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Understanding travellers' reactions to robotic services: a multiple case study

approach of robotic hotels

Article  in  Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology · December 2020

DOI: 10.1108/JHTT-01-2020-0015

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Understanding travellers’ reactions to robotic services: a multiple case

study approach of robotic hotels
Kadir Çakara
&
Şehmus Aykola
a
Mardin Artuklu University, Mardin/Turkey

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of the present research is to investigate travellers’ behaviour and examine
their reactions to high-tech hotels offering robotic services to customers.
Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered from user-generated content (UGC)
within the context of a qualitative research method by analysing the online narratives of
travellers at TripAdvisor who visited robotic hotels. Data analysis was realised through
content analysis, which revealed various themes and categories of traveller behaviour and
reactions to technology.
Findings – Results show that robotic services significantly improve the quality of service
offered to travellers, while positively affecting travellers’ intention to revisit robotic hotels
within the context of customer engagement behaviours (CEBs).
Research limitations/implications – The results of the present research reveal that the
introduction of new technologies in the service industry, such as the robotic butler, can have
considerable effects on guest behaviour and attitudes. This field has emerged as a new sub-
dimension of customer engagement (CE).
Theoretical implications – The introduction of new technologies will result in value co-
creation to customers by increasing the quality of services to them. Also, it may help to allay
travellers’ concerns about exposure to pandemics during health-related crises; industry
practitioners should consider adopting robotic services for their firms, establishments, or
companies.
Practical implications – The use of robots will most likely enhance experiences through
interaction between customers and robots. Additionally, in cases where social distancing is
required, the use of robots in the hospitality and tourism industry may increase the mobility of
people wishing to travel by applying social distancing through use of robots in services.
Originality/value – The study contributes to the extant literature by identifying the concept of
adoption as a sub-dimension deriving from human–robot interaction, thus generating the
novelty of the research.
Keywords – Robotic services, Service robots, Customer engagement, Customer behaviour

Paper type – Case study


Corresponding author: Dr. Kadir Çakar
** Email: kadircakar@edu.tr

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1. Introduction

It is assumed that tourism in the future will take place in an economy in which robots,
artificial intelligence, and automation technologies (RAIA) will replace human labour. This
has been dubbed the so-called 'robonomic' economy, a buzzword referring to a robot-based
economy (Ivanov, 2019; Webster and Ivanov, 2019). Technologies can shift tourism
management and marketing from a static and utilitarian understanding to a transformative
process in which tourism markets and actors both affect and are affected by developing
technology (Sigala, 2018). According to Bitner et al. (2000), both employees and customers
can apply technology as a facilitator of service encounter satisfaction. Recent developments in
information technology and the use of new ways of communication have given rise to
significant shifts in consumer behaviour in the hospitality and tourism sector (Cantallops and
Salvi, 2014). New web-based and mobile technologies have become crucial factors in
influencing travel behaviour by ensuring visitors have access to information, as well as
providing facilities to purchase remote tourism products (Gretzel et al., 2006). Artificial
intelligence (AI) and the use of automated robots in the hospitality, service, and travel
industries are regarded as the main examples of such technology (Brady, 2019; Ivanov, 2017;
Manning, 2019).

More recently, robots have come into prominence within the hotel industry in the area
of delivering service, with several hotels using them as waiters, butlers, and housekeepers.
Some hotels, such as the Hotel Jen group, the Park Avenue Rochester, Singapore, the Sofitel
hotel group, and the Millennium hotel group – including the M Social Singapore, the M Hotel
Singapore, and the Studio M Hotel Singapore – have started adopting the practice of robots
serving guests (Post, 2019). In a similar manner, the general use of robots in the hospitality
and tourism sector is becoming increasingly important (Murphy et al., 2017). This has
become the case particularly after the COVID-19 outbreak, which not only accentuated the
current use of robots in daily routine work but also suggests the potential use of robots in
many different areas (Ivanov et al., 2017) such as delivery, entertainment, housekeeping,
guiding, and security (Go et al., 2020). Thus, it is also expected that this outbreak will drive
the adoption of using robots for multiple purposes throughout the entire hotel industry to
mitigate the risks of infection transmission (Min, 2020).

