used by consumers for evaluating recreation service quality are discussed. Recreation service quality is defined as the outcome of a comparison between expectations of a service and what is perceived to be received. Since much of the reported work in the area of service quality has been undertaken in a commercial context, key differences in the public and commercial sectors which may impact consumers' expectations of recreation services are discussed and integrated into the model.     

Leveraging “human-likeness” of robotic service at restaurants

Despite the rise of human-robot interaction research, the mixed findings of human-likeness in consumer evaluation exist. Focusing on the restaurant sector, this research investigates how service robots’ varying levels of human-likeness of attributes (i.e., visual, vocal and verbal) influence consumption outcomes (e.g., service encounter evaluation, revisit intentions and positive word of mouth intentions) and the underlying mechanisms through cognition (i.e., perceived credibility) and positive emotion per Appraisal Theory. Drawing on a consumer experiment involving a total of 587 participants, results suggest that humanlike voice emerges as a dominant attribute affecting all three consumption outcomes. Humanlike language style positively affects service encounter evaluation but barely affects the other two outcomes. The significant effect of humanlike voice on three consumption outcomes is only explained by positive emotion whereas the effect of humanlike language style on service encounter evaluation is explained by both cognition (i.e., perceived credibility) and emotion.     

Human-robot interaction: Conceptualising trust in frontline teams through LEGO® Serious Play®

Due to fast-paced developments in the technological sphere, we witness robots becoming commonplace in hospitality. While research has focused on technical and functional aspects of robots, the ways in which robots could become effective members of human service teams are less understood. By taking a human-robot interaction (HRI) lens, this study investigates the impact of integrating non-human service providers into human teams with a focus on trust. A qualitative focus group approach with the LEGO® Serious Play® method is employed to open novel avenues in tourism research, and to build, visualise and distil what human-robot interaction in hospitality frontline teams could look like. The study's contribution is a conceptual framework that reveals three dominant factors of trust and their sub-dimensions necessary for successful future human-robot interaction in frontline teams in tourism, hospitality and the wider service sector.     

An Empirical Study of an Online Travel Purchase Intention Model

This study empirically tests a structural model of factors affecting consumers' online purchase intentions for travel products. The findings indicate that information quality, service quality, and system quality are valid measurements to evaluate the quality of travel-oriented website designs. In terms of travelers' perceptions, convenience, value, and merchandise options are three effective measurements of travelers' attitudes toward purchasing travel products online. Quality of travel website design, travelers' attitudes, and customers' satisfaction demonstrate significant influence on travelers' purchase intentions. Travelers' attitudes and customers' satisfaction also serve as strong mediators for the links between quality of travel website design and purchase intentions. Future research can capitalize on this study as a basis to formulate other models or to create a new model to test tactics that can increase travelers' repurchase intentions and strengthening consumers' e-loyalty.     

Robot chefs in gastronomy tourism: What's on the menu?

The use of robots in hospitality and tourism is rapidly evolving. Restaurants progressively include robots as part of their staff, not only as waiters but also as chefs. The robotization of tourism and gastronomic experiences is a vital challenge that both service providers and customers need to cope with. Within this context, the paper investigates the perceptions of tourists towards the use of robots in restaurants. Drawing from a qualitative research design and built on a grounded theory approach, the results reveal the opportunities derived from the implementation of robots in hospitality and tourism. On the other hand, tourists also perceive the growing presence of robots in food services as a form of dehumanization of the gastronomic experience. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed with regard to a new experiencescape that is increasingly dominated by human-robot interactions.     

Customer-robot interactions: Understanding customer experience with service robots

Technology developments relating to automation, artificial intelligence, and robots have transformed the landscape of service industries, including hospitality and tourism. Through a qualitative content analysis of online review data, this study seeks a comprehensive and grounded understanding of customer experience with service robots in hospitality and tourism settings. The analysis identified four categories of customer experience: (1) sensory experience (verbal language, physical appearance, kinesics, and paralanguage), (2) cognitive experience (utility, cuteness, autonomy, coolness, interactivity, and courtesy), (3) affective experience (enjoyment, novelty, negative emotion, and satisfaction), and (4) conative experience (approach/resistance). Results led to the development of a framework representing customer experience with service robots and to insights into customer-robot interactions. Most customers described positive experiences, and while service robots performed well in delivering functional and emotional value, social interaction skills need improvement.     

