IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v146y2022icp489-503.html

The role of the human-robot interaction in consumers’ acceptance of humanoid retail service robots

Author

Listed:
  • Song, Christina Soyoung
  • Kim, Youn-Kyung

Abstract

The Retail Service Robot (RSR) is a humanoid robot that uses AI service automation to provide customized shopping assistance. Based upon Computers-Are-Social-Actors theory, this study investigates: (1) The way RSRs’ usefulness, social capability, and appearance facilitate Human-Robot Interaction (HRI); (2) whether anxiety toward robots inhibits the relations between RSRs’ facilitators and HRI, and (3) whether HRI affects anticipated service quality and ultimately the acceptance of RSRs. The study incorporates interviews, video clip stimuli, and empirical data collection (n = 1362) in fashion, technology, and food-service. The results reveal that RSRs’ facilitators such as usefulness, social capability, and appearance influence attitudes toward HRI positively, which in turn, predict anticipation of better service quality and greater acceptance of RSRs, and demonstrate the moderating role of anxiety toward robots between RSRs’ facilitators and attitudes toward HRI. The findings provide theoretical and practical implications for the adoption of RSRs and development of effective HRI.

Suggested Citation

  • Song, Christina Soyoung & Kim, Youn-Kyung, 2022. "The role of the human-robot interaction in consumers’ acceptance of humanoid retail service robots," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 489-503.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:146:y:2022:i:c:p:489-503
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.03.087
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014829632200323X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.03.087?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Haenlein, Michael & Kaplan, Andreas, 2021. "Artificial intelligence and robotics: Shaking up the business world and society at large," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 405-407.
    2. Brengman, Malaika & De Gauquier, Laurens & Willems, Kim & Vanderborght, Bram, 2021. "From stopping to shopping: An observational study comparing a humanoid service robot with a tablet service kiosk to attract and convert shoppers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 263-274.
    3. Song, Christina Soyoung & Kim, Youn-Kyung, 2021. "Predictors of consumers’ willingness to share personal information with fashion sales robots," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    4. Riegger, Anne-Sophie & Klein, Jan F. & Merfeld, Katrin & Henkel, Sven, 2021. "Technology-enabled personalization in retail stores: Understanding drivers and barriers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 140-155.
    5. Stock, Ruth & Nguyen, Mai Anh, 2019. "Robotic Psychology. What Do We Know about Human-Robot Interaction and What Do We Still Need to Learn?," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 118838, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    6. Fred D. Davis & Richard P. Bagozzi & Paul R. Warshaw, 1989. "User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(8), pages 982-1003, August.
    7. Chuah, Stephanie Hui-Wen & Yu, Joanne, 2021. "The future of service: The power of emotion in human-robot interaction," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    8. Makarius, Erin E. & Mukherjee, Debmalya & Fox, Joseph D. & Fox, Alexa K., 2020. "Rising with the machines: A sociotechnical framework for bringing artificial intelligence into the organization," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 262-273.
    9. Gursoy, Dogan & Chi, Oscar Hengxuan & Lu, Lu & Nunkoo, Robin, 2019. "Consumers acceptance of artificially intelligent (AI) device use in service delivery," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 157-169.
    10. Stock, Ruth & Merkle, Moritz, 2017. "A Service Robot Acceptance Model: User acceptance of humanoid robots during service encounters," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 123630, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    11. Seo Young Kim & Bernd H. Schmitt & Nadia M. Thalmann, 2019. "Eliza in the uncanny valley: anthropomorphizing consumer robots increases their perceived warmth but decreases liking," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 1-12, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vinoi, Nivin & Shankar, Amit & Agarwal, Reeti & Alghafes, Rsha, 2025. "Revolutionizing retail: The transformative power of service robots on shopping dynamics," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. de Kervenoael, Ronan & Schwob, Alexandre & Hasan, Rajibul & Psylla, Evangelia, 2024. "SIoT robots and consumer experiences in retail: Unpacking repeat purchase intention drivers leveraging computers are social actors (CASA) paradigm," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Song, Christina Soyoung, 2024. "Prescriptive multi-group networks: Humanoid service robots’ value co-creation and co-destruction potentials in apparel stores," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    4. Song, C.S. & Kim, Y.