For you, for me? Restaurant service robot verbal prompt and service context shape customers’ willingness to reduce plate waste

As service robots increasingly permeate the hospitality industry, their potential to reduce plate waste in restaurants remains limited. This study explores how self-benefit vs. other-benefit restaurant service robot verbal prompts (RSRVPs) interact with hedonic-dominant vs. utilitarian-dominant service contexts to affect customers’ willingness to reduce plate waste (WRPW). The results suggest that both self-benefit and other-benefit prompts promote WRPW in a hedonic-dominant service context, while the self-benefit prompts enhance WRPW in a utilitarian-dominant service context, and the other-benefit RSRVP has the opposite result. In addition, the findings further reveal the mediating roles of anticipated pride and regret and the moderation mechanism of the extent to which service robots are anthropomorphic. This research contributes to research on sustainability in the hospitality industry, and provides practical guidance for restaurant operators to leverage robot verbal prompts to reduce food waste.