Untact: Customer’s Acceptance Intention toward Robot Barista in Coffee Shop

Abstract

Restaurants have been using robots to meet the increasing consumer demand for food customization and safety and contactless service operations. This study identified the antecedent factors influencing a customer’s attitude and acceptance intention toward a robot barista. To this end, we conducted a questionnaire survey from 10 to 24 January 2020, on a sample of 317 Korean consumers who purchased coffee prepared by a robot barista. We based the analysis on the following determinant factors of the extension of the technology acceptance model (ETAM): perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, need for interaction, perceived risk, and perceived innovativeness. The results showed that perceived usefulness had the highest impact on acceptance intention, followed by perceived enjoyment and the need for interaction. Perceived usefulness and innovativeness positively influenced acceptance intention. These results confirmed the significance of the determinant factors in inducing customers’ attitude and acceptance intention toward a robot barista. This study extends the research on the application of artificial intelligence and the fourth industrial revolution technologies in the food service industry, and hence contributes toward the preparations for the post-Covid-19 period. It also offers practical implications for sustainable coffee shop management.

A literature survey of the robotic technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…In the catering industry, the acceptance of using robots in a contactless coffee shop increases due to usefulness and innovativeness [ 126 ]. When a customer demands contactless service, the robotic service is an important strategy for sustainable business management during and after the pandemic.…”

The role of experiential value, novelty, and satisfaction in robot barista coffee shop in South Korea: COVID-19 crisis and beyond

“…Five items of atmosphere and four items of escapism were cited in the studies by Kim and Stepchenkova ( 2018 ) and Tsai and Wang ( 2017 ), and four items of novelty were cited by Kim et al ( 2012 ) and Manthiou et al ( 2017 ). The four questions of satisfaction were cited in the study by Song et al ( 2019 ) and Wu ( 2017 ), and the four questions of behavioral intention were cited by Sung and Jeon ( 2020 ) and Wu ( 2017 ).…”

“…Robots are emerging from industrial robots to become a representative service means in the (no contact) untact era (Lee and Lee 2020 ). With this trend, the enthusiasm for food tech is spreading in the coffee shop business and robot barista services are on the rise (Sung and Jeon 2020 ). In South Korea, the robot café “Beat” of coffee brand Dalcomm Coffee has updated the latest model “Bit 2E” robot equipped with artificial intelligence by introducing 5G network technology (Infostock Daily 2020 ).…”

A Predictive Model on the Intention to Accept Taekwondo Electronic Protection Devices

“…It is important to emphasize that while TPB is a general theory, designed to explain almost any human behavior [26], TAM exclusively focuses on the use of technological innovations and is appropriate for analyzing this type of behavior [17,27]. This theory states that PEU and PU significantly influence the acceptance to use a technology [28]. Davis et al [23] have stated that various external variables, other than the abovementioned, can also influence the acceptance of a technology.…”