Does Trust Matter to Use Hotel Service Robot in COVID-19 Pandemic?
Hee Chung Chung, Namho Chung · Journal of Smart Tourism · 2023
Because of increasing anxiety about infectious diseases and the demand for contactless service caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become crucial for the tourism and hospitality sector to understand customers’ psychological mechanism of contactless service during and post COVID-19. Thus, this paper proposes a conceptual model by integrating trust in the framework of the behavioral immune system. Interestingly, our study found that anxiety about infectious diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic has not only increased hotel customers’ desire for contactless service and changed their behavioral intentions, but it has also impacted customers’ trust in hotel service robots. Therefore, irrespective of how the hotel service environment changes, trust in technology has become the most fundamental factor for hotel customers’ attitudes toward adopting technology. Based on the results, this paper provides salient theoretical and practical implications.