How does the usage of robots in hotels affect employees’ turnover intention? A double-edged sword study

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the double-edged sword effect of the usage of robots on hotel employees' turnover intention. We also examined the mediating role of work autonomy and job insecurity, as well as the moderating role of conscientiousness. Based on conservation of resources theory, we used a time-lagged method to select a sample of 370 employees from 18 hotels in China. We performed statistical analyses using SPSS 23.0 and Mplus 7.4. We found that the usage of robots reduces turnover intention through work autonomy and increases turnover intention through job insecurity. Conscientiousness moderated the effects of the usage of robots on work autonomy and job insecurity, as well as the indirect effects of work autonomy and job insecurity. Our study enriches the research on the usage of robots in the hospitality industry and expands scholars' exploration of conscientiousness. Our findings change previous scholars' perceptions of employee’ conscientiousness. It is crucial for hotel managers to acknowledge that the usage of robots is a double-edged sword. Hotel managers need to recruit employees who use robots from a complementary perspective and do not always have to recruit employees with high conscientiousness.