Guests’ perceptions of robot concierge and their adoption intentions

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 2613-2633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyejo Hailey Shin ◽  
Miyoung Jeong
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Service Encounter ◽  
Design Experiment ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Hotel Service ◽  
Factorial Design Experiment ◽  
Different Levels

Purpose The hotel industry has witnessed an increasing number of service automation through service robots such as robot concierges. However, few studies have documented how to identify how hotel guests perceive a robot concierge for their service encounter. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of robot concierges on hotel guests’ attitudes and adoption intentions of robot concierges. Design/methodology/approach This study investigated the effects of robot concierges’ morphology and their level of interactivity with guests at different levels of hotel service on guests’ attitudes and their intentions to adopt robot concierges. To achieve the study’s objectives, this study conducted a 3 × 2 × 3 between-subjects factorial design experiment. Moreover, the survey asked questions about subjects’ preferences of their service encounters (e.g. human employees, robot concierges and/or no preference) and reasons for their selected preference. Findings The results demonstrated that the robot’s morphology significantly influenced guests’ attitudes toward robot concierges. In particular, the caricatured robot was the most preferred morphology of robot concierges. The findings showed that even if guests had favorable attitudes toward robot concierges, they preferred human employees to robot concierges because of humans’ sincere and genuine interactions. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by investigating the causal impacts of the morphology of robot concierges, level of interactivity and level of hotel service on guests’ attitudes toward robot concierges. The thematic analysis of service encounter preference provides an overview of the factors that guests expect for their service encounters in a hotel setting.

The robot-to-robot service encounter: an examination of the impact of inter-robot warmth

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 15-27
Author(s):  
Magnus Söderlund
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Service Robot ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Experimental Setting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Robot Systems ◽  
Synthetic Agents ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to examine humans’ reactions to service robots’ display of warmth in robot-to-robot interactions – a setting in which humans’ impressions of a service robot will not only be based on what this robot does in relation to humans, but also on what it does to other robots. Design/methodology/approach Service robot display of warmth was manipulated in an experimental setting in such a way that a service robot A expressed low versus high levels of warmth in relation to another service robot B. Findings The results indicate that a high level of warmth expressed by robot A vis-à-vis robot B boosted humans’ overall evaluations of A, and that this influence was mediated by the perceived humanness and the perceived happiness of A. Originality/value Numerous studies have examined humans’ reactions when they interact with a service robot or other synthetic agents that provide service. Future service encounters, however, will comprise also multi-robot systems, which means that there will be many opportunities for humans to be exposed to robot-to-robot interactions. Yet, this setting has hitherto rarely been examined in the service literature.

Construction and empirical research on acceptance model of service robots applied in hotel industry

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Zhong ◽  
Xiaoya Zhang ◽  
Jia Rong ◽  
Hing Kai Chan ◽  
Jinyu Xiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Perceived Value ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Hotel Service ◽  
Acceptance Model ◽  
Robot Selection

PurposeRobots, as the crystallization of new artificial intelligence, are being applied in various fields, especially the hotel industry. They are seizing the opportunities, using technology to improve the overall quality and comprehensive competitiveness. However, they also cause many problems due to practical limitations. The purpose of this paper is to study customers' recognition and acceptance of hotel service robots to guide the successful promotion of this technology.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposed a comprehensive model based on the theory of planned behavior, the technology acceptance model and then the perceived value-based acceptance model. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, grouped regression analysis and path analysis was adopted to validate the impacts of each variable to obtain the final reliable model using data collected from hotel guests using a self-designed questionnaire.FindingsThe empirical research based on the theoretical model shows that the constructed conceptual model can thoroughly explain the influencing factors of hotel robot acceptance, enrich the acceptance theory and provide academic support for the use and popularization of hotel service robots. Among all variables, attitude, usefulness and perceived value are the factors that have the greatest impact on acceptance. They have significant differences in the effects of adjustment variables such as gender, educational level, whether hotel robots have been used, and whether other robot services have been experienced on different paths in the model.Practical implicationsThis paper explored the customer acceptance of service robots in hotels, helped to understand the process of decision-making on service robot selection and contributed to the theoretical extension of the hospitality industry. The work guides hotel management to promote better-personalized products and services of robot technology in the hospitality industries.Originality/valueThe acceptance study on hotel service robots provides insight into the hotel industry to understand customers' attitudes and acceptance of emerging technology.