Robots are being used for different purposes (Ivanov et al., 2018) ranging from a
robotic service butler (Bhaumik, 2018; Pinillos et al., 2016) to a bellboy at the front desk

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(Rodriguez-Lizundia et al., 2015). Besides, in airports robots are being utilised to help
passengers find their way around (Holley, 2019). Another example of this shift is that
traveller attitudes towards booking a hotel have drastically changed which is regarded as a
key factor. Managing such behaviour seems to be essential in order to implement sustainable
marketing strategies (Casaló et al., 2015). Supporting tools information and communication
technologies (ICTs) have changed consumer behaviour, as well as accelerated the
transformational process of future marketing. It allows users to express individual needs and
expectations, while destinations can respond to travellers’ requirements by offering them high
quality products and services (Buhalis and Michopoulou, 2011; Law et al., 2014).

The aim of this study is to investigate the adoption of new technology and its effects on
travellers visiting Aloft Cupertino in California, the Henn-na Hotel in Tokyo, and Residence
Inn Hotel in Los Angeles by analysing their experiences and reactions to such new
technology. The study also strives to reveal travellers’ reflections about new technologies and
customer-to-machine interaction in terms of customer engagement behaviours (CEBs), i.e.,
the major motivators of intention to revisit and willingness to recommend to others as regards
their future decision-making processes.

By employing a multiple case study approach using user-generated content (UGC), the
aims of the present research are as follows:

 to investigate customers’ reactions to robotic services offered by high-tech hotels; and

 to explore the effects of robotics on customer/traveller behaviours and attitudes in the
hospitality and service industry.

This paper consists of four main sections. Section 2 outlines the literature review
concerning the use of robots and consumer behaviour in the hospitality and tourism sector.
Section 3 describes the methodology used, while an assessment of the findings is presented in
Section 4. The final section covers the study’s implications and suggestions for future
research.

2. Literature review

2.1 Use of robots and consumer behaviour in hospitality and tourism

The innovations of Web 2.0 and ICTs have led to social media becoming a very popular
application for travellers, as well as for tourism marketing (Kang and Schuett, 2013).
Particularly, the emergence of Web 2.0 and online user-generated content has affected both

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consumer behaviour (tourist behaviour) and the decision making of internet users (Ye et al.,
2011) by enhancing their ability to be involved in new service development (Sigala, 2012).

Several theoretical approaches have been developed to understand individuals’

acceptance and use of technology-related applications, such as the technology adoption or
acceptance model (TAM) (Davis, 1985; Kim et al., 2008b), the theory of planned behaviour
(TPB) (Ajzen, 1991; Han et al., 2010), social influence theory (Crano, 2000; Kang and
Schuett, 2013) and customer engagement behaviours (CEB) (Brodie et al., 2011; Hollebeek,
2011; Van Doorn et al., 2010). For instance, customer engagement with automated service
interactions is estimated to increase in the near future and thus a new form of service
involving customer-to-machine interaction is expected to replace the traditional customer-to-
employee service interaction (Foster et al., 2017; Hollebeek et al., 2016; Marinova et al.,
2017; Shi et al., 2015).

In the present era, travellers are more inclined to receive personalised services and, as a
result, hotel establishments are being designed to provide more technology-oriented services
than ever before. Given that changing travel behaviour encompasses some specific
characteristics, the new tourist profile is that of an individual who (Werthner and Klein, 1999,
p. 258):

 is more likely to ask for better service,

 expects more specific offers related to both content and their entire arrangement,
 is becoming more mobile and critical–which includes having a low level of loyalty,
 is more price sensitive rather than requesting more offers,
 shows a tendency to take more but shorter vacations and then decides to reduce the
time between reservation and consumption.

Such emerging consumer behaviour precipitates people into searching for online
information and interacting virtually with each other, along with shopping and living online
(Amaral et al., 2014). Thus, it is crucial for destination marketers and managers to understand
new online search behaviour in providing quality services and products that can enable them
to meet the needs and desires of their consumers (Buhalis and Licata, 2002; Law et al., 2009).
Shared experiences of travellers through social media are treated as one of the most
significant facets of customers, travel, and tourism-related establishments (Kang and Shuett,
2013). Furthermore, a new technology-oriented customer/traveller has emerged: one who
shows a tendency to use technology-led travel applications through mobile devices. This has
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been found to be one of the most significant factors enabling travellers to access information
and share their experiences (Lu et al., 2015). This newly emerging behaviour can be
explained at an individual level through the technology acceptance model (TAM), as the use
of technology, or online consumer behaviour, is largely based on the assumptions of
perceived ease of use and usefulness (Kim, Lee, and Law, 2008; Kumar and Mukherjee,
2013). TAM is regarded as one of the most prominent models in explaining the adoption of
new ICT use or behaviour, like mobile commerce (Chung and Koo, 2015; Kim et al., 2007).
TAM, which has been developed to understand the behavioural intention of customers who
use technology, postulates that attitude and subjective norms have an influence on behavioural
intention, which subsequently affects the reaction of an individual (Shin and Kim, 2008).

