Understanding and Mitigating the Robot Disadvantage in Luxury Services: The Role of Desire for Superiority

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Ma, Shuang; Ge, Lin; Jia, He (Michael); Wang, Yonggui
• 署名单位: University of International Business & Economics; Hong Kong Metropolitan University; University of Hong Kong; Zhejiang Gongshang University; Zhejiang Gongshang University
• 刊物名称: INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7047
• DOI: 10.1287/isre.2023.0229
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: artificial-intelligence; signaling status; experiences; PRODUCTS; agents; POWER; cues

摘要

Whereas service firms have started to deploy service robots on the service front line, it remains less understood whether all types of service firms gain a similar benefit from this advance in information technologies. With one secondary data analysis of review content from a leading travel website, one field study conducted at a hotel, and three randomized controlled experiments, the current research addresses this important managerial issue. We propose that replacing human service providers with service robots dampens customers' feelings of superior social status over service providers, which drives a lower relative preference for service robots over human service providers in luxury services than in mainstream services. Supporting this mechanism, we show that the effect of price image (luxury versus mainstream) on customers' relative preference for robots over humans is mediated by the desire to be treated as a customer of superior status by service providers. Furthermore, the robot disadvantage in luxury services can be mitigated when a luxury service firm adopts a social equality-oriented positioning and when the use of service robots is endowed with superior status.