Unveiling the complexity of consumers’ intention to use service robots: An fsQCA approach

Unravelling the asymmetric effects of procurement practices on firm performance: A complexity theory approach to complementing fsQCA with NCA

Current economic upheavals and supply chain uncertainty have threatened the profitability and sustainability of business organisations. Procurement has proved to be one of the strategies for enhancing firm performance without necessarily increasing revenue with its attendant increase in costs. However, rather than investigating the complex asymmetric relationship between procurement practices and firm performance (which this study advocates), past research engaged in a symmetric evaluation of the relationship between the phenomena. Accordingly, this study, using complexity theory, employs fsQCA and NCA on a sample of 150 respondents from private universities in Ghana to (a) identify different combinations of procurement practices, namely procurement planning, supplier partnership, contract management, and compliance, that lead to firm performance and (b) explore the necessity of these procurement practices (in kind and degree) for firm performance. Whereas the findings from fsQCA reveal three distinct combinations of procurement practices for high firm performance and further suggest that none of the procurement practices was necessary for firm performance, the NCA results suggest that two out of the four procurement practices investigated are necessary for firm performance and hence must be present in the causal recipes produced by fsQCA to guarantee that they lead to firm performance. The study offers pathways to firm performance through procurement practices and demonstrates how to complement fsQCA with NCA to ensure that causal recipes produced by fsQCA can produce the outcome.

Perceived anthropomorphism and purchase intention using artificial intelligence technology: examining the moderated effect of trust

Purpose

This study explores features that impact consumers' purchase intention through artificial intelligence (AI), because it is believed that through artificial intelligence, consumers' intention to purchase grows significantly, especially in the retail sector, whereby retailers provide lucrative offers to motivate consumers. The study develops a theoretical framework based on media-richness theory to investigate the role of perceived anthropomorphism toward an intention to purchase products using AI.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on cross-sectional data through an online survey. The data have been analyzed using PLS-SEM and SPSS PROCESS macro.

Findings

The results show that consumers tend to demand anthropomorphized products to gain a better shopping experience and, therefore, demand features that attract and motivate them to purchase through artificial intelligence via mediating variables, such as perceived animacy and perceived intelligence. Moreover, trust in artificial intelligence moderates the relationship between perceived anthropomorphism and perceived animacy.

Originality/value

The study investigates and concludes with managerial and academic insights into consumer purchase intention through artificial intelligence in the retail and marketing sector.

Robot-delivered tourism and hospitality services: How to evaluate the impact of health and safety considerations on visitors’ satisfaction and loyalty?

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, visitors’ worries about health and safety in tourist destinations have become paramount. Consequently, this research aims to evaluate the impact of health and safety considerations on visitors’ satisfaction. It also examines the influence of health consciousness and satisfaction on visitors’ willingness toward robot-delivered tourism and hospitality services usage and the impact of destination healthcare system and satisfaction on loyalty intentions. Applying a quantitative-based methodology, 650 responses were collected from domestic tourists visiting Egyptian tourism destinations using multiple non-probability sampling techniques. Using PLS-SEM, the results articulated that emotional well-being, perceived safety, and perceived green image positively impacted visitors’ satisfaction, which in turn, positively affected their willingness toward service robot’s usage and loyalty. Tourists’ health consciousness also positively affected their satisfaction and intentions to use robot-delivered services. Additionally, destination healthcare system significantly influenced visitors’ satisfaction and loyalty intentions. Theoretical and managerial contributions as well as future research are outlined.

Exploring the antecedents of customers’ willingness to use service robots in restaurants

This study examines the willingness of customers to accept, and their intention to recommend, the services provided by service robots in restaurants. A mixed-methods research approach was taken to evaluate a theoretical model based on behavioural reasoning theory (BRT). The results demonstrated the important influence of positive attitudes and objections to the use of service robots on consumers’ willingness to use service robots, as well as their intention to recommend restaurants that use them. Among the main aspects that affect attitudes and objections, we found hedonic perceptions, perceived safety, interaction quality perception and anthropomorphism.

The Effects Of Governmental Factors On Sustainable Technology Implementation Among Small And Medium Enterprises In Tonga

This study intends to examine the effects of governmental factors on sustainable technology implementation (STI) among SMEs in the Kingdom of Tonga. These factors are crucial to investigate because many private institutions working for emerging markets have limited resources that delay implementing technologies, particularly sustainability-based technologies integrated with enterprise management. On the other hand, governments have the resources and power to affect STI significantly. Hence, the research investigates the role of government as an influential determinant in attaining efficient and effective implementation. This study uses the SEM-PLS and fsQCA methods to analyze the data gathered from 251 SMEs in Tonga. The findings show that government subsidies and policies significantly and positively affect firms' morals and attitudes regarding STI in Tonga. Also, perceived benefit and perceived cost significantly affect STI in Tongan SMEs. The research is an initial effort to examine such effects in the SMEs of a Pacific Island country.

The Effect of COVID-19 on Airline Transportation Services: A Study on Service Robot Usage Intention

Robots have started to be used in the service sector as well as in the manufacturing industry. The use of service robots in airport services, tourism, and hospital services also brings many advantages. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing physical contact and providing hygiene are essential benefits of service robots. For this purpose, the effect of COVID-19 fear on perceived trust in service robots and the intention to use them at airports was investigated in this study. For analysis, data were collected from 730 participants from 64 different countries, by questionnaire. The data were analyzed with the SPSS and AMOS package programs. As a result of the structural equation model analysis, it was determined that COVID-19 fear affects perceived trust in service robots and the intention to use them positively, and perceived trust also affects the intention to use service robots positively. In addition, as a result of the Process Macro analysis, it was found that perceived trust has a high mediating effect on the effect of COVID-19 fear on the intention to use. The research results show that people’s attitudes towards COVID-19 shape the perception of robot usage in air transport services.

Service Robots: Trends and Technology

The 2021 sales volume in the market of service robots is attractive. Expert reports from the International Federation of Robotics confirm 27 billion USD in total market share. Moreover, the number of new startups with the denomination of service robots nowadays constitutes 29% of the total amount of robotic companies recorded in the United States. Those data, among other similar figures, remark the need for formal development in the service robots area, including knowledge transfer and literature reviews. Furthermore, the COVID-19 spread accelerated business units and some research groups to invest time and effort into the field of service robotics. Therefore, this research work intends to contribute to the formalization of service robots as an area of robotics, presenting a systematic review of scientific literature. First, a definition of service robots according to fundamental ontology is provided, followed by a detailed review covering technological applications; state-of-the-art, commercial technology; and application cases indexed on the consulted databases.