On the other hand, the concept of customer engagement (CE), which has ties with the
theory of service-dominant (S-D) logic (Hollebeek et al., 2016), can be identified as the
interactive process in which experience and value co-creation coexist, and has received
prominence over the last years in relation to marketing and service management perspectives
(Brodie et al., 2011). As such, CEB as an emerging phenomenon covers a variety of
behaviours, such as WOM, recommendations, helping other consumers, blogging, writing
reviews, and engaging in legal activities. Moreover, the behavioural outcome can include
positive posting, which signals a positive brand message on a blog, as well as negative posts
that mirror coordinated community movements opposed to a company (Van-Doorn et al.,
2010).

CE encompasses five basic dimensions known specifically as enthusiasm, attention,

absorption, interaction, and identification (So et al., 2014). Each dimension has different
characteristics, which play a role in forming the customer engagement process related to a
brand or firm beyond purchase, and which is comprised of cognitive, emotional, behavioural,
and social components (Brodie et al., 2011; Dessart et al., 2015; Harrigan et al., 2017;
Hollebeek, 2011; Islam et al., 2018; Vivek et al., 2012). It can be suggested that the
theoretical background of CE may be described by underscoring theory addressing interactive
experience and value co-creation and in terms of marketing relationships (Brodie et al., 2011).
In addition to these basic dimensions, CE also includes several different objects of
engagement, such as organisation, brand, firm, product, or service. Besides, it can also be
presumed that CE may be subject to one or more objects, as the existing literature offers both
unidimensional and multidimensional aspects to the approach (Dessart et al., 2015; Vivek et
al., 2014).

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Considering the above-mentioned statements, it has been confirmed by previous studies

that the common and intense use of social media for gathering travel information, including
before, during, and after crisis events, has largely increased (Reuter et al., 2018). More
concretely, previous research has shown that a person’s characteristics can significantly
influence traveller information search behaviour (Murphy et al., 2007). As a consequence,
there are many factors that significantly influence travellers’ consumer behaviour regarding
tourism products and services offered by the hotel establishments they visit.

2.2 Robotic services in the hospitality and tourism industry

The interaction between the robot and its environment, including interaction with other
robots, first emerged when researchers began using robots in daily life (Fong et al., 2003;
Wolbring and Yumakulov, 2014). Subsequently, the design of such androids concentrated on
a humanlike realistic appearance and the simulation of a few human movements, which
differed from later research dealing with (AI) (Dautenhahn, 2007). By the end of the twentieth
century, the first stream of practical robots was created to implement mundane montage and
construction tasks on factory floors (Cabibihan, 2014). Recently, however, the emergence of
technological developments has brought about many new service applications within the
hospitality and tourism industry, such as mobile payment, the Internet of Things (IoT), Living
Services, Mobility as a Service, Big Data, voice recognition, and robotic devices (Bu, 2018).

From the perspective of the hospitality and tourism sector, it is assumed that in the
future robots will become more integrated within daily life, and it is predicted that the market
for service robots will also develop immensely over the next twenty years (Foster et al.,
2017). Today, the use of robots for multiple purposes (e.g., frontline services, restaurants,
travel agencies, museums, etc.) has gained prominence within the hospitality and tourism
industry, as within many other diverse areas (Murphy et al., 2017; Nakagawa et al., 2016).
The Henn-na Hotel in Japan, which is fully run by automated humanoid robots, was the first
hotel in the world to adopt robots in the tourism and hospitality sector (Chung-En, 2018).
Similarly, a robotic butler distributes poolside towels and room snacks in the Aloft Cupertino
in California. The robot also rides the elevators and delivers requested items to guests. Botlr,
Aloft’s first robotic butler, is programmed to bring towels and 'lite bites' to guests at the
poolside, and to their rooms if guests need a snack or toiletries (Berman, 2017).

