Examining the effects of robotic service on brand experience: the moderating role of hotel segment

ABSTRACT This research investigates the effects of robotic service on guest evaluations of hotel brand experience, and examines the moderating effects of hotel segment via a 2 (service delivery video: human or robot) x 3 (hotel segment: budget, midscale, or luxury) between-subjects experimental design. The findings suggest higher levels of sensory and intellectual experience from robotic service but lower levels of affective experience. For behavioral experience, robotic service influenced a higher rating for midscale and budget hotels, but not for a luxury hotel. Overall, robotic service may not necessarily enhance brand experience as influenced by the moderating role of hotel segment.

[1]  Oriol Iglesias,et al.  The role of brand experience and affective commitment in determining brand loyalty , 2011 .

[2]  E. K. Miller,et al.  Executive Function and Higher-Order Cognition: Definition and Neural Substrates , 2008 .

[3]  Li-Cheng Chen,et al.  Investigating an innovative service with hospitality robots , 2017 .

[4]  V. Tung,et al.  A framework of memory management and tourism experiences , 2017 .

[5]  M. Appelbaum,et al.  Psychometric methods. , 1989, Annual review of psychology.

[6]  Alessandro Fiorentino,et al.  Budget hotels: not just minor hospitality products. , 1995 .

[7]  V. Tung,et al.  The impact of tourism mini-movies on destination image: The influence of travel motivation and advertising disclosure , 2017 .

[8]  M. Skidmore,et al.  Hedonic Pricing and Willingness to Pay for Bed and Breakfast Amenities in Southeast Wisconsin , 2003 .

[9]  Woojin Chung,et al.  Discrete-Status-Based Localization for Indoor Service Robots , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[10]  Eric J. Arnould,et al.  Consumers’ emotional responses to service encounters , 1995 .

[11]  Vincent Wing Sun Tung,et al.  Managing customer citizenship behaviour: The moderating roles of employee responsiveness and organizational reassurance , 2017 .

[12]  Brand Experience: What is It? How is it Measured? Does it Affect Loyalty? , 2009 .

[13]  김현철,et al.  체험마케팅(Experiential Marketing)의 오해와 진실 , 2010 .

[14]  Antonio Bicchi,et al.  Hands for dexterous manipulation and robust grasping: a difficult road toward simplicity , 2000, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[15]  N. Selwyn.  The information aged: A qualitative study of older adults' use of information and communications technology , 2004 .

[16]  L. Feick,et al.  The impact of switching costs on the customer satisfaction‐loyalty link: mobile phone service in France , 2001 .

[17]  Rafael E. Banchs,et al.  SARA: Singapore's Automated Responsive Assistant, A Multimodal Dialogue System for Touristic Information , 2014, MobiWIS.

[18]  Stanislav Ivanov,et al.  Adoption of robots and service automation by tourism and hospitality companies , 2017 .

[19]  Andrew Walls,et al.  Understanding the Customer Experiences from the Perspective of Guests and Hotel Managers: Empirical Findings from Luxury Hotels in Istanbul, Turkey , 2016 .

[20]  F. Okumus,et al.  Understanding the Consumer Experience: An Exploratory Study of Luxury Hotels , 2011 .

[21]  V. Tung,et al.  Exploring the essence of memorable tourism experiences. , 2011 .

[22]  Pablo González de Santos,et al.  The evolution of robotics research , 2007, IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine.

[23]  Giri Jogaratnam,et al.  Impression Management and the Hospitality Service Encounter , 2007 .

[24]  Vincent Wing Sun Tung,et al.  Exploring customer experiences with robotics in hospitality , 2018, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

[25]  J. Nunnally,et al.  Psychometric Theory: NY. , 1978 .

[26]  D. Rauch,et al.  Measuring service quality in mid-scale hotels , 2015 .

[27]  Michael A. Arbib,et al.  Who Needs Emotions? - The brain meets the robot , 2004, Who Needs Emotions?.

[28]  Ángel Alloza.  Brand Engagement and Brand Experience at BBVA, the Transformation of a 150 Years Old Company , 2008 .

[29]  Eduardo Zalama Casanova,et al.  Long-term assessment of a service robot in a hotel environment , 2016, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[30]  Jonathan F. Bard.  An assessment of industrial robots: Capabilities, economics, and impacts , 1986 .

[31]  M. Fahim,et al.  The Relationship between Critical Thinking Ability of Iranian EFL Learners and Their Resilience Level Facing Unfamiliar Vocabulary Items in Reading , 2010 .

[32]  C. Bartneck,et al.  A design-centred framework for social human-robot interaction , 2004, RO-MAN 2004. 13th IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (IEEE Catalog No.04TH8759).

[33]  Anna S. Mattila,et al.  Consumer's Value Judgments , 1999 .

[34]  Anna S. Mattila.  Consumers value judgments: How business travelers evaluate luxury-hotel services , 1999 .

[35]  O. Kyriakidou,et al.  Employees' motivation in the luxury hotel industry: the perceived effectiveness of human-resource practices , 2008 .

[36]  W. Kim,et al.  The relationship between brand equity and firms’ performance in luxury hotels and chain restaurants ☆ , 2005 .

[37]  R. Pfeifer,et al.  Self-Organization, Embodiment, and Biologically Inspired Robotics , 2007, Science.

[38]  Bob Brotherton,et al.  Critical success factors in UK budget hotel operations , 2004 .

[39]  Robert K. Griffin,et al.  How Business Travelers Discriminate Between Mid-Priced and Luxury Hotels: , 1997 .

[40]  Rob Law,et al.  The potential for tourism and hospitality experience research in human-robot interactions , 2017 .

[41]  Rob Law,et al.  Determinants of hotel room price , 2011 .