Service robots and COVID-19: exploring perceptions of prevention efficacy at hotels in generation Z

Romero, Jaime; Lado, Nora

doi:10.1108/ijchm-10-2020-1214

Cited by 90 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…friends, family) had a greater impact on the perceived value of the robot. Post-COVID-19, more people used hotel robots and developed mor positive attitudes toward robots due to their reducing the risk of infection (Romero and Lado, 2021). When people around the customer hold more positive attitudes toward AI devices, customers are more likely to feel that AI produces more benefits (Gursoy et al , 2019), and therefore believe that AI has greater value. The impact of attitudes on behavioral intentions and value on behavioral intentions increased.…”

Section: Conclusion Discussion and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A more recent quantitative study by Siderska (2021) established that the usefulness of robots since the onset of COVID-19 was considered to be substantial. In addition, people thought robots could reduce the risk of infection (Romero and Lado, 2021). When confronted with a major epidemic, customers are likely to perceive robots as especially useful, and so, the effect of usefulness on attitudes increases.…”

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Technology acceptance before and after COVID-19: no-touch service from hotel robots

Zhong

Coca‐Stefaniak

Morrison

et al. 2022

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Purpose This study aims to investigate the consumer acceptance of robots in hotels before and after COVID-19, with a specific emphasis on whether COVID-19 had a significant effect on the acceptance of robots by hotel guests and whether guests had higher levels of acceptance of hotel robots since the initial COVID-19 outbreak was brought under control in China. Design/methodology/approach The sample for this research included Chinese hotel guests before and after COVID-19, with 247 responses obtained before its outbreak and a further 601 responses gathered after. Several hypotheses were developed and tested in a pseudo-experimental design. Findings The results showed that COVID-19 increased hotel guest acceptance of robots. After COVID-19, the perceived importance of the usefulness, social influence, attitude and value of robots increased, while the perceived importance of the ease of use and anthropomorphism of robots decreased. As a contactless service, the usefulness of robots was more valued by customers. This led customers to lower their requirements for the ease of use of robots. In addition, people were more concerned about the social influences on robot use. Research limitations/implications Hotel guest attitudes and behavioral intentions toward robots and the services they can provide are changing. However, whether this change is purely ephemeral and motivated by a pragmatic stance triggered by COVID-19 remains to be established. Practical implications The hospitality industry is encouraged to create a new profile of guests in terms of their favorable or unfavorable disposition toward being served by robots. Hotels should consider the deployment of robots according to the demographic characteristics of customers (e.g. according to guest age levels). Originality/value This research demonstrated that major crises affect customer attitudes and behaviors toward new technologies. COVID-19 resulted in guests paying more attention to the advantages of services offered by hotel robots as a means of reducing the probability of contagion.

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Section: Conclusion Discussion and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technology acceptance before and after COVID-19: no-touch service from hotel robots

Zhong

Coca‐Stefaniak

Morrison

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The perceived social presence of a service robot is an attribute that leads customers to feel as if they are in the company of another social entity during service encounters (Romero and Lado, 2021). Customers will respond socially to service robots that can interact or behave in humanlike ways, such as listening, speaking and sensing emotions.…”

Section: Hypotheses Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The present study offers several contributions to the hospitality literature. First, it adds to the body of knowledge on the role of technology in the value co-creation process and customer experience management in the hospitality context (Jiang et al , 2019; Lei et al , 2019; Romero and Lado, 2021). Second, it contributes to the literature on robotic experiences in restaurant settings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robots at your service: value facilitation and value co-creation in restaurants

Zhang

Balaji

Jiang

2022

IJCHM

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Purpose This paper aims to understand the process of guest-robot value co-creation in the restaurant context. It empirically examines the guest perception of value facilitation by service robots and its impact on guest value co-creation and advocacy intentions. It also investigates the moderating role of interaction comfort in the relationship between service robot value facilitation and guest value co-creation. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods approach was adopted. Ten customers who had dined at a service robot restaurant in China were interviewed in the qualitative study, followed by a quantitative study with 252 restaurant patrons to test the relationships between service robot value facilitation, guest value co-creation, interaction comfort and advocacy intentions. Findings Guest perceptions of six robot attributes, including role significance, competence, social presence, warmth, autonomy and adaptability, determine service robot value facilitation. Interaction comfort moderates the influence of service robot value facilitation on guest value co-creation. Additionally, guest value co-creation mediates the effect of service robot value facilitation on advocacy intentions. Research limitations/implications This study offers an understanding of six robot attributes that can improve service robot value facilitation. Nevertheless, the authors collected data from guests who had experience at service robot restaurants. The authors encourage future research to use random sampling methods to ensure study representativeness. Practical implications This study offers strategic guidance for managers to deploy service robots in frontline roles in restaurants and provides important implications for service robot design to improve their facilitating role in the guest value co-creation process. Originality/value This study responds to a recent call for research on the role of service robots in the guest value co-creation experience. Unlike prior studies that focused on the adoption or acceptance of service robots, it examines the role of service robots in the value co-creation process (post-adoption stage). Furthermore, it is one of the early studies to identify and empirically examine the service robot attributes that enable value facilitation and foster value co-creation in guest-robot service encounters.

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“…Turning to the use of AI to address the pandemic, the study “Service robots and COVID-19: exploring perceptions of prevention efficacy at hotels in generation Z,” developed by Romero and Lado (2021), focuses on whether service robots may serve to reduce contagion risk at hotels. Specifically, the authors analyze guests’ perceptions about the use of service robots to prevent COVID-19 and their impact on booking intentions.…”

Section: Artificial Intelligence In Hospitality and Tourismmentioning

confidence: 99%