Hospitality businesses are increasingly facing challenges such as staff shortages and high turnover rates, prompting interest in using robots to perform certain service tasks. Although many studies have explored guest attitudes toward service robots, most rely on hypothetical scenarios rather than real-world interactions, which may not accurately reflect guest experiences.
To address this gap, this study conducted a field experiment by deploying a robot receptionist in a hotel lobby, allowing guests to choose between interacting with the robot or a human receptionist. Data were collected from 166 participants.
The findings revealed that while guests perceived a lower social presence when interacting with the robot compared to human staff, there was no significant difference in the number of guest requests successfully resolved or in the overall experience of hospitality. This suggests that robots can effectively handle certain reception tasks and deliver satisfactory service outcomes.
However, the study also highlights that current reception robots are not yet capable of fully operating a hotel reception desk. Some essential tasks remain beyond the scope of automation, indicating that robots cannot completely substitute human receptionists at this time.
For hotel operators and revenue managers, these results imply that integrating robots into reception areas can help address staffing shortages and maintain service levels for routine guest inquiries and requests. Robots may serve as a complementary resource to human staff, handling straightforward tasks and freeing employees to focus on more complex or personalized guest interactions.
This could improve operational efficiency and guest satisfaction. From a distribution and guest experience perspective, offering a robot receptionist option may appeal to tech-savvy guests or those seeking quick, contactless service. However, hotels should be mindful of the reduced social presence and ensure human staff remain available for tasks requiring empathy, problem-solving, or nuanced communication.
In summary, while robots show promise in supporting reception operations, full substitution of human receptionists is not yet feasible. Hotels should consider a hybrid approach that leverages robotic assistance for routine functions while retaining human employees for critical service elements to optimize both operational efficiency and guest experience.