TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF EMPLOYEES’ INTENTION TO USE ROBOTS
The goal of this study is to investigate the underlying factors that influence an employees’ decision to use robots at work. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was used in this study. This theory assumes that people’s actual behaviour and willingness to utilise technology is influenced by four underlying elements, namely performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI) and facilitating conditions (FC). Based on this assumption, the specific objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between these factors and a fast-food restaurants employees’ intent to use robots at work. The role of gender as a moderator in each of these interactions was also considered in this study. Based on data acquired from an online survey, the stated hypotheses were tested using the Partial Least Square (PLS) approach. The findings revealed that performance expectancy and social influence enhances an employees’ intention to use robots at work. It also showed that there was no moderation effect in the proposed model. This study presents empirical facts and direction to managers in the fast-food industry in Malaysia, researchers and practitioners regarding the adoption of robots or technology-based services at work. Theoretical advances as well as prospective research directions are also explored.