Employee–customer relationships: facilitator or barrier for the integration of service robots in frontline service environments

Purpose This study aims to advance the field of employee–robot collaboration. It adopts a relationship marketing perspective to examine how employee–customer relational bonds facilitate or hinder the adoption of collaborative service robots. It further contributes to understanding customer experience and highlights the complementary roles of employees and robots in service delivery. Design/methodology/approach The study collected 345 valid questionnaires from catering services, hospitality, travel and tourism and retail. The data underwent reliability and validity analyses. A structural model test was performed to verify the proposed hypotheses. Findings First, collaborative service robot functionality and social capability significantly positively impact their perception of collaborative robot service quality and their intention to adopt robots integrated in frontline service environments. Second, frontline employees’ financial bonds weaken the relationship between collaborative service robot functionality and perceived service quality. Third, frontline employees’ social bonds also weaken the relationship between collaborative service robot functionality, social capability and perceived service quality. Finally, frontline employees’ structural bonds strengthen the relationship between collaborative service robot functionality and perceived service quality. Originality/value This study investigates whether employee–customer relational bonds facilitate or hinder the integration of service robots with employees in frontline service environments. This study applies social exchange theory to understand the role and value of frontline employees within the robot–employee–customer service triad. This understanding is essential for optimizing employee–robot integration and improving overall service quality.