The widespread integration of service robots in the tourism and hospitality industry has shifted from human-to-human interaction to human-to-robot interaction during service encounters, thereby affecting customer mood and satisfaction. In contrast to previous research on service robots’ tendency to evoke negative emotions, this paper employs three scenario experiments to analyze the effect of service robots in alleviating social anxiety in embarrassing service context, comparing their effects to those of frontline employees. The study results indicate that the utilization of a service robot can result in higher levels of customer satisfaction than interactions with a frontline employee in embarrassing service contexts, with social anxiety serving as a mediating factor. This study concludes with a discussion of the scholarly and managerial implications for the deployment of service robots in the hospitality industry.

中文翻译：

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服务机器人在尴尬环境下提高客户满意度方面的作用

服务机器人在旅游和酒店行业的广泛应用，在服务接触过程中从人与人的交互转变为人与机器人的交互，从而影响顾客的情绪和满意度。与以往关于服务机器人容易引发负面情绪的研究相比，本文通过三个场景实验来分析服务机器人在尴尬服务情境下缓解社交焦虑的效果，并与一线员工进行比较。研究结果表明，与在尴尬的服务环境中与一线员工互动相比，使用服务机器人可以带来更高的客户满意度，其中社交焦虑是中介因素。本研究最后讨论了在酒店业部署服务机器人的学术和管理影响。