Purpose-The service sector is at an inflection point with regard to productivity gains and service industrialization similar to the industrial revolution in manufacturing that started in the eighteenth century. Robotics in combination with rapidly improving technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), mobile, cloud, big data and biometrics will bring opportunities for a wide range of innovations that have the potential to dramatically change service industries. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential role service robots will play in the future and to advance a research agenda for service researchers. Design/methodology/approach-This paper uses a conceptual approach that is rooted in the service, robotics and AI literature. Findings-The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, it provides a definition of service robots, describes their key attributes, contrasts their features and capabilities with those of frontline employees, and provides an understanding for which types of service tasks robots will dominate and where humans will dominate. Second, this paper examines consumer perceptions, beliefs and behaviors as related to service robots, and advances the service robot acceptance model. Third, it provides an overview of the ethical questions surrounding robot-delivered services at the individual, market and societal level. Practical implications-This paper helps service organizations and their management, service robot innovators, programmers and developers, and policymakers better understand the implications of a ubiquitous deployment of service robots. Originality/value-This is the first conceptual paper that systematically examines key dimensions of robot-delivered frontline service and explores how these will differ in the future.

Examines the relationship between four key post‐purchase constructs: perceived performance, satisfaction, perceived value, and repurchase intentions, in a causal path framework in an empirical study of business‐to‐business professional services. Attempts to disaggregate performance into its component multiple dimensions, and assess the individual impact of each on post‐purchase evaluation processes. Shows that the effect of perceived value on repurchase intentions is completely mediated through satisfaction. Confirms six performance dimensions, each having a significant impact on both value and satisfaction and adds new insight to our understanding of the respective roles of perceived value, satisfaction and post‐purchase intentions.

To date, empirical and conceptual models of relationship marketing have focused almost exclusively on a range of direct antecedents and mediator variables to explain variations in a dependent variable ± usually relationship commitment. No attempt has been made to examine under what conditions these various antecedents have a stronger/weaker impact on relationship commitment. This paper extends the relationship marketing literature by testing a contingency model to assess the impact of trust and service satisfaction on relationship commitment under conditions of varying switching costs, alternative attractiveness and experience-based norms, in the context of a professional consumer service. Employing a sample of 201 clients of financial planning services, we test 11 hypotheses formulated on the basis of a review of the services and relationship marketing literature, and a series of qualitative interviews with clients. The results clearly indicate that the impact of trust and satisfaction vary according to contingency conditions of switching costs, attractiveness of alternatives and client experience.

No abstract

Most previous research in the domain of relationship marketing has focused on the antecedents of loyalty and commitment in industrial markets, distribution channels or consumer goods. This study, however, models the antecedents of clients’ relationship commitment in the context of a professional service, high in credence qualities (where customers have difficulty in confidently evaluating service quality, even purchase and consumption) ‐ i.e. personal financial planning services. The impact of four key explanatory variables (communication effectiveness, technical quality, functional quality and trust) are examined. The results support the hypothesized model and show communication effectiveness to be a key driver of all antecedent variables, and the single most powerful determinant of relationship commitment.