Get Close to the Robot: The Effect of Risk Perception of COVID-19 Pandemic on Customer-Robot Engagement

Get Close to the Robot: The Effect of Risk Perception of COVID-19 Pandemic on Customer-Robot Engagement

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on customer-robot engagement in the Chinese hospitality industry. Analysis of a sample of 589 customers using service robots demonstrated that the perceived risk of COVID-19 has a positive influence on customer-robot engage...

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Veröffentlicht in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2021-06, Vol.18 (12), p.6314
Hauptverfasser: Wu, Jifei, Zhang, Xiangyun, Zhu, Yimin, Yu-Buck, Grace Fang
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Customers
Disease control
Hotels
Hotels & motels
Humans
Pandemics
Perception
Restaurants
Risk perception
Risk taking
Robotics
Robots
SARS-CoV-2
Service robots
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Zusammenfassung:The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on customer-robot engagement in the Chinese hospitality industry. Analysis of a sample of 589 customers using service robots demonstrated that the perceived risk of COVID-19 has a positive influence on customer-robot engagement. The positive effect is mediated by social distancing and moderated by attitudes towards risk. Specifically, the mediating effect of social distancing between the perceived risk of COVID-19 and customer-robot engagement is stronger for risk-avoiding (vs. risk-seeking) customers. Our results provide insights for hotels when they employ service robots to cope with the shock of COVID-19 pandemic.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph18126314