Purpose: Loneliness and isolation are on the rise, globally threatening the well-being across age groups; global social distancing measures during the COVID-19 crisis have intensified this so-called “loneliness virus”. The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrative framework and research agenda on the role of companion robots in mitigating feelings of loneliness. Design/methodology/approach: A netnographic analysis of 595 online visual and textual descriptions offer empirical insights about the role of the companion robot Vector during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings: The contributions of this study are twofold. First, it postulates that companion robots have the potential of mitigating feelings of loneliness (i.e. indicator of well-being). Second, this study contributes to transformative service by developing an integrative framework introducing the roles (personal assistant, relational peer and intimate buddy) that companion robots can fulfill to mitigate feelings of loneliness through building different types of supportive relationships. Research limitations/implications: The proposed research agenda encourages future service scholars to investigate 1) the role of robots in addressing loneliness, 2) design features that drive adoption of robots, 3) social support for different groups, 4) the operationalization and the measurement of loneliness and 5) an impact analysis of companion robots. Practical implications: Service providers and policy makers can leverage the insights about how companion robots can help reduce a sense of loneliness. Originality/value: The integrative framework on loneliness reduction, based on 595 unprompted online contributions issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, offers initial evidence for the impact of companion robots in reducing people's feelings of loneliness.

中文翻译：

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在COVID-19大流行及以后的大流行中与伴侣机器人一起缓解孤独感：一个综合框架和研究议程

目的：孤独感和孤立感正在上升，在全球范围内威胁着各个年龄段的幸福感；COVID-19危机期间的全球社会疏远措施加剧了这种所谓的“孤独病毒”。本文的目的是针对伴侣机器人在减轻孤独感方面的作用，开发一个综合框架和研究议程。设计/方法/方法：对595个在线视觉和文字描述的网络志分析，提供了有关COVID-19大流行期间伴侣机器人Vector的作用的经验见解。发现：这项研究的贡献是双重的。首先，它假定伴侣机器人具有减轻孤独感（即幸福感的指标）的潜力。第二，这项研究通过开发一个集成框架，介绍了伴侣机器人可以通过建立不同类型的支持关系来减轻孤独感的方法（个人助手，关系同伴和亲密伙伴），从而为变革性服务做出了贡献。研究的局限性/启示：拟议的研究议程鼓励未来的服务学者研究1）机器人在解决孤独感中的作用； 2）推动机器人采用的设计功能； 3）对不同群体的社会支持； 4）运营和衡量5）伙伴机器人的影响力分析。实际意义：服务提供商和政策制定者可以利用有关伴侣机器人如何帮助减少孤独感的见解。创意/价值：