Leveraging "Human-likeness" of Robotic Service at Restaurants
Keywords
Human-likeness; Language; Physical appearance; Restaurant; Service robot; Voice
Abstract
Despite the rise of human-robot interaction research, the mixed findings of human-likeness in consumer evaluation exist. Focusing on the restaurant sector, this research investigates how service robots’ varying levels of human-likeness of attributes (i.e., visual, vocal and verbal) influence consumption outcomes (e.g., service encounter evaluation, revisit intentions and positive word of mouth intentions) and the underlying mechanisms through cognition (i.e., perceived credibility) and positive emotion per Appraisal Theory. Drawing on a consumer experiment involving a total of 587 participants, results suggest that humanlike voice emerges as a dominant attribute affecting all three consumption outcomes. Humanlike language style positively affects service encounter evaluation but barely affects the other two outcomes. The significant effect of humanlike voice on three consumption outcomes is only explained by positive emotion whereas the effect of humanlike language style on service encounter evaluation is explained by both cognition (i.e., perceived credibility) and emotion.
Publication Date
4-1-2021
Original Citation
Lu, L., Zhang, P., & Zhang, T. (Christina). (2021). Leveraging “human-likeness” of robotic service at restaurants. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 94, N.PAG. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102823
Document Type
Paper
Language
English
Source Title
International Journal of Hospitality Management
Volume
94
Copyright Status
Unknown
College
Rosen College of Hospitality Management
Location
Rosen College of Hospitality Management
STARS Citation
Lu, Lu; Zhang, Pei; and Zhang, Tingting, "Leveraging "Human-likeness" of Robotic Service at Restaurants" (2021). Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 984.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/ucfscholar/984
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