Think like a robot: How interactions with humanoid service robots affect consumers’ decision strategies

Abstract

Service robots are beginning to be a popular choice in the frontline of customer service. It is important to explore how interacting with humanoid service robots (vs. human employees) influences consumers' following behaviors. Specifically, the present research examines how interacting with humanoid service robots (vs. human employees) influences consumers' emotional intensity and subsequent decision strategies. Through four experiments, the current research demonstrates that interacting with humanoid service robots (vs. human employees) induces a lower emotional intensity, which in turn promotes a relative reliance on cognitive reasoning (vs. affective feeling) in consumers’ decision-making such as hotel room choice. Furthermore, this research identifies the moderating role of service provider gender and anthropomorphism tendency. The main effect disappears when the service robot is female (vs. male) and when consumers have a higher anthropomorphism tendency. The present research provides significant implications for both robot literature and the tourism and hospitality business.