Examining the effects of robots'' physical appearance, warmth, and competence in frontline services: The Humanness-Value-Loyalty model

Belanche D. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Casaló L.V. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Schepers J. ; Flavián C. (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: Because of continuous improvements in their underlying technologies, customers perceive frontline robots as social actors with a high level of humanness, both in appearance and behavior. Advancing from mere theoretical contributions to this study field, this article proposes and empirically validates the humanness-value-loyalty model (HVL model). This study analyzes to what extent robots'' perceived physical human-likeness, perceived competence, and perceived warmth affect customers'' service value expectations and, subsequently, their loyalty intentions. Following two pretests to select the most suitable robots and ensure scenario realism, data were collected by means of a vignette experimental study and analyzed using the partial least squares method. The results reveal that human-likeness positively affects four dimensions of service value expectations. Perceived competence of the robot influences mainly utilitarian expectations (i.e., functional and monetary value), while perceived warmth influences relational expectations (i.e., emotional value). Interestingly, and contrary to theoretical predictions, the influence of the robot''s warmth on service value expectations is more pronounced for customers with a lower need for social interaction. In sum, this study contributes to a better understanding of customers'' reactions to artificial intelligence-enabled technologies with humanized cognitive capabilities and also suggests interesting research avenues to advance on this emerging field. © 2021 The Authors. Psychology & Marketing published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1002/mar.21532

Año: 2021

Publicado en: PSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING 38, 12 (2021), 2357-2376
ISSN: 0742-6046

Factor impacto JCR: 5.507 (2021)

Categ. JCR: PSYCHOLOGY, APPLIED rank: 18 / 83 = 0.217 (2021) - Q1 - T1
Categ. JCR: BUSINESS rank: 68 / 154 = 0.442 (2021) - Q2 - T2

Factor impacto CITESCORE: 4.9 - Psychology (Q1) - Business, Management and Accounting (Q1)

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 1.2 - Marketing (Q1) - Applied Psychology (Q1)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA-FSE/LMP65-18
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA-FSE/S20-20R METODO Research Group

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)

Área (Departamento): Área Comerci.Investig.Mercados (Dpto. Direc.Mark.Inves.Mercad.)