Enhancing the tourist experience with emotional intelligence

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 733-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Prentice
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Service Encounter ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Emotional Labour ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
Tourist Experience ◽  
Tourism Service

Purpose This paper aims to discuss how emotional intelligence (EI) can be incorporated into the tourism sector to enhance the tourist experience through managing the service encounter between tourism service representatives and tourists. Design/methodology/approach A review of the relevant literature on EI and tourism is undertaken to understand the link between EI and tourist experience. The paper begins by explaining the evolution and conceptualisations of EI and discusses its empirical evidence in various contexts. Findings EI is proposed to be incepted into the tourism context through its influence on the service encounter between tourism service representatives and tourists. The service encounter is diagnosed as being emotionally charged through discussing tourism offerings, emotional labour performance and tourist attributions. Originality/value This paper provides a fresh look into the link between EI and tourism service encounters and suggests the application of EI into the tourism context to enhance the tourist experience.

scholarly journals Emotional timescapes: the temporal perspective and consumption emotions in services

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Maguire ◽  
Susi Geiger
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Services Marketing ◽  
Service Encounter ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Temporal Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumption Emotions ◽  
Temporal Aspect ◽  
Per Se

Purpose – This study aims to examine how the temporal aspect of service consumption impacts the emotions that are created within consumers during service encounters. Design/methodology/approach – The authors adopted mobile phone or ‘SMS’ diaries to capture the emotions that participants experienced at the very moment they were being felt or ‘in-vivo’. The study included thirteen different services including both ‘brief’ and ‘extended service transactions’. Findings – The study suggests that the temporal perspective is a dominant cause of consumption emotions in services, influencing consumers’ emotions from before the service encounter commences to its conclusion and, in some cases, beyond the conclusion of the service event. Other antecedents of consumption emotions such as interactions with staff and the servicescape are influenced by and interwoven with this temporal aspect. By capturing emotions as they were experienced, recall difficulties that might have been encountered had the emotions been measured retrospectively were eliminated, allowing the researchers to construct a comprehensive account of the chronology and contiguity of the emotions created within consumers during service encounters. Originality/value – Although certain aspects of time such as the consequences of queuing and waiting have been addressed in the services marketing literature, a detailed understanding of how time impacts consumption emotions in services from the start to the conclusion of service encounters has not been undertaken to date. This research addresses that gap by examining how the temporal perspective influences not only consumption emotions in customers per se but how it also influences other causes of consumption emotions that customers encounter during service transactions.

scholarly journals Thinking about service encounters boosts talking about them

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 506-515
Author(s):  
Magnus Söderlund ◽  
Jan Mattsson
Keyword(s):  
Critical Incident ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Service Encounter ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Dominant Position ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of thinking about an event as an antecedent to subsequent talk about this event with others (i.e. word-of-mouth). Thinking has been a neglected variable in word-of-mouth research, despite the fact that several conceptual arguments indicate that thinking is likely to enhance talking. Here, the thinking–talking association is examined in the context of service encounters. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected with a critical incident method, and the main variables were measured with questionnaire items. Findings Thinking about a service encounter – after it has been completed – had a positive influence on subsequent talk to others about the encounter. The association was mediated by the memorability of the service encounter and the extent to which what had happened had been subject to rehearsal with the purpose of telling others about it. In addition, with respect to antecedents of consumer thinking, the results indicate that service encounter incongruity had a special role in why the consumer thinks about encounters after they have been completed. Originality/value The findings should be seen in relation to the dominant position of customer satisfaction as an antecedent to word-of-mouth in the existing literature. The present results, however, indicate that satisfaction’s contribution to the variation in talking about the encounter was modest.

Poor and rich customers in the service encounter

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Soderlund
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Service Encounter ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine categorization leakage from employees in service encounters in terms of indications that the customer has been categorized as either poor or rich. Given that customers perceive themselves as belonging to one of these two categories, leakage can result in perceptions of the categorization as either correct or incorrect, and the specific purpose is to assess the impact of such outcomes on customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Two between-subjects experiments were used to manipulate service employees’ leakage of categorization clues; the participants were subject to leakage comprising clues that they had been categorized as either poor or rich. The participants’ self-perceived membership in the poor and rich categories was used as a measured factor. Findings The results indicate that customers are indeed sensitive to how they are categorized in service encounters. More specifically, when categorization in terms of the categories poor and rich was leaked to the customer, being correctly categorized (either as poor or rich) was more satisfying than being incorrectly categorized. In addition, given the valenced charge of these two categories, the results indicate that the category charge per se also influences satisfaction. Originality/value The present study adds employee categorization leakage to the existing literature dealing with employee-related factors affecting customer satisfaction in service encounters.

