Social cognition of humanoid robots on customer tolerance of service failure

Purpose This study aims to examine the effects of the perceived warmth and competence of humanoid robots on customer tolerance of service failure through the affective response and the boundary condition of relationship norms. Design/methodology/approach Two experimental studies were conducted to investigate the effects of perceived warmth and competence of humanoid robots’ physical appearances on tolerance of service failure and the mediating role of anger. The boundary influence of relationship norms is also explored. Findings The results reveal that the perception of warmth (vs. competence) robot leads to less (more) anger, which significantly results in tolerance of service failure. However, customer tolerance is insignificant under exchange norms, as the undelivered service violates the expectations of both warm and competent robots. Practical implications This study provides practical guidance for hospitality managers to implement humanoid robots in a way that minimizes the negative outcomes of service failure. Managers should also think about the appropriate match of different types of humanoid robots and relationship norms in which robots will be deployed. Originality/value This study contributes to the tolerance literature by taking a social cognition perspective to investigate the effect of humanoid robots’ physical appearances on customers’ reactions to service failure. The findings also reveal that its affective mechanism lies in the effect of expectancy violations of service failure on tolerance. Furthermore, this study extends the literature on relationship norms to the influence of company factors on effective humanoid robot implementation.