How service robots shape tourists’ social avoidance intentions: the dual pathways of sense of control and perceived face threat

Purpose In unfamiliar and highly socialized tourism service contexts, embarrassment often heightens tourists’ sensitivity to social observation and evaluation. With increasing application of service robots with high social presence, the response outcomes they produce in awkward situations deserve further exploration. Drawing on the computers are social actors (CASA) paradigm, this study aims to reveal the psychological mechanism and boundary condition through which the social presence of service robots influences tourists’ social avoidance intentions in embarrassing situations. Design/methodology/approach This study conducted three scenario-based experiments (N = 762) to examine the main effect of service robot social presence on social avoidance intention, the mediating effect of sense of control and perceived face threat and the moderating effect of sense of power. Furthermore, the robustness of the findings was assessed through a single-paper meta-analysis. Findings The results indicate that robots with high social presence significantly enhance tourists’ social avoidance intentions, and this effect is mediated through two parallel paths: reducing the sense of control and increasing perceived face threat. However, tourists’ sense of power plays a significant negative moderating effect, that is, under conditions of high sense of power, the above effects are significantly weakened. Originality/value This study identifies the boundary conditions under which the CASA paradigm applies to research examining the negative effects of service robot social presence. Social presence may shift from a service-enhancing resource to a cue that consumers are being socially observed and evaluated, offering a novel understanding of service robot effect. By integrating compensatory control theory with face theory across fields, this study develops a more comprehensive psychological pathway framework. By revealing the moderating role of sense of power, this study reconciles conflicting findings in prior research, providing valuable theoretical contributions and practical implications for the deployment and management of service robots.