The contributions of robotic services to hotel establishments are manifold (see Buhalis
and Sinarta, 2019; Ivanov et al., 2019). Their use can fundamentally increase business

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performance while also enabling hotels to cope with the issues of seasonal employment and
workforce utilisation (Kuo et al., 2017). To that end, there are many examples regarding the
use of robots in the hospitality and tourism industry (Tung and Law, 2017), such as the use of
robots as waiters instead of humans in a restaurant in China (Van-Doorn et al., 2017), a
robotic bellboy in a hotel in the USA (Murphy et al., 2017), service robots as frontline
employees (Wirtz et al., 2018), a robotic butler that delivers service to hotel guests (Berman
2017; Tung and Au, 2018), and a keyless and cashless hotel in which all services are provided
by robots (CNBC, 2019). Further examples of robotic use in the hospitality and tourism sector
are also seen in meetings and events, theme and amusement parks, car rental services, airport
services, travel agencies, tourist information centres, and museums and art galleries (Ivanov et
al., 2017).

The use of robots in hotels has been receiving greater attention from scholars and thus
the number of studies investigating the use of service robots in the hospitality and tourism
industry is significantly increasing (Berezina et al., 2019; Ivanov and Webster, 2019a; Ivanov
and Webster, 2019b). For instance, the major research papers have been designed to explore
the use of robots in services from a cognition perspective (Čaić et al., 2019), the
implementation of service-robots in the service industry (Belanche et al., 2020), service
automation and use of robots by tourist, travel, and hospitality establishments (Ivanov et al.,
2019), co-creation (Buhalis and Sinatra, 2019), the replacement of the human workforce with
robots (Osawa et al., 2017), anthropomorphism (Murphy et al., 2019), economic aspects of
service robots (Ivanov and Webster, 2019b; Ivanov and Webster, 2019c), humanlike robots as
employees in the hotel industry (Yu, 2020), artificial intelligence in the service industry
(Bowen and Morosan, 2018; Cain et al., 2019; Huang and Rust, 2018), the impacts of robotic
service on customer evaluations of the hotel brand experience (Chan and Tung, 2019), using
robotics in classes and research by hospitality educators (Murphy et al., 2017), and the use of
robots in predicting demand and production management in quick-service restaurants (Noone
and Coulter, 2012).

With the emergence of the COVID-19 health crisis, awareness of using robots in
hospitality and tourism has become crucial and necessary in different spheres of life such as
hospitals, airports, transportation, recreation, and scenic areas including hotels and
communities to effectively manage the COVID-19 pandemic as well as ensuring social
distancing (Zeng et al., 2020). From this perspective, the transformative role of using robots
has become more apparent (Brouder, 2020), which will most likely continue to affect the

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entire tourism system including companies in travel, tourism, and hospitality in order to cope
with the pandemic (Ivanov et al., 2020). Since the virus can transmit from human to human,
social distancing must be enforced to ensure avoiding infection (Wen et al., 2020a). As a
result, the COVID-19 outbreak has affected – and would seem to continue to affect –
travellers’ behaviour and preferences throughout their entire lives, including travel behaviour
(Wen et al., 2020b) by stimulating and propelling them to increasingly adopt and use robots.

Even though there are many research studies in the existing literature that have
examined the use of robots in hospitality and tourism, there is a rather limited body of
research underscoring the experiences of travellers with robots and their behavioural reactions
to robotics. Therefore, the present research is dedicated to contributing to current knowledge
by filling the existing gap.

3. Methodology and research design

Various sectors tend to adopt RAIA to reduce costs, generate additional revenues, provide
consistent product quality, streamline operations, expand production/service capacity, and
improve a company’s competitiveness (Ivanov, 2017). Like many other sectors, such as
manufacturing, transportation and logistics, warehousing, agriculture, medicine, and
marketing communications (Ivanov and Webster, 2017), this new trend also applies to the
hospitality and tourism sector where industrial robots are used to create value. For example,
Aloft Cupertino, Residence Inn, and the Henn-na Hotel are among those designed to provide
services to their visitors using robots (Murison, 2016). In addition, the top five high-tech
hotels in Asia – Aloft Bangkok Sukhumvit 11, Tokyo Hen-na, Grand Park City Hall,
Singapore, Alibaba FlyZoo Hotel, Hangzhou, and Moon Capital Hotels – use robots through
applications to serve their guests (Lo, 2019).

Table 1. Top 10 high-tech hotels around the world

Hotel Destination

W Singapore – Sentosa Cove, Sentosa Island Singapore

NH Collection Berlin Friedrichstrasse Berlin/Germany

Hotel Silken Puerta Madrid Madrid/Spain

Peninsula Hotel Tokyo Tokyo/Japan

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YOTEL New York City New York/United States

Ecclestone Square, Pimlico London/UK

Aloft Cupertino California/United States

Pengheng Space Capsules Hotel Shenzhen/China

Blow Up Hall 5050 Poznań/Poland

Hotel 1000 Seattle Washington/United Sates

Source: (Berman, 2017)

Adopting Veal’s (2006) case selection criteria, the sample was determined based on the
following statements: (1) the selected hotels are ranked amongst the most high-tech in the
world, having been designed to provide services to their customers using the latest
technology; (2) data were conveniently collected by researchers from one of the most
recognised and used travel platforms, TripAdvisor.

