David Leiño Calleja, Jeroen Schepers and Edwin J. Nijssen
Customer perceptions toward hybrid human–robot teams remain largely unexplored. We focus on the impact of frontline robots’ (FLRs) automated social presence (ASP) on customers’…
Abstract
Purpose
Customer perceptions toward hybrid human–robot teams remain largely unexplored. We focus on the impact of frontline robots’ (FLRs) automated social presence (ASP) on customers’ perceived teamwork quality, and ultimately frontline employees’ (FLEs) competence and warmth. We explore the role of interrogation as a relevant contingency. We complement the customer view with insights into the FLEs’ viewpoint.
Design/methodology/approach
We manipulate FLR’s ASP cues (speech and identity) in a hybrid team in four business-to-consumer (B2C) video-based experiments and collect data from online participants. We combine these with one business-to-business (B2B) field survey which collected data from FLEs working in hybrid teams.
Findings
When FLR’s ASP increases, customers more positively evaluate teamwork quality, ultimately affecting FLEs’ competence and warmth. FLEs who correct (interrogate) robotic mistakes strengthen the positive effect of FLRs’ ASP on teamwork quality. When FLRs correct FLEs, ASP’s effect on teamwork quality is also strengthened, while FLEs are not “punished” for erring. In contrast, FLEs themselves do perceive corrections as detrimental to teamwork quality. We term this the hybrid team evaluation paradox.
Practical implications
We recommend that firms deploy hybrid teams equipped with high-ASP FLRs (name and speech suffice). FLEs should be trained, and FLRs programmed, to appropriately use interrogation. Managers should pay attention to the paradox, given the conflicting perceptions toward interrogative behaviors.
Originality/value
We advance the hybrid teams literature by drawing on ASP, social cognition and collective mindfulness theories and behaviors that ameliorate customer perceptions. Our results support using FLRs to enhance FLEs’ capabilities.
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David Leiño Calleja, Jeroen Schepers and Edwin J. Nijssen
The impact of frontline robots (FLRs) on customer orientation perceptions remains unclear. This is remarkable because customers may associate FLRs with standardization and…
Abstract
Purpose
The impact of frontline robots (FLRs) on customer orientation perceptions remains unclear. This is remarkable because customers may associate FLRs with standardization and cost-cutting, such that they may not fit firms that aim to be customer oriented.
Design/methodology/approach
In four experiments, data are collected from customers interacting with frontline employees (FLEs) and FLRs in different settings.
Findings
FLEs are perceived as more customer-oriented than FLRs due to higher competence and warmth evaluations. A relational interaction style attenuates the difference in perceived competence between FLRs and FLEs. These agents are also perceived as more similar in competence and warmth when FLRs participate in the customer journey's information and negotiation stages. Switching from FLE to FLR in the journey harms FLR evaluations.
Practical implications
The authors recommend firms to place FLRs only in the negotiation stage or in both the information and negotiation stages of the customer journey. Still then customers should not transition from employees to robots (vice versa does no harm). Firms should ensure that FLRs utilize a relational style when interacting with customers for optimal effects.
Originality/value
The authors bridge the FLR and sales/marketing literature by drawing on social cognition theory. The authors also identify the product categories for which customers are willing to negotiate with an FLR. Broadly speaking, this study’s findings underline that customers perceive robots as having agency (i.e. the mental capacity for acting with intentionality) and, just as humans, can be customer-oriented.
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Jeroen Schepers and Sandra Streukens
Although consumers feel that the move toward service robots in the frontline so far was driven by firms' strive to replace human service agents and realize cost savings…
Abstract
Purpose
Although consumers feel that the move toward service robots in the frontline so far was driven by firms' strive to replace human service agents and realize cost savings accordingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has led customers to appreciate frontline robots' ability to provide services in ways that keep them safe and protected from the virus. Still, research on this topic is scant. This article offers guidance by providing a theoretical backdrop for the safety perspective on service robots, as well as outlining a typology that researchers and practitioners can use to further advance this field.
Design/methodology/approach
A typology is developed based on a combination of a theory- and practice-driven approach. Departing from the type of behavior performed by the service robot, the typology synthesizes three different service robot roles from past literature and proposes three new safety-related role extensions. These safety-related roles are derived from a search for examples of how service robots are used in practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings
The typology's roles are corroborated by discussing relevant robot implementations around the globe. Jointly, the six roles give rise to several ideas that jointly constitute a future research agenda.
