Bing Han
Ph.D., School of Management, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, Shanghai, China
Xun Deng*
Ph.D., School of Economics and Management, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai, China.
Hua Fan
Ph.D., School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China
Abstract
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) service robots is on the rise. With service frontlines gradually shifting to human–robot interactions, the question of whether the anthropomorphism of robots facilitates or constrains consumers’ experiences has emerged. This article focuses on the individual factor “consumer mindset” (competition vs. collaboration) and investigates how it impacts consumers’ attitudes toward anthropomorphic AI robots during service delivery. Across three studies, we confirm our main prediction that competitive mindset consumers respond less favorably to anthropomorphic (vs. non-anthropomorphic) AI robots, whereas collaborative mindset consumers respond more favorably to anthropomorphic (vs. non-anthropomorphic) AI robots. We test the mediating role of perceived psychological closeness and the moderating role of interaction distance to explain the underlying mechanism. Our findings provide theoretical insights into the mixed results of previous studies of service robot anthropomorphism and have practical implications for service agencies using frontline robots.
Keywords
Service robot, Anthropomorphism, Consumer mindset, Perceived psychological closeness, Human-robot interaction
合作伙伴还是竞争对手?心态如何影响消费者对拟人化人工智能服务机器人的态度
摘要：随着人工智能服务机器人技术日渐成熟，服务行业正在从人人交互逐渐转向人与机器人交互，人工智能服务机器人是否应该拟人化（比如拥有类人的外观和声音）成为了业界和学界关注的问题。一方面，部分研究支持拟人化，认为拟人化的作用是积极的，可以提高机器人的友善感和消费者信任，另一方面也有研究反对，认为拟人化可能会引起恐怖谷效应，带来负面的消费者反馈，学界对于服务机器人的拟人化效果并没有达成共识。基于这一问题，本研究从个体因素“消费者心态”（竞争心态vs合作心态）出发，讨论了在不同心态下，人工智能服务机器人拟人化对消费者态度的影响。通过多项消费者实验，研究发现合作心态的消费者更喜欢拟人化（vs.非拟人化）机器人的服务，而竞争心态的消费者更喜欢非拟人化（vs. 拟人化）机器人的服务。同时，研究还验证了心理距离的中介作用和人机交互距离的调节作用。本文研究结论拓展了以往研究中对服务机器人拟人化效果的理解，并对使用人工智能机器人的服务企业有着借鉴意义。
关键词：服务机器人；拟人化；消费者心态；感知心理亲密；人机交互
引用/Citation：Han, B., Deng, X.*, & Fan, H. (2023). Partners or Opponents? How Mindset Shapes Consumers’ Attitude Toward Anthropomorphic Artificial Intelligence Service Robots. Journal of Service Research, Forthcoming.
* 通讯作者/Corresponding author：邓逊博士，上海应用技术大学消费者行为研究中心成员。中心网站：https://xfz.sit.edu.cn.
基金资助/Funding information：This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant numbers: 72202133, 72202142, 72202141].