Dining with robots: An integrated perspective on functional, emotional and relational dimensions of customer experience
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: As service robots become increasingly embedded in hospitality settings, especially restaurants, understanding how customers experience and respond to these technologies is essential for advancing theory and informing design. This study examines how functional, emotional and relational dimensions jointly shape customer satisfaction and revisit intentions in the context of non-humanoid, task-oriented robots. Addressing gaps in existing adoption-focused models, the research integrates the stimulus–organism–response (S–O-R) framework with the USUS model to investigate how constructs such as service efficiency, enjoyment, friendliness, trust and rapport influence post-adoption engagement. Using data from 308 real-world restaurant customers and analysed through partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), the study explores both mediation and moderation pathways, including the roles of rapport and individual novelty-seeking tendencies. This work contributes to the human–robot interaction (HRI) and service marketing literature by shifting focus from humanoid social mimicry to functional robotic design’s affective and relational potential. The findings explain how emotional connection, operational performance and psychological traits shape sustained customer engagement with robotic services. Implications are offered for designing customer-centric, socially acceptable and operationally effective robot experiences in high-contact service environments.
Source: Electronic Markets
Institutions: University of Malaya, Monash University Malaysia
Language: English
Topic: AI in Service Interactions
Subfield: Artificial Intelligence
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,590
Funder: Universiti Malaya
OpenAlex ID: W4411441376