-K. & Jo, B.W. & Park, S.-h., 2022. "Trust in humanoid robots in footwear stores: A large-N crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (csQCA) model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 251-264.
    5. Xie, Yuguang & Liang, Changyong & Zhou, Peiyu & Jiang, Li, 2024. "Exploring the influence mechanism of chatbot-expressed humor on service satisfaction in online customer service," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    6. Lv, Xingyang & Yang, Yufan & Qin, Dazhi & Liu, Xiaoyan, 2025. "AI service may backfire: Reduced service warmth due to service provider transformation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    7. Lars Hornuf & Maximilian Meiler, 2024. "Factors Driving Adoption of Humanoid Service Robots in Banks," CESifo Working Paper Series 11366, CESifo.
    8. Bosse, Douglas & Thompson, Steven & Ekman, Peter, 2023. "In consilium apparatus: Artificial intelligence, stakeholder reciprocity, and firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PA).
    9. Kayeser Fatima, Johra & Khan, Md Irfanuzzaman & Bahmannia, Somayeh & Chatrath, Sarvjeet Kaur & Dale, Naomi F. & Johns, Raechel, 2024. "Rapport with a chatbot? The underlying role of anthropomorphism in socio-cognitive perceptions of rapport and e-word of mouth," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    10. Wenjia Li & Huangyi Ding & Jingjing Gui & Qinghe Tang, 2024. "Patient acceptance of medical service robots in the medical intelligence era: an empirical study based on an extended AI device use acceptance model," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    11. Yoganathan, Vignesh & Osburg, Victoria-Sophie, 2024. "The mind in the machine: Estimating mind perception's effect on user satisfaction with voice-based conversational agents," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    12. Maggie Wang, Yazhu & Matook, Sabine & Dennis, Alan R., 2024. "Unintended consequences of humanoid service robots: A case study of public service organizations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    13. Aubel Martin & Pikturniene Indre & Joye Yannick, 2022. "Risk Perception and Risk Behavior in Response to Service Robot Anthropomorphism in Banking," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 30(2), pages 26-42, June.
    14. Ri Na & Anan Hu & Qingfeng Zeng & Ruyi Ge & Ruohong Hao, 2025. "Unveiling the relationship between virtual streamer characteristics and consumer purchase intention in live streaming commerce: Insights from source credibility perspective," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 35(1), pages 1-21, December.
    15. Ismail, Ahmad Fareed & Ghazali, Hazrina & Chen Hui, Tan & Nur Farrah Ain Mahmud, 2025. "Perceived Benefits and Cost-Benefit Perspectives on Service Digitalization: A Preliminary Study among Fine Dining Restaurants in Bukit Jalil and Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(4), pages 1986-2016, April.
    16. Song, Christina Soyoung & Kim, Youn-Kyung, 2021. "Predictors of consumers’ willingness to share personal information with fashion sales robots," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    17. Cheng-Feng Cheng & Chien-Che Huang & Ming-Chang Lin & Ta-Cheng Chen, 2023. "Exploring Effectiveness of Relationship Marketing on Artificial Intelligence Adopting Intention," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    18. Gao, Yajie & Chang, Yaping & Yang, Tangwutu & Yu, Zhihao, 2025. "Consumer acceptance of social robots in domestic settings: A human-robot interaction perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    19. Whang, Jeong-Bin & Song, Ji Hee & Lee, Jong-Ho & Choi, Boreum, 2022. "Interacting with Chatbots: Message type and consumers' control," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 309-318.
    20. Wang, Ping & Li, Kunyang & Du, Qinglong & Wang, Jianqiong, 2024. "Customer experience in AI-enabled products: Scale development and validation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:146:y:2022:i:c:p:489-503. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.