The nonlinear effect of service robot anthropomorphism on customers’ usage intention: A privacy calculus perspective

Although service robots with anthropomorphic designs are widely used in the tourism and hospitality industry, there are mixed research findings about the effect of service robot anthropomorphism (SRA) on customers’ responses. At the same time, when using AI and robotics, companies often need to overcome customers’ privacy concerns. Based on privacy calculus theory, this study investigated the nonlinear relationship between SRA and customer privacy concerns. Three empirical studies showed that SRA has a nonlinear effect on customers’ privacy concerns, which in turn negatively affects subsequent usage intention. The study also identified the boundary conditions of the nonlinear effects, finding that the negative impacts of SRA are attenuated when (1) information sensitivity is low and (2) service personalization is high. This study is one of the first empirical studies to investigate the nonlinear effect of SRA from the privacy calculus perspective. The practical implications for the tourism and hospitality industry are discussed.