Originality/value
This manuscript is (one of) the first to provide in-depth attention to the phenomenon of service customers' physical safety needs in the age of service robots. In doing so, it discusses and ties together theories and concepts from different fields, such as hierarchy of needs theory, evolutionary human motives theory, perceived risk theory, regulatory focus theory, job demand–resources theory, and theory of artificial intelligence job replacement.
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Jeroen Schepers and Edwin J. Nijssen
Many organizations expect their service engineers, or frontline employees (FLEs), to behave as brand advocates by engaging in favorable communication about the brand and its…
Abstract
Purpose
Many organizations expect their service engineers, or frontline employees (FLEs), to behave as brand advocates by engaging in favorable communication about the brand and its offerings toward customers. However, this approach is not without risk as customers may be disappointed or even frustrated with brand advocacy behavior in many service encounters. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of FLEs’ brand advocacy on customer satisfaction with the service encounter, and identify the conditions under which the effects are detrimental. This paper specifically considers service issue severity and product newness as contingency conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on social identification theory, the paper builds a conceptual model, which is empirically tested using a data set that matches data from service engineers, customers, and archival records from the after-sales service department of a globally operating business-to-business print and document management solutions provider.
Findings
This paper finds that brand advocacy behavior harms customer satisfaction especially in service encounters that involve simple service issues (e.g. maintenance) for products that are new to the market. Fortunately, brand identification can compensate this negative effect under many service conditions. While the joint effect of brand identification and advocacy is most beneficial for severe service issues of new products, no effect on customer satisfaction was found for established products.
Practical implications
This paper identifies those service situations in which brand advocacy is advisable and guides managers toward achieving more favorable customer evaluations.
Originality/value
Past research has considered several FLE branding activities in the frontline but the effects of brand advocacy have not been isolated. In addition, most studies have assumed the effects of employee brand-related behaviors on customer satisfaction to be universally positive rather than negative and focused on antecedents and not on moderators and consequences.
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Daniel Belanche, Luis V. Casaló, Carlos Flavián and Jeroen Schepers
Service robots are taking over the organizational frontline. Despite a recent surge in studies on this topic, extant works are predominantly conceptual in nature. The purpose of…
Abstract
Purpose
Service robots are taking over the organizational frontline. Despite a recent surge in studies on this topic, extant works are predominantly conceptual in nature. The purpose of this paper is to provide valuable empirical insights by building on the attribution theory.
Design/methodology/approach
Two vignette-based experimental studies were employed. Data were collected from US respondents who were randomly assigned to scenarios focusing on a hotel’s reception service and restaurant’s waiter service.
Findings
Results indicate that respondents make stronger attributions of responsibility for the service performance toward humans than toward robots, especially when a service failure occurs. Customers thus attribute responsibility to the firm rather than the frontline robot. Interestingly, the perceived stability of the performance is greater when the service is conducted by a robot than by an employee. This implies that customers expect employees to shape up after a poor service encounter but expect little improvement in robots’ performance over time.
Practical implications
Robots are perceived to be more representative of a firm than employees. To avoid harmful customer attributions, service providers should clearly communicate to customers that frontline robots pack sophisticated analytical, rather than simple mechanical, artificial intelligence technology that explicitly learns from service failures.
Originality/value
Customer responses to frontline robots have remained largely unexplored. This paper is the first to explore the attributions that customers make when they experience robots in the frontline.
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Arne De Keyser and Werner H. Kunz
Service robots are now an integral part of people's living and working environment, making service robots one of the hot topics for service researchers today. Against that…
Abstract
Purpose
Service robots are now an integral part of people's living and working environment, making service robots one of the hot topics for service researchers today. Against that background, the paper reviews the recent service robot literature following a Theory-Context-Characteristics-Methodology (TCCM) approach to capture the state of art of the field. In addition, building on qualitative input from researchers who are active in this field, the authors highlight where opportunities for further development and growth lie.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper identifies and analyzes 88 manuscripts (featuring 173 individual studies) published in academic journals featured on the SERVSIG literature alert. In addition, qualitative input gathered from 79 researchers who are active in the service field and doing research on service robots is infused throughout the manuscript.
Findings
The key research foci of the service robot literature to date include comparing service robots with humans, the role of service robots' look and feel, consumer attitudes toward service robots and the role of service robot conversational skills and behaviors. From a TCCM view, the authors discern dominant theories (anthropomorphism theory), contexts (retail/healthcare, USA samples, Business-to-Consumer (B2C) settings and customer focused), study characteristics (robot types: chatbots, not embodied and text/voice-based; outcome focus: customer intentions) and methodologies (experimental, picture-based scenarios).
Originality/value
The current paper is the first to analyze the service robot literature from a TCCM perspective. Doing so, the study gives (1) a comprehensive picture of the field to date and (2) highlights key pathways to inspire future work.
