Service robots vs. human staff: The effect of service agents and service exclusion on unethical consumer behavior

Many hotels and restaurants deploy service robots to improve the quality and efficiency of customer service, but this approach inevitably poses some risks and challenges. This study followed recent research on the ethical issues of new technologies and explored how customers react to different service agents (service robots vs. human staff) under service exclusion vs. inclusion. In four experiments, we found that in the hospitality industry, customers exhibited more unethical consumer behavior (UCB) when excluded by human staff (vs. service robots) under service exclusion, but more UCB when served by service robots (vs. human staff) under service inclusion. Moreover, anticipatory guilt mediated the interaction effect of service agents and service exclusion on UCB. In addition, we found that anthropomorphism strengthened UCB toward service robots under service exclusion and weakened UCB toward service robots under service inclusion. The results of the study not only extend theories related to service exclusion, but also provide a deeper understanding of ethical issues in human-robot interactions.