Service robot implementation: a theoretical framework and research agenda

Abstract

Service robots and artificial intelligence promise to increase productivity and reduce costs, prompting substantial growth in sales of service robots and research dedicated to understanding their implications. Nevertheless, marketing research on this phenomenon is scarce. To establish some fundamental insights related to this research domain, the current article seeks to complement research on robots' human-likeness with investigations of the factors that service managers must choose for the service robots implemented in their service setting. A three-part framework, comprised of robot design, customer features, and service encounter characteristics, specifies key factors within each category that need to be analyzed together to determine their optimal adaptation to different service components. Definitions and overlapping concepts are clarified, together with previous knowledge on each variable and research gaps that need to be solved. This framework and the final research questions provide a research agenda to guide scholars and help practitioners implement service robots successfully.

Frontline robots in tourism and hospitality: service enhancement or cost reduction?

“…However, most of the existing research about frontline robots is theoretical (e.g. Huang and Rust 2018;van Doorn et al 2017;Wirtz et al 2018;Belanche et al 2020b), also in hospitality and tourism industries (e.g. Murphy et al 2019;Tung and Au 2018), which provides little guidance for decision management.…”

AI and robotics in the European restaurant sector: Assessing potentials for process innovation in a high-contact service industry

“…This stream of research recognizes that service robots fail to have the capability to feel and show emotions towards customers even in the near future. Robots are able to imitate human behaviors or emotional expressions (Bartneck et al 2009;Wirtz et al 2018) or can create a form of social presence (Belanche et al 2020;van Doorn et al 2017). Nonetheless, they are not yet able to develop emotional-social capabilities or authentic emotions Wirtz et al 2018).…”

“…Decision support can thereby assist service managers in finding the adequate technology and in redesigning future processes for the collaboration of human and artificial intelligence (Larivière et al 2017;Wirtz et al 2018). At the same time, the review of hospitality and service literature demonstrated that only little research developed conceptual guidance to support service managers in their decision process and future task allocation (Belanche et al 2020;Huang and Rust 2018;Larivière et al 2017;Wirtz et al 2018). a As AI and robotics service providers can support multiple subprocesses, multiple categorizations are possible.…”

An Ethical Framework for Smart Robots

“…According to Ishihara and Fukushi (2010), the word "robot" was first introduced in Karel Capek's 1921 play that dealt with conflict between human beings and robots, that is, artificial persons molded out of chemical batter. Belanche et al (2019) add that the word "robot" originates from the Czech word "robota", which means "forced labor;" or, put another way, "slavery". Thus, robots are often seen as mechanical devices programmed to perform specific physical tasks for human beings.…”

“…Leia Organa Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker of AI components has shifted the attention from "mechanoids", that is, robots with a machine-like appearance, towards the development of humanshaped ("humanoid") and animal shaped ("animaloid") smart robots (Kumari et al, forthcoming;Mushiaki, 2013Mushiaki, /2014. Belanche et al (2019) note that while humanoids may only have stylized human features, "droids" (android if male, gynoid if female) have an appearance and behaviour closer to a real human being, at least on the technical level. However, robots' appearances are less important than how easy they are to communicate with, to train to do what we want, and how well they solve tasks.…”