3.1 Data collection and analysis

In light of the research objective, this study has utilised a mixed content analysis method. In
the first stage, a traditional content analysis method was performed consisting of different
levels and in the second, Leximancer software was used for a qualitative analysis of data
utilising a quantitative method approach (Spasojevic et al., 2018).

UGC reviews, based on online visitor comments, are useful as they allow travellers to
make informed decisions prior to their trip by flagging bad products and services, as well as
influencing other choices and perceptions (Filieri et al., 2015; Tung and Au, 2018). One of the
most popular user-generated sources and online travel communities is TripAdvisor, through
which travellers can collect and convey their experiences with reviews, ratings, photos, and
videos during or after their travel experiences (Lee et al., 2011; O’Connor, 2010; Xiang and
Gretzel, 2010). Therefore, in order to achieve the aims and objectives of this study, user-
generated content was considered in the first stage based on the reviews of travellers visiting
Aloft Cupertino (n = 235) in California, USA, the Henn-na Hotel (n = 29) in Tokyo, Japan,
and Residence Inn (n = 300) in Los Angeles, USA, which was retrieved from the TripAdvisor
travel platform. Data were collected during the period September to February 2017, and in
May 2019.

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Table 2. Number and dates of reviews for each robotic hotel

Number of retrieved First date of Last date of

Hotels reviews /Total reviews reviews reviews
Aloft Cupertino
California 235/300 February 2013 August 2017
Henn na Hotel Tokyo 28/33 October 2015 January 2019
Residence Inn L.A. 300/497 March 2017 April 2019

Based on the basic types of engagement (Harrigan et al., 2017), deductive content
analysis was utilised to analyse the data, which was implemented by two independent
researchers following several steps. Deductive content analysis is a technique that allows the
researcher to check whether data is congruent with previous expectations, theories, or
hypotheses described or extracted (Thomas, 2006). During this first step of the data analysis
process, researchers transcribed online reviews of travellers visiting Aloft Cupertino from
TripAdvisor. The second stage covered the coding process, which was independently carried
out by the researchers. After the coding process was finalised and, in order to prevent
confusion, researchers combined common categories with synonyms that fell under the main
themes, which were coded considering a set of common factors (Lamberton and Stephen,
2016). For instance, 'cool tech', 'high-tech', 'modern', and 'contemporary' as relevant codes
were classified under the category identifying positive experiences of travellers in high-tech
hotels offering a robotic butler service. In the determination of main themes and categories,
researchers strived to come to a consensus regarding distinctions, and later categories were
reduced as more codes emerged in the first stage of data analysis (Tung and Au, 2018; Xiang
and Gretzel, 2010).

In the second stage, Leximancer, automatic content analysis software that allows
researchers to count word frequency and analyse the meaning of texts by creating frequently
used concepts, was employed (Scott et al., 2019). Moreover, Leximancer software presents
both conceptual and relational analyses, measuring not only the existence of described codes
or concepts within texts or narratives, but also the ways in which extracted concepts are
connected to each other (Brochado et al., 2019). Unlike other software programmes,
Leximancer does not compute word frequency or the coding of terms and phrases. Instead,
based on its own algorithms, Leximancer software analyses the meanings within passages of
text by eliciting the major concepts and ideas (Tseng et al., 2015). Since it provides better
results and a deeper understanding, and can extract meaningful concepts relating to visitors’

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experiences left on travel blogs, Leximaner software has been increasingly used in the field of
tourism for the qualitative analysis of trip experiences (e.g., Kolar, 2019; Mehran and Olya,
2019; Moyle et al., 2014; Phi, 2019).

4. Findings

This section is split into two main parts. The first encompasses the results derived from the
content analysis of travellers’ online narratives through using the Leximancer software.
Overall, the content analysis of qualitative data created seven major themes using a concept
map, which can be referred to as the key dimensions of robotic experiences: staff (1,158
occurrences), hotel (1,102 occurrences), room (828 occurrences), area (246 occurrences),
place (240 occurrences), floor (63 occurrences), and walk (43 occurrences).

