Enhancing tourists’ continued use of robotaxi services through trust and positive emotions: insights from social exchange theory
Han Xu, Zhouwei Yang, Xiaohong Wu, Lawal Marafa, Rob Law · Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing · 2026
As robotaxi services become increasingly prevalent across cities and regions, understanding the mechanisms that shape tourists’ willingness to continue using them during travel is essential. Drawing on social exchange theory (SET), this study employs structural equation modeling to analyze data from 430 tourists in Wuhan, China, revealing that reduced social contact, perceived comfort, hedonic motivation, and performance expectancy are key drivers of continued robotaxi use. Trust and positive emotions mediate these relationships. These findings extend SET from traditional human–human interactions to human-AI interactions and provide insights for advancing smart mobility in tourism contexts.