Exploring the Impacts of Service Guarantee Strategy

This study examines the impacts of service guarantee in terms of consumers' perceived purchase risks, loyalty, complaint behaviors, and intent to use “word-of-mouth” within the context of the casual dining restaurant segment. The scenario method was developed and used to test the research hypotheses. The results of the study reveal that a well-executed service guarantee could reduce consumers' perceived purchase risks, and increase a positive word-of-mouth and customer loyalty. On the other hand, it also raises consumers' intent to complain upon service failure. Furthermore, the results of the study indicate that a “specific” service guarantee is much more effective in reducing consumers' perceived purchase risks, and increasing consumers' intent to claim after a service failure as opposed to an “unconditional” service guarantee. The results of the study suggest that a service guarantee offered by independent restaurants could offer a competitive advantage over brand restaurants not offering a service guarantee.     

Restaurants and COVID-19: What are consumers’ risk perceptions about restaurant food and its packaging during the pandemic?

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent U.S. in-restaurant dining restrictions deleteriously affected the restaurant industry. While dining restrictions were adopted to prevent human contact, evidence suggests that consumers may mistakenly perceive that restaurant "food" and its "packaging" are risky sources of COVID-19. To explore consumers' COVID-19 risk perceptions about food itself, restaurant food specifically, and restaurant food packaging, this study collected nationwide U.S. consumer survey data (n = 958) using an online consumer panel. Findings showed that: (1) consumers were less concerned about contracting COVID-19 from food in general than restaurant food and its packaging, with consumer restaurant concern highest for food served in restaurants, and lowest for hot/cooked restaurant food followed by restaurant food from carry-out; and (2) the risk perceptions of consumers varied with financial concern for food, gender, and being in a high-risk category of COVID-19. Implications for researchers, restauranteurs, government, and food safety professionals are discussed.     

From angels to demons: Uncovering the relationships between tipping,social dignity,OCB and incivility intentions

Building upon equity, expectancy-disconfirmation, and social exchange theories, this research broadens the tipping literature by examining employees’ psychological and behavioral responses when receiving tips that differ in size from expectations, and how managers’ support influences perceptions. Using a 2 (actual-expected tipping discrepancy: higher vs. lower-than-expected tip size) x 2 (manager delivered social praise: presence vs. absence) between-subjects experimental design, the study finds that employees receive higher-than-expected tip size (vs. lower-than-expected tip size) have a higher level of social dignity, which promotes employees’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The results also support an interaction effect of manager delivered social praise and tipping discrepancy on employees’ social dignity. The results provide important theoretical and managerial implications to the tipping, social dignity, OCB, incivility, and social praise literature.     

Chinese consumers' brand personality perceptions of tourism real estate firms

This study examined Chinese consumers' perceptions of brand personality of tourism real estate firms, and classified Chinese consumers based on their brand personality perceptions towards tourism real estate as a new consumption good. The study identified five brand personality factors: humanity, excitement, status enhancement, professionalism and wellness. K-means cluster analysis further identified three distinct Chinese consumer segments with differentiated brand personality perceptions: status/humanity consumers, wellness seekers and professionalism minders. Discussions regarding culture-specific factors of brand personality in the study were provided with considerations of China's significant socio-cultural changes. Managerial implications and suggestions for future research were also discussed.     

I Would Have Felt Better If Only … Or,How to Enhance Customer Satisfaction Following Service Problems

Abstract

This paper presents a discussion of the use of Fairness Theory in better understanding consumer responses to service failures. By adopting an exploratory approach through the use of focus groups, preliminary evidence emerged to illustrate the ways in which customers view service failures. In particular, the results showed that consumers could often think of a range of ways that the service failure might have been managed. Importantly, consumers' emotional responses (such as the degree of anger felt) varied depending upon how easy it would have been to resolve the service failure in a way other than what was experienced.     

Do travelers trust intelligent service robots?

This research investigates travelers' trust in intelligent autonomous technologies based on two studies involving self-driving transportation and robot bartenders. Targeting travelers residing in the United States, online questionnaire was distributed to test the relationships between trusting beliefs in intelligent robots, its antecedents, and its outcomes. The results demonstrate that the cognitive trust formation process holds in situations involving intelligent robots as objects of trust. Trust in intelligent machines is influenced by negative attitude toward technology and propensity to trust technology. Surprisingly, the physical form of robots does not affect trust. Finally, trust leads to adoption intention in both studies. The contribution of this research is in elucidating consumer trust in intelligent robots designed for socially-driven interactions in travel settings.