Attraction during the service encounter: examining the other side of the coin

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 504-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker G. Kuppelwieser ◽  
Mourad Touzani
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Physical Attractiveness ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Service Encounter ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Social Attraction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Perceptions

Purpose The existing literature dealing with attractiveness during a service encounter focuses on employee attractiveness and its consequences. This paper aims to consider the other side of the coin by focusing on customers’ attractiveness. Design/methodology/approach On the basis of two studies, this paper presents and tests a model explaining the specific role that employee social attraction plays in customer service perception and satisfaction judgment. Findings It suggests that the appraisal of customers’ physical attractiveness and homophily may lead to situations in which employees are socially attracted to customers, thus influencing customer service perception. Originality/value Consequently, this research provides insights into the role of attraction determinants in a service context. In addition, it demonstrates how employees’ social attraction is triggered in a service context. The findings contribute to satisfaction research by extending prior research perceptions on dyadic service encounters and examining both employee attitude and customer perceptions in service interactions.

Emotion regulation in service encounters: are customer displays real?

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-194
Author(s):  
Shin-Yiing Lee ◽  
Jillian C. Sweeney ◽  
Geoffrey Norman Soutar
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Motivational Factors ◽  
Service Encounter ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Face To Face

PurposeDespite recognition of the importance of emotions and emotion regulation in service encounters, emotion regulation has been generally studied from an employee perspective. This study investigated customer emotion regulation behaviours (CEREBs) in face-to-face service encounters; arguing for a more nuanced approach through an emotion regulation matrix representing the playing up and downplaying of positive or negative emotions. Motivational factors and service-related situational conditions that influence the likelihood of emotion regulation were also examined.Design/methodology/approachFour focus groups and the critical incident technique method were used to obtain data from people who had interacted with service employees within the previous six months.FindingsThere was support for emotion regulation in the four facets of the emotion regulation matrix. Five CEREB dimensions, including verbal behaviours and facial expressions, were evident. Motivational factors and situational conditions that impacted on customer emotion regulation in service encounters were also identified.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings were based on two qualitative methods. A quantitative approach should be used to further validate the suggested framework.Originality/valueMost research on emotion regulation has focused on employees. We examined the phenomenon from a customer viewpoint and in a service encounter context. As customers are not bound by employment rules and conventions, a wider range of emotion regulation behaviours were found. The study used the four-faceted emotion regulation matrix to investigate this, developing a conceptual framework that provides a foundation for future research.

The distributive knot: negotiators’ responsibility to untie complex demands

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Lempereur ◽  
Michele Pekar
Keyword(s):  
Demand Response ◽  
Automotive Industry ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business System ◽  
Response Dynamic ◽  
Managerial System ◽  
Deal Making ◽  
Different Levels

Purpose This article aims to explore the fundamental negotiation structure as a demand/response dynamic. It tests it in a complex business system, where a manager as a negotiator is confronted with multiple demands or pressures at different levels from a variety of stakeholders, both external and internal. Design/methodology/approach Based on concrete examples from the automotive industry, it presents an analytical framework to tackle all negotiation interactions. Findings This article suggests that it is possible to describe all negotiation interactions, whether they are simple or complex, through a demand/response framework. Originality/value This contribution examines a fundamental structure for negotiation responsibility – the demand/response dynamic – defining the mission of any negotiator in deal-making or dispute resolution as to try to supply a response to the expressed crossed demands. Second, the proposed theoretical model of demand/response is transposed and tested in a managerial system where a sales negotiator is confronted with demands from more sources, both external and internal, with the responsibility to satisfy as best as possible the various stakeholders and the capacity to address each of them with different moves.

Is this mine? Psychological ownership and the social media follower

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline S.L. Tan
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Psychological Ownership ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Currency ◽  
Different Levels

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine psychological ownership (PO) experienced by followers of social media influencers toward both influencer and the product. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using face-to-face semi-structured interviews that were conducted with 30 respondents and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings The study demonstrated that the PO experienced by the follower changes under different conditions resulting from perceived value, social currency and follower activity. Social currency plays a vital role in determining the target of PO, often affecting the narrative by the follower. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first paper to examine the transference of PO between product and influencer as experienced by the follower. It provides an understanding on PO that is experienced in different levels of intensity and changes depending on the motive of the follower; hence, transference of PO occurs and it is not a static.

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