Service Robots and Customer Experience: Transforming Interactions and Driving Engagement Across Industries

Abstract

Service robots are increasingly transforming customer service by automating tasks traditionally performed by human employees, creating a hybrid of technological and human interaction across various industries. This chapter examines the integration of service robots into sectors such as hospitality, retail, healthcare, and finance, focusing on their impact on customer experience (CX)The findings highlight that motivations for adopting service robots include productivity gains, novelty, and convenience (Ivanov & Webster, 2019), while barriers such as high costs, privacy concerns, and limited social acceptance remain significant (Bartneck et al., 2020; Gursoy et al., 2019). This study contributes to the growing discourse on human-robot interaction, offering practical insights for organizations and suggesting future research directions, such as longitudinal studies on customer loyalty and the ethical implications of widespread service robot deployment (Huang & Rust, 2021; Belanche et al., 2021a).