Robots' anthropomorphic designs: Psychological mechanism of consumer acceptance in restaurant contexts of service success, failure, and recovery

Anthropomorphic designs significantly affect the acceptance of service robots; however, consumer perceptions vary widely. This study examined how different anthropomorphic designs (mechanoid, animal-like, and humanoid) influence emotional and cognitive responses and acceptance in service scenarios (success, failure, and recovery). Study 1 explored anthropomorphism in successful services by focusing on emotions, perceived competence, warmth, and acceptance. It found that animal-like robots evoked the most positive emotions and warmth, while humanoid robots displayed higher competence but also elicited more negative emotions. Study 2 investigated failure contexts, considering failure attribution, and revealed that the interaction between anthropomorphic designs and failure severity affects psychological responses. Severe failures reduced warmth toward humanoid robots but paradoxically increased it for animal-like and mechanoid robots. Study 3 explored service recovery, considering recovery attribution, and showed that human intervention improves recovery perceptions, highlighting the need for intervention in mechanoid robot recovery and enhancing self-correction in animal-like and humanoid robots.