Breaking the mold: Is there a gender stereotype when robot service failures happen?

The application of service robots has been reshaping service practices and experiences in the hospitality and tourism industry. It is common for robots to be assigned human-specific characteristics (either humanlike or non-humanlike) and gender-specific traits (either feminine or masculine). Three experimental studies were conducted to explore how robot human-likeness and robot gender influence customers’ emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral responses in different service failure scenarios. The results suggest that customers have more negative attitudinal and emotional responses, whereas less negative behavioral response toward humanoid robots (with apparent feminine features) compared to non-humanoid robots (with masculine features), leading to the generation of spurious loyalty when service failure happens. This is mediated by customer affection induced by the service robots. The findings provide valuable insights into the design and implementation of robots in hospitality and tourism services to meet customer expectations, dimmish the potential risks, and enhance customer experiences.