A Study on Factors Affecting the Continuance Usage Intention of Social Robots with Episodic Memory: A Stimulus–Organism–Response Perspective

As social robots become increasingly integrated into everyday life, understanding the factors that influence users’ long-term continuance intention is essential. This study investigates how various features of MOCCA, a social robot equipped with episodic memory, affect users’ continuance usage intention through perceived trust and parasocial interaction, within the framework of the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) theory. A structural model incorporating key perceived features (intimacy, morality, dependency, and information privacy risk) was tested with survey data from 285 MOCCA users and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that intimacy and morality positively influence both trust and parasocial interaction, while information privacy risk exerts a negative effect. Dependency significantly reduces parasocial interaction but does not significantly impact trust. These findings highlight the importance of balancing human-like qualities, ethical responsibility, perceived autonomy, and privacy protection in social robot design to foster trust, enhance user engagement, and support long-term adoption. This study provides theoretical, managerial, and practical insights into the field of human–robot interaction (HRI) and contributes to the broader acceptance of social robots in everyday life.