Service robots in full- and limited-service restaurants: Extending technology acceptance model

Abstract

As the role of service robots has become increasingly important in service encounters, existing literature has widely adopted the technology acceptance model to understand customers' acceptance of robotic services. However, it remains unclear how customers' responses to service robots can vary in different service contexts. This research seeks to address this issue by experimentally examining customer-robot encounters in two different types of service contexts, full and limited services. The results of our multi-group SEM analysis show that customers who perceive having quality interaction with a service robot are more likely to perceive the robot as useful, form positive attitudes toward using the service robot, and experience rapport with the service robot in a full-service context than a limited-service context. Our findings contribute theoretically to the literature on robotic services and the technology acceptance model and provide implications for incorporating service robots into the design of full- and limited-service contexts.