Gaia Rancati and Isabella Maggioni
Retailers are increasingly considering the introduction of service robots in their stores to support or even replace service staff. Service robots can execute service scripts…
Abstract
Purpose
Retailers are increasingly considering the introduction of service robots in their stores to support or even replace service staff. Service robots can execute service scripts during the service encounter that can influence customer interactions and the overall experience. While the role of service agents is well documented, more research is needed to understand customer responses to a technology-infused servicescape and to investigate the value of service robots as interaction partners. The purpose of this study is to examine the degree of customer immersion in human-human or human-robot interactions across different stages of the service experience and to understand how immersion affects store visit duration under each condition.
Design/methodology/approach
An experimental field study was developed to test the research hypotheses. The study was conducted in a retail store selling premium Italian leather goods with 50 respondents randomly allocated to one of two experimental conditions, interaction with a service robot or interaction with a human sales associate. Participants’ biometrics were collected to measure their immersion in the service encounter and to assess its impact on store visit duration.
Findings
The interaction with a service robot increases the level of customer immersion during the service encounter’s welcome and surprise moments. Immersion positively affects visit duration. However, participants exposed to a robot sales associate reported a shorter visit duration as compared to those who interacted with a human sales associate.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the emerging service and retail marketing literature on service robot applications applying a neuroscientific approach to the study of human–robot interactions across different moments of the service encounter. For managers, this study shows the conditions under which service robots can be successfully implemented in retail stores in accordance with the type of task performed and the degree of immersion generated in customers.
Details
Keywords
Gianluca Ginesti, Carlo Drago, Riccardo Macchioni and Giuseppe Sannino
This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the female board participation and the readability of annual report.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the female board participation and the readability of annual report.
Design/methodology/approach
Using hand-collected data from a “network-oriented market”, as exists in Italy, which includes 435 annual reports, this study uses a regression analysis to test whether female board participation affects the annual report readability.
Findings
Female board participation is found to have a positive impact on disclosure readability in firms with small boardroom connections but the opposite effect in firms with large boardroom connections.
Research limitations/implications
This paper responds to recent calls in the corporate governance literature by investigating whether the female board participation affects the transparency of the disclosure practices.
Practical implications
This study has policy implications, as it helps to improve evaluations of how, and under which circumstances, female board participation may lead to higher disclosure quality and thus benefit investors.
Originality/value
This paper shows that female board participation has different effects on the disclosure readability at different levels of board positions in inter-firm networks.