Examining the effects of AI contactless services on customer psychological safety, perceived value, and hospitality service quality during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Artificial intelligence (AI) contactless services thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic, while their consequences remained unclear. Based on media equation theory and means-end chain theory, this study proposed a model explaining the effect of AI contactless services on customers' psychological safety, perceived control, hedonic value, and service quality. Data were collected from hotel customers with an online panel survey and a site survey in Wuhan, China. Chi-square statistics indicated that there were no significant differences between the two datasets. A structural equation modeling analysis of the combined data (n=316) suggested that two dimensions of AI contactless services led to the examined customers' psychological safety, which in turn positively influenced their hedonic value and service quality but negatively affected their perceived control. Additionally, customer psychological safety was found to mediate certain relationships between contactless service attributes and perceived value. The research findings contribute to AI service applications and influence theoretically and practically.