To talk or to touch: Unraveling consumer responses to two types of hotel in-room technology

This research reveals a novel downside effect of the emerging AI-powered voice assistant (vs. the prevalent touch panel) in the hotel in-room technology context. Building on the automated social presence theory, this research comprises two studies to explore whether, how, and why using voice assistant (vs. touch panel) affects consumers’ satisfaction levels and their behavioral intentions differently. This research documents that using AI-powered voice assistant (vs. touch panel) leads to a lower level of satisfaction due to a deficiency in perceived control, especially among consumers with independent self-construal tendency. Serial mediation tests confirm the downstream effects via the causal link of psychological mechanism (perceived control) to service evaluation (satisfaction) and to future behavioral intentions (consumption preference and WOM). This research contributes to the burgeoning literature on the AI-powered voice assistant by elucidating the phenomenon and investigating why consumers may respond differently to this emerging technology with practical implications.