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Nudged by a robot: Responses to agency and feedback

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  • Tussyadiah, Iis
  • Miller, Graham

Abstract

The availability of always-on digital agents in hotel rooms, providing agency and surveillance cues, presents opportunities for behavioral interventions. This study tested the effectiveness of agency and social feedback on pro-environmental behavior intention of hotel consumers. A survey with scenario-based experimental design was distributed to US and UK travelers (N = 621). Results suggest that no one type of agent was more effective than the other in influencing pro-environmental behavior intention. Social feedback was found effective when given by a virtual assistant. Perception of another agent being ‘present’ in the room, even when invisible, is sufficient to induce normative behavior. This enriches literature on surveillance cues and behavior change and contributes to finding new ways of leveraging emerging technologies to foster sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Tussyadiah, Iis & Miller, Graham, 2019. "Nudged by a robot: Responses to agency and feedback," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1-1.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:78:y:2019:i:c:17
    DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2019.102752
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    7. Sengupta, Raja & Walker, Joan L., 2015. "Quantified Traveler: Travel Feedback Meets the Cloud to Change Behavior," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt2vw4n4zc, University of California Transportation Center.
    8. Erik J. Koornneef & Aurelie Dariel & Iffat Elbarazi & Ahmed R. Alsuwaidi & Paul B.M. Robben & Nikos Nikiforakis, 2018. "Surveillance cues do not enhance altruistic behavior among anonymous strangers in the field," Working Papers 20180017, New York University Abu Dhabi, Department of Social Science, revised May 2018.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ivanov, Stanislav Hristov & Webster, Craig & Stoilova, Elitza & Slobodskoy, Daniel, 2020. "Biosecurity, crisis management, automation technologies, and economic performance of travel, tourism and hospitality companies – a conceptual framework," SocArXiv 2hx6f, Center for Open Science.
    2. Liu, Xing (Stella) & Wan, Lisa C. & Yi, Xiao (Shannon), 2022. "Humanoid versus non-humanoid robots: How mortality salience shapes preference for robot services under the COVID-19 pandemic?," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    3. Malodia, Suresh & Kaur, Puneet & Ractham, Peter & Sakashita, Mototaka & Dhir, Amandeep, 2022. "Why do people avoid and postpone the use of voice assistants for transactional purposes? A perspective from decision avoidance theory," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 605-618.
    4. Lv, Xingyang & Liu, Yue & Luo, Jingjing & Liu, Yuqing & Li, Chunxiao, 2021. "Does a cute artificial intelligence assistant soften the blow? The impact of cuteness on customer tolerance of assistant service failure," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    5. Tuomi, Aarni & Tussyadiah, Iis & Ascenção, Mário Passos, 2025. "Customized language models for tourism management: Implications and future research," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    6. Tussyadiah, Iis, 2020. "A review of research into automation in tourism: Launching the Annals of Tourism Research Curated Collection on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Tourism," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    7. repec:osf:socarx:2hx6f_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Huiyue Ye & Sunny Sun & Rob Law, 2022. "A Review of Robotic Applications in Hospitality and Tourism Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-15, August.
    9. Stanislav Ivanov & Faruk Seyitoğlu & Martina Markova, 2020. "Hotel managers’ perceptions towards the use of robots: a mixed-methods approach," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 505-535, December.
    10. Lv, Linxiang & Liang, Yongheng & Chen, Siyun & Liu, Gus Guanrong & Liao, Jiancai, 2025. "Good deeds deserve good outcomes: Leveraging generative artificial intelligence to reduce tourists' avoidance of ethical brands embracing stigmatized groups," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    11. Liu, Xing (Stella) & Yi, Xiao (Shannon) & Wan, Lisa C., 2022. "Friendly or competent? The effects of perception of robot appearance and service context on usage intention," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Liu, Wenlong & Jiang, Min & Li, Wangjie & Mou, Jian, 2024. "How does the anthropomorphism of AI chatbots facilitate users' reuse intention in online health consultation services? The moderating role of disease severity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    13. Stanislav Hristov Ivanov & Craig Webster & Elitza Stoilova & Daniel Slobodskoy, 2022. "Biosecurity, crisis management, automation technologies and economic performance of travel, tourism and hospitality companies – A conceptual framework," Tourism Economics, , vol. 28(1), pages 3-26, February.
    14. Zhong, Lina & Verma, Rohit & Wei, Wenqi & Morrsion, Alastair M. & Yang, Liyu, 2022. "Multi-stakeholder perspectives on the impacts of service robots in urban hotel rooms," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    15. Stanislav Ivanov & Craig Webster, 2020. "Robots in tourism: A research agenda for tourism economics," Tourism Economics, , vol. 26(7), pages 1065-1085, November.
    16. Jiawei Li & J. Andres Coca‐Stefaniak & Thi Hong Hai Nguyen & Alastair M. Morrison, 2024. "Sustainable tourist behavior: A systematic literature review and research agenda," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 3356-3374, August.
    17. Michelle Berger & Henner Gimpel & Feline Schnaak & Linda Wolf, 2025. "Can feedback nudges enhance user satisfaction? Kano analysis for different eco-feedback nudge features in a smart home app," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 35(1), pages 1-21, December.
    18. Aikaterini Manthiou & Phil Klaus & Volker G. Kuppelwieser & William Reeves, 2021. "Man vs machine: examining the three themes of service robotics in tourism and hospitality," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 31(3), pages 511-527, September.
    19. Clara Scheutz & Theresa Law & Matthias Scheutz, 2021. "EnviRobots: How Human–Robot Interaction Can Facilitate Sustainable Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-15, November.

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