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Jeroen Schepers, Martin Wetzels and Ko de Ruyter
Service firms recognize the need to introduce new technologies to stay in the market, or to retain their competitive advantage compared to their rivals. Introducing new…
Abstract
Purpose
Service firms recognize the need to introduce new technologies to stay in the market, or to retain their competitive advantage compared to their rivals. Introducing new technologies in an organization is by no means easy and poses many challenges like the acceptance and adoption of new technologies by employees. The technology acceptance model (TAM) has often been applied to explain individual technology use. In previous studies, the model has been extended with many different constructs, including personal and technology related factors. Also management support and training have been shown to positively influence technology acceptance. However, the influence of leadership style in this context has not been studied before. This study models and tests two leadership styles (transactional and transformational) as antecedents to perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of new technologies.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an empirical study in a service setting.
Findings
In the surveyed company transformational leadership positively influences perceived usefulness of the technology. This was fully accounted for by the sub‐dimension of intellectual stimulation. Transactional leadership did not display any significant effects.
Research limitations/implications
Since data analysis was conducted in a single company, future research is needed to generalize the current findings. Furthermore, a longitudinal design would allow for statements regarding the stability and durability of the observed effects.
Practical implications
Besides technology support and training, leader behavior can influence an individual's perception of a technology, ultimately resulting in usage.
Originality/value
Insight has been given to which extent a leadership style can influence technology acceptance and through which mechanisms.
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Edwin J. Nijssen, Jeroen J. L. Schepers and Daniel Belanche
Customers often think that innovations, such as self-service technologies (SSTs), are introduced by service providers to cut costs rather than extend customer service levels. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Customers often think that innovations, such as self-service technologies (SSTs), are introduced by service providers to cut costs rather than extend customer service levels. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how customers use such attributions to adjust their perceptions of relational value.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on attribution and relationship marketing theories, this study proposes a conceptual model that includes benefit and cost attributions, their antecedents, and consequences. Survey data came from customers of a supermarket that recently introduced self-scanning technology.
Findings
Attributions mediate the impact of SST performance on relational value. This value is highest for customers with high-benefit and low-cost attributions; customers with low-benefit and low-cost attributions exhibit detrimental effects on the exchange relationship with the firm. Characterized by low self-efficacy, low education, and low spending, these latter customers appear ambivalent and possibly confused about the provider’s motives for introducing SST.
Practical implications
This research has important implications for service managers responsible for communicating technological innovations to customers. A clear reason for the introduction should be provided, to stimulate customers’ attribution and prevent ambivalence among those with low self-efficacy and low education.
Originality/value
Most SST research focusses on adoption, non-adoption, and disadoption. The more subtle responses by customers facing a new SST and the consequences for the customer-provider exchange relationship, as addressed herein, have been left largely unexplored.
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This paper introduces the special issue on service innovation management.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper introduces the special issue on service innovation management.
Design/methodology/approach
Provides a brief review of the papers within the issue.
Findings
Compares and contextualizes the contributions, finding that the papers use state of the art methodologies and each furthers knowledge of service innovation management – a recently emerged academic discipline.
Originality/value
The perspectives considered represents a small sample of the diversity that exists within this area.
Eline Hottat, Sara Leroi-Werelds and Sandra Streukens
Following a contingency approach, this paper aims to understand when service automation can enhance or destroy value for customers in the frontline by (1) providing a…
Abstract
Purpose
Following a contingency approach, this paper aims to understand when service automation can enhance or destroy value for customers in the frontline by (1) providing a comprehensive overview of factors that influence the value co-creation/co-destruction potential of service automation and (2) zooming in on the combination of service contexts and service tasks to develop research propositions.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a grounded theory approach based on qualitative data from multiple methods (i.e. a diary study with follow-up interviews, a consultation of academic experts and a storyboard study) as well as a systematic literature review to develop (1) a Framework of Automated Service Interactions (FASI) and (2) a contingency model for service tasks/contexts.
Findings
This paper presents a framework which gives an overview of factors influencing the value co-creation/co-destruction potential of service automation. The framework discerns between three types of factors: service design (i.e. controllable and manageable by the organization), static contingency (i.e. uncontrollable and fixed) and dynamic contingency (i.e. uncontrollable and flexible). Furthermore, the paper presents a contingency model based on the combination of service contexts and service tasks which results in seven research propositions.
Originality/value
This paper brings structure in the fragmented field of service automation. It integrates and summarizes insights regarding service automation and sheds more light on when service automation has the potential to create or destroy value in the organizational frontline.