Frontline Employees' Acceptance of and Resistance to Service Robots in Stationary Retail - An Exploratory Interview Study

Abstract

Due to rising online competition, increasing cost pressure and cross-channel customer journeys, stationary retail has tried to develop innovative value propositions and co-create value with customers through new technologies, which are expected to profoundly change the stationary retail’s service systems. Among other technologies, service robots are said to have the potential to revitalise interactive value creation in stationary retail. However, the integration of such technologies poses new challenges. Prior research has looked at customers’ acceptance of service robots in stationary retail settings, but few studies have explored their counterparts – the frontline employees’ (FLEs) perspective. Yet, FLEs’ acceptance of service robots is crucial to implement service robots for retail innovation. To explore FLEs’ acceptance of and resistance to service robots, a qualitative exploratory interview study is conducted. It identifies decisive aspects, amongst others loss of status or role incongruency. The findings extend prior studies on technology acceptance and resistance and reveal i.a. that FLEs perceive service robots as both a threat and potential support. Moreover, they feel hardly involved in the co-creation of use cases for a service robot, although they are willing to contribute.

Artificial Intelligence and Robots in the Service Encounter

“…Chatbots represent a particular form of service robots, since they belong to the category of virtual robots that interact with text-based communication with the customers Using an online survey, 146 participants were asked to simulate a booking request with Flybot, a travel chatbot in France. The authors found that reliability and perceived usefulness of the chatbot were the most important dimension to influence customers' intention to reuse the chatbot, whereas empathy and trust showed no significant effects in this context (Meyer-Waarden et al 2020). The findings demonstrate that virtual service robots in form of chatbots are favoured by customers for their utilitarian value rather than for social or emotional skills.…”

“…Here, the current study by Meyer et al (2020) makes a strong contribution by shedding light on the drivers and barriers of employee-robot collaboration in retail settings. Specifically, the authors found that for a successful implementation of service robots it is essential to understand how service employees react and what drives their acceptance and resistance.…”

“…) Given that AI and robots will replace many jobs, allow slim organizational design but require new support and skills for designing, implementing and maintaining automated robotic processes, how do service organizations need to reconsider their organizational structure in order to stay competitive? The second paper, "Frontline Employees' Acceptance of and Resistance to Service Robots in Stationary Retail -An Exploratory Interview Study", focuses on service frontline employees (FLEs) and their acceptance of service robots in retail settings (Meyer, Jonas, and Roth 2020). The paper highlights the crucial role of human FLEs and their feelings towards service robots.…”

“…The third paper of this special issue by Meyer-Waarden, Pavone, Poocharoentou, Prayatsup, Ratinaud, Tison, and Torné (2020) examines "How Service Quality Influences Customer Acceptance and Usage of Chatbots?". Chatbots combine AI and text-based communication (Wünderlich and Paluch 2017) and are often used to offer support for customers.…”

“…Privacy concerns are perceived as acceptance barriers, since many participants believe that DVAs spy on them and collect personal information. Interestingly, DVAs (Siri) are valued for their hedonic utility (Ewers et al 2020), whereas chatbots are preferred for their functional value (Meyer-Waarden et al 2020). Digital voice assistants are becoming more popular, and companies recognize their potential as an addition marketing channel.…”