Employee perception on service robot acceptance in Chengdu hotel industry

Abstract

Globally, the hotel industry faces challenges such as digital transformation, oversupply, diversification of consumer demands, and rising labour costs. Moreover, with the extensive application of automation technology and artificial intelligence, the hotel industry has adopted service robots to provide personalized services, improve efficiency, and reduce costs. Therefore, organizations need to update and transform their business models to remain competitive, and individuals also need to adapt their thinking to cope with technological changes. This study adopts a mixed-methods approach. Set against the backdrop of the hotel industry in Chengdu, it firstly explores hotel employees’ perceptions of service robots based on the UTAUT model and secondly formulates a strategic framework to improve hotel employees’ acceptance of service robots based on the ADKAR model. The findings show that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions are closely related to employees’ behavioural intentions. Additionally, it reveals novel perceptions influencing these intentions: perceived risk, perceived service robot level, and attitude. Furthermore, a strategic framework is proposed to enhance hotel employees’ acceptance of service robots. This study not only fills a research gap, but also provides a road-map for organizational change management and sustainability, emphasizing the importance of communication. This facilitates the integration and application of service robots in the hotel industry. In the future, the acceptance of service robots can be explored from different directions, such as robot capabilities, vendors, and human resource management.