Using robots in small– and medium–sized hotels and the employees’ intentions

Purpose Facing the challenges of digital consumer expectations and competition with larger counterparts, small- and medium-sized hotels (SMS) are adopting robotics to enhance service quality and market competitiveness. However, with low levels of digital literacy and technological self-efficacy, employees in SMS hotels pose challenges to their positive reception of robotics. Using the Social Information Processing model (SIPM), this study aims to investigate how employees’ trust in robots and in leadership influences their intentions to adopt robotics in the pre-adoption phase. Additionally, openness to change, collaboration with robots and robot risk awareness were explored as mediators and moderators. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 340 employees at various SMS hotels in China; 264 valid responses remained and were analyzed after data cleaning. Hypothesized relationships were verified via structural equation modeling. Findings Results indicated that employees’ trust in robots and trust in leaders positively influenced their intentions to use robots. These effects were mediated by factors such as openness to change and a collaborative mindset with robots. Notably, trust in leaders reduced employees’ robot risk awareness. Originality/value Drawing on SIPM, the current study combines organizational and technological factors to shed light on SMS hotel employees’ intentions to use robots. To investigate the mechanism behind the effect of technology trust and leadership trust on staff robot usage.