Figure 1. Concept map of robotic service experiences

In the second part, an analysis of travellers’ online reviews was clustered into three
basic themes addressing their reactions and behavioural attitudes to robotic services. The main
themes revealed were adoption, behavioural engagement (interaction), and emotional
engagement (affection). The results obtained from the online narratives of travellers, relating
to robotic service experiences, are presented in Figure 2.

4.1 Adoption

This category is closely related to the delivery services provided by the robot Botlr and mostly
conveyed positive traveller experiences. The adoption of any technological development is

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concerned with the degree to which customers enjoy the innovation, as in the case of high-
tech hotels offering robotic services as described in this study. It is also considered a
significant dimension of customer engagement towards robotic services alongside the
important area of research that needs to be further examined (Ivanov and Webster, 2019b;
Ivanov et al., 2019).

Figure 2. Customer engagement with the robotic service experience

The adoption theory strives to explain the preferences of an individual and the reasons
behind a person engaging with or refusing any innovation (Straub, 2009). This concept can
also be explained through the TAM, which closely affects a person’s decision to adopt a new
technology (Kaushik et al., 2015) and posits the perceived ease of use and usefulness of
approach (Kim et al., 2008a). Positive feelings referring to adoption resulting from travellers’
experiences that were most frequently stated were 'amazing', 'very cool', 'modern', and 'very
high-tech'. One of the travellers described his/her positive engagement with the robotic butler
as follows:

'A robot butler that brought me items to my room, very cool!'

Considering the comments that travellers left in their online narratives, one can assert
that quality experience, which depends on the degree of robotics adoption (Xiao and Kumar,
2019), needs to be treated as one of the most significant elements amongst others as it drives

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the adoption of a robotics service for customers. The positive adoption of a robotic butler
service was also voiced by another traveller who wrote:

'The cool thing about this hotel is the robot that can deliver things to your room'.

It can also be claimed that the positive attitude and responsiveness of travellers towards
using robotic services and this kind of technological development reflects an improved
customer experience, as well as creating value for travellers. As a consequence, it can be
posited that regarding the product and service quality, the adoption of robots will likely shift
customers’ expectations concerning what forms a travel, tourism, and hospitality product
(Ivanov, 2019).

4.2 Behavioural engagement

Behavioural engagement, considered as one of the most fundamental variables and elements
of customer engagement, refers to the willingness of customers to adopt a brand or firm
(Dessart et al. 2015). It is regarded as one of the major components of CE along with a
cognitive, emotional, and social component (Vivek et al., 2012). Under this theme, interaction
was extracted as the category most frequently used by travellers.

4.2.1 Interaction

Interaction signals one of the behavioural dimensions of engagement, which refers to 'the two-
way communications between a focal engagement subject and object' (Brodie et al., 2011, p.
257). It is considered as one of the chief tenets, as well as behavioural components, of
customer engagement (Harrigan et al., 2017). It should also be considered as one of the most
influential factors, mutually created through the interaction between robots and customer, and
co-created by manifold actors, one of which – the customer as beneficiary – is playing a key
role as a co-creator of value (Kunz et al., 2017). The category of interaction has been found to
be one of the main motivational drivers of CEB, as it positively affects the revisit intention of
travellers and creates a willingness to recommend to others in terms of their future decision-
making for a trip. Regarding this issue one traveller shared:

'My children enjoy ordering from BOTLR the robot as well'.

This comment clearly refers to feelings of satisfaction and pleasure in terms of the use
of robotic services (Dessart et al. 2015). Related to this, one traveller also approved of the
way services were delivered by:

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'an incredibly cute robot that delivers orders to your room, using the elevator and getting to
your room’s door, unaccompanied by any human'.

Overall it can be deduced from the above statements that the high level of interaction
between humans and robots may create greater levels of engagement, which can encourage
curiosity and questing of functionality (Cain et al., 2019). Furthermore, it is worth considering
that the interaction between the robots and consumers greatly impact consumer perceptions
and their level of service satisfaction (Go et al., 2020).

4.3 Emotional engagement

Engagement involves a psychological state that mirrors a customer’s specific psychological

condition stimulated by their interactive experiences with a central engagement object (Kunz
et al., 2017). Emotional engagement, which is seen as one of the integral elements of CE,
reflects a transmissible feature emanating from human–robot interaction (Stock 2016).
Travellers’ online narratives have shown substantial emotional ties with robotic butlers.
Overall, travellers’ experiences revealed positive emotional responses arising from such
interaction. This kind of customer engagement is mostly conveyed as affective responses to
the robotic butler. Therefore, traveller experience relating to emotional engagement needs to
be assessed as an integral part of the user experience of robotic butlers and is thus linked to
the affective dimension.

