How task objectivity shapes customer responses to robot service failure

Purpose This research aims to understand how customers perceive different types of service robots (humanoid vs. mechanoid) when performing objective versus subjective tasks, their consequent impact, and the role of human-robot service (with human staff presence) in the event of robot service failures. Design/methodology/approach Three experimental studies were conducted, followed by ANCOVA and PROCESS analyses to test the hypotheses. Findings Our findings suggest that humanoid service robots are perceived as more capable of subjective tasks, inducing more negative customer responses when such tasks fail. Conversely, both humanoid and mechanoid service robots are perceived as equally capable of objective tasks, resulting in similar levels of customer responses following a failed objective task. Human-robot service was found to mitigate the negative effects of robot human-likeness following a failed subjective task. Negative expectancy violation is the underlying mechanism explaining the impact of robot type on customer responses following a failed subjective task. Practical implications This research offers actionable recommendations for practitioners to optimize customer experiences by understanding the perception of different robot types during service failures and the influence of task objectivity on such perceptions. It also emphasizes the importance of human staff’s presence in buffering the adverse effects of robot service failures. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to examine robot service failure and anthropomorphism from the lens of task objectivity and human staff’s presence.