Impacts of Service Robots on Service Quality

Abstract

With rapid advances in technologies, especially in artificial intelligence, smart sensors, big data analytics, and robotics, the service industry began introducing robots to perform a variety of functions. While the main purpose of deploying robots has been productivity improvement, the current COVID-19 pandemic has brought more urgent purpose, providing contactless service for social distancing. This study explores the service quality provided by robots based on real data in a hotel setting. A sample of 201 guests provided their expected service quality by robots and the actual performance experience after the service. We analyzed this relationship using importance performance analysis (IPA) and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The results revealed that customers' top priorities for robots' service quality are assurance and reliability, while tangible and empathy were not as important. Customers were not satisfied with robots' responsiveness, but this construct was found to be a low priority.

Robot vs human: expectations, performances and gaps in off-premise restaurant service modes

“…For example, consumers expected robots to be less efficient than carry-out and human delivery, which was confirmed by the field study. Efficiency and decreased service times have been cited as advantages of using robots (Chiang and Trimi, 2020). However, if food delivery robots cannot provide these advantages, the impetus for their use may be questioned (Stock and Merkle, 2017).…”

Instrument Development for R-Service Quality: A Literature Review

“…Such service industries as hotel [5], [6], tourism [7], [8], education [9], and restaurant [10], [11] are the early adopters of service robots. In particular, the Covid-19 pandemic has made robotics unprecedentedly relevant to service sectors, particularly hospitality, for deploying robots can keep social distance and decrease human touch [12], [13].…”

“…Robotics is predicted to profoundly change service sectors and add to an essential and integral part of future consumer experience [14], [15]. The majority of the existing literature focuses on the antecedents that contribute to consumer satisfaction and intention to use r-service based on the theories like SERVQUAL [11], [13], Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) [16], [17], or Social Presence Theory [18], [19]. Service robots are embedded with AI, allowing them to enter humans-preserving domains, such as contextual and bilateral interactions between robots (as regular staff) and consumers [20], [21].…”

“…R-service quality plays a vital role in numerous aspects of service commerce, e.g., consumer attitudes towards the r-service [6], [9], [23], consumer satisfaction and loyalty [24], [25], willingness to use [3], [26], [27], intention to (re)use r-service [5], [7], [28], [29], recommendation intention [11], etc. In light of the apparent importance of r-service quality in service encounters, the achievement of superior rservice quality has been identified as a crucial strategy for service practitioners [13], [30]. With the advent of the AI era, r-service quality has been increasingly important for service success, helping service organizations sustain competitive advantage in volatile environments [13], [31].…”

Technology- or human-related service innovation? Enhancing customer satisfaction, delight, and loyalty in the hospitality industry

“…Even though customers increasingly adopt SSTs and perform service by themselves, consumer satisfaction and retention may be impaired by the loss of the social bond and the lack of interpersonal interaction during service encounters (Beatson et al 2007). Chiang and Trimi (2020) also specified that today's service robots are capable of performing the first two levels of AI (i.e., mechanical and analytical) but still lack proficiency in the two high-order intelligence (i.e., intuitive and empathetic). While the application of technology has attracted much attention and resources in the hospitality industry, the human factor cannot, and should not, be overlooked.…”