4.3.1 Affection

Employees working in the hospitality sector and customers receiving services are both
concerned with the process in which they interact with each other in the creation of a
hospitality product (Bowen and Morosan, 2018). However, in order to provide services,
robots were designed and programmed to respond to human affections through human–robot
interaction (Broekens, 2007), which was described by Stock (2016) as a robot-centric
perspective to reveal emotions in a similar way to humans while deploying affective
responses to humans by means of simulation (Fong et al., 2003). Another traveller
commented on this issue as follows:

'My boys were sorry to say goodbye to BOTLR and we will recommend this place to our
friends'.

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This positive emotional response can be related to approaches. First, customers build a
strong affectionate link with service firms while outstanding service spurs customer–firm
affection in the second step. In a subsequent step, customer–firm affection is a likely
attainable goal that may offer the missing link to loyalty in services (Yim et al., 2008).
Similar affective evidence resulting from the emotional engagement of travellers with robots
is also seen in this visitor’s comment:

'The “Botlr” is a robot butler that will deliver things to you upon request, such as extra
shampoo, towels, snacks, etc. It was the highlight of our trip'.

While robotic services can improve the traveller’s trip by creating value for money, they
can also be seen as a key driver in creating memorable experiences, as well as playing a
crucial role in transforming the value of a service experience through human–robot interaction
(Blocker and Barrios, 2015; Tung and Au, 2018). Other travellers reviewed their opinions as
follows:

'It was a very pleasant stay with a fun “robot” delivery experience'.

'We loved the robot in our room and the face technology that allows you to enter the room.
The rooms were very clean and comfortable'.

Considering the above comments, it can be claimed that using a robotic butler created
additional value to customers resulting from human–robot interaction. This kind of value,
based on the services of a robot, also proves that the robotic-service experience can be one of
enjoyment, sociability, and companionship (De Graaf and Allouch, 2013). Moreover, robotic
services can be treated as one of the most significant factors that drives and transforms
traditional customer service experiences into meaningful ones, through social encounters
between humans (customers) and robots (Van-Doorn et al., 2017). To this end, it can be
claimed that customer engagement (referring to a psychological process and involving
cognitive and emotional facets) can engender loyalty for both new and real (existing)
customers (Kunz et al., 2017).

5. Conclusions

The specific objective of this research paper was to examine the effects of robotic services
and their impact on traveller behaviour, which can subsequently influence their decision-
making process. Moreover, in the present research, attention has been drawn to the role of
modern technology and its impact on guests in the service industry within the marketing
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domain by collecting data from one of the most popular internet platforms, TripAdvisor.
Overall, based on the study findings, this paper proposes a conceptual model of CEB with
robotic service experiences within the hospitality and tourism sector.

By contributing advantageous insights to the extant literature, this paper presents useful
conclusions (in line with the concept of CEBs) for the future of both tourism marketers and
managers of hotels and industry practitioners. First, the results of the study show that the
application of robots in hotels can have compelling positive effects on guest satisfaction and
experiences, which subsequently can influence their decision-making in terms of revisit
intention. Most importantly, the study contributes to the extant literature by identifying the
concept of adoption as a sub-dimension deriving from human–robot interaction, thus
generating the novelty of the research.

The findings of the present study support the view that the use of information
technologies and their impact on travellers, as well as potential travellers, play a key role in
marketing tourism destinations. To this end, it can be concluded that robotic services based on
new technologies can positively affect guests’ attitudes by improving their level of
satisfaction. This postulation can be linked to the stance that the interaction between the
robots and consumers substantially affects not only consumer perceptions, but also service
satisfaction (Go et al., 2020). Within the context of CEB, behavioural indications of travellers
were positive to a large extent, in particular through electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and
recommendations to others via online reviews and comments, which stemmed from a high
level of satisfaction based on the high-tech hotel experience they received (Van-Doorn et al.,
2010). These results can be confirmed and supported by findings that customers structure
strong affectionate connections with service firms and remarkable service fosters affection
between customer and firm (Yim et al., 2008).

The study results also supported the finding that customer engagement has a substantial
impact on the co-creation process of traveller experience, which also coincides with prior
research findings (Brodie et al., 2011; Hollebeek et al., 2016). One of the most important
findings of the current study is that the robotic service experience is mostly congruent with
the object of service engagement rather than the product, one amongst many modes of
engagement (Dessart et al., 2015), since the interaction process amongst customers and
robotics is treated as the key driver of this kind of engagement stemming from human–robot
interaction (Tung and Au, 2018).

