Analysing Customer Preferences for AI-Enabled Service Robot’s Physical Appearance in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry: Insights and Exploration
Shailendra Kumar, Ajay Poudyal, Sanghamitra Choudhury, Ajeya K. Jha · Tourism Planning & Development · 2025
This research manuscript delves into the realm of understanding customers willingness to embrace services provided by AI-enabled robots and explore customer’s preferences regarding the physical characteristics of robots when utilized in various tourism-related roles. These service robots are systematically categorized based on their physical morphology, encompassing caricatured, zoomorphic, mechanoid, and humanoid variations, and are strategically mapped across diverse tourism-related tasks and activities. Due to the lack of commercial availability of such robots, a vignette was used to fulfil the purpose of this study. The results obtained from this study are poised to play a pivotal role in comprehending the dynamics of acceptance and adoption of service robots within the tourism and hospitality sector. While prior research has explored the acceptance and adoption of AI, there has been a scarcity of research, particularly in developing nations, that approaches the topic from our unique perspective.