Purpose

COVID-19 is expected to enhance hospitality robotization because frontline robots facilitate social distancing, lowering contagion risk. Investing in frontline robots emerges as a solution to recover customer trust and encourage demand. However, we ignore how customers perceive these initiatives and, therefore, their efficacy. Focusing on robot employment at hotels and on Generation Z customers, this study aims to analyze guests’ perceptions about robots’ COVID-19 prevention efficacy and their impact on booking intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

This study tests its hypotheses combining an experimental design methodology with partial least squares. Survey data from 711 Generation Z individuals in Spain were collected in 2 periods of time.

Findings

Generation Z customers consider that robots reduce contagion risk at hotels. Robot anthropomorphism increases perceived COVID-19 prevention efficacy, regardless of the context where the robots are used. Robots’ COVID-19 prevention efficacy provokes better attitudes and higher booking intentions.

Research limitations/implications

The sampling method used in this research impedes this study’s results generalization. Further research could replicate this study using random sampling methods to ensure representativeness, even for other generational cohorts.

Practical implications

Employing robots as a COVID-19 prevention measure can enhance demand, especially if robots are human-like. Hoteliers need to communicate that robots can reduce contagion risk, particularly in markets more affected by COVID-19. Robots must be employed in low social presence contexts. Governments could encourage robotization by financially supporting hotels and publicly acknowledging its benefits regarding COVID-19 prevention.

Originality/value

This study combines preventive health, robotics and hospitality literature to study robot implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on Generation Z guests – potential facilitators of robot diffusion.

中文翻译：

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服务机器人和 COVID-19：探索 Z 世代酒店对预防效果的看法

目的

COVID-19 有望加强酒店机器人化，因为前线机器人有助于保持社交距离，降低传染风险。投资一线机器人成为恢复客户信任和鼓励需求的解决方案。然而，我们忽略了客户如何看待这些举措，因此也忽略了它们的功效。本研究以酒店和 Z 世代客户的机器人就业为重点，旨在分析客人对机器人 COVID-19 预防功效的看法及其对预订意向的影响。

设计/方法/方法

本研究将实验设计方法与偏最小二乘法相结合，测试其假设。西班牙 711 名 Z 世代的调查数据是在 2 个时间段内收集的。

发现

Z 世代客户认为机器人可降低酒店的传染风险。无论使用机器人的环境如何，机器人拟人化都能提高感知的 COVID-19 预防效果。机器人的 COVID-19 预防功效激发了更好的态度和更高的预订意向。

研究限制/影响

本研究中使用的抽样方法阻碍了本研究结果的推广。进一步的研究可以使用随机抽样方法复制这项研究，以确保代表性，即使对于其他世代队列也是如此。

实际影响

使用机器人作为 COVID-19 预防措施可以增加需求，特别是如果机器人像人一样。酒店经营者需要传达机器人可以降低传染风险，尤其是在受 COVID-19 影响较大的市场中。机器人必须在低社交存在的环境中使用。政府可以通过为酒店提供财政支持并公开承认其在预防 COVID-19 方面的好处来鼓励机器人化。

原创性/价值

这项研究结合了预防健康、机器人和酒店方面的文献，以研究 COVID-19 大流行期间机器人的实施，重点关注 Z 世代客人——机器人传播的潜在促进者。