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The study findings also reveal that experiences based on traveller interaction with
service robots reflect mostly a single object of customer engagement, as well as offering
multidimensional aspects (e.g., social, emotional, and behavioural interaction) of CE (Dessart
et al., 2015; Vivek et al., 2014), while additionally positing adoption as an emerging sub-
dimension of CE. As such, this kind of interrelatedness between adoption, customer
engagement, and interaction can be explained and supported through a concept that can also
be explained through the TAM, which intimately influences a person’s decision to adopt a
new technology (Kaushik et al., 2015), and postulates the perceived ease of use and perceived
usefulness approaches (Kim et al., 2008a). Using robots in services significantly influenced
travellers’ behaviours and attitudes in a positive way, which subsequently impacted
behavioural intentions of customers to use robots, thus eliciting more customer engagement
with robots. This kind of customer engagement with robotic services – which is spawned from
interaction between customers and robots – is emanating from a high degree of adoption. In
addition, the degree of customers' adoption helps to explain the preferences of an individual
and the reasons behind a person engaging with, or refusing, any innovation (Straub, 2009).
Customer adoption is also considered to be a vital element of customer engagement towards
robotic services (Ivanov and Webster, 2019b; Ivanov et al., 2019).

Service robots can also have a positive impact on value creation, as well as playing a
crucial role in transforming the value of a service based on S-D logic, which subsequently
engenders loyalty, triggering intention to revisit (Blocker and Barrios, 2015). Nevertheless,
the results of the present study have also indicated that traditional hotel experiences cannot be
completely substituted from the traveller’s point of view because robots still do not have the
capability to show real human qualities such as emotion (Murison, 2016). This is despite the
fact that the vast majority of guests visiting hotels using robots experienced high levels of
satisfaction from the service, which has also been confirmed by previous research.

Some travellers described negative experiences, mainly resulting from traditional

facilities and a small room design, whilst other consumers felt that the enjoyment and pleasure
derived from receiving robotic butler services predominantly arose from the human–robot
interaction. This is evidence that service robots can facilitate the reconstruction of traditional
experiences by transforming the value of the service experience (Blocker and Barrios, 2015).

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5.1 Theoretical implications

One of the most notable and compelling implications of the present research is that it
has revealed the current use and adoption of robots in many different areas of the hospitality
industry and has created value for customers (Ivanov et al., 2017). Industry practitioners will
most likely be stimulated towards the use and adoption of robotic technology in all areas of
travel, tourism, and hospitality industries while striving to strengthen their establishments'
technological infrastructure by investing more in technology. While robotic applications were
previously only a preference for establishments in order to make a difference, the use of them
would appear to be a necessity in the near future. As the study findings support, since the
consumer adoption and use of robotic service technologies drive their use, investing in
technology in tourism and hospitality industries should be encouraged. As a result, another
practical implication of the research is that hotel managers need to be aware of the benefits of
using robotics in their establishments in order to improve the innovative service experiences
of customers while at the same time gaining competitive advantages in the market.

5.2 Practical implications

From a social implications perspective, health crises and related issues that society may
face in all spheres of life during and in the aftermath of COVID-19 will entail social
distancing and increased physical distance between people. This will likely accelerate the use
of robotic services in the hospitality and tourism industry, and the use of robots for routine
tasks will become more conspicuous (Ivanov et al., 2017). From a practical perspective,
industry practitioners can then deploy robots in many roles to implement and carry out
different physical tasks that were previously the domain of humans (Royakkers and van Est,
2015). This could engender a new impetus for the way the hospitality and tourism industry
operates as a whole. In this vein, it is worth noting that robots will dominate the current
service delivery systems; this will entail the creation of new robot-led systems as machines
continue to replace humans (Bowen and Morosan, 2018). The originality of the present study
relies on its contribution to the increasing recognition of the significance of the use of robotics
in hospitality and tourism. Thus, this qualitative research was dedicated to revealing deeper

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insights into the use of robots by firms and companies that are operating in travel, tourism,
and hospitality.

5.3 Limitations and future research directions

The present research used the TripAdvisor online reviews of travellers visiting high-
tech hotels as a source of UGC. The main limitation of the study is that the analysis is based
on a small number of travellers from selected hotels, so results cannot be generally applied
within the wider context. Future research studies should be conducted to explore and better
understand the motivations of travellers visiting high-tech hotels providing robotic services.
Furthermore, using a quantitative research method, researchers should also investigate to what
extent the adoption of automated services can play a role in improving customer experience.

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