Time flows, choices follow: exploring how the timing of services shapes customer preference for service robots versus human employees

ABSTRACT Service robots are increasingly applied in service industries, yet customer preference for such technologies remains unclear. Adopting a temporal perspective, this study explores customer preference for service robots versus human employees in the hotel context, one of the most prevalent settings for robot application. Three experiments confirm that customers prefer service robots at the start of a service than at the end while prefer human employees at the end of services than at the start. This temporal shift is explained by changes in customer consumption goals during a service. Moreover, task objectivity is found to strengthen the above-mentioned effects. This research offers a novel perspective on customer attitudes toward service robots and provides valuable insights for practitioners regarding the strategic deployment of service robots.