From novelty to necessity: Understanding CRM-driven service robot adoption in Iraqi restaurants through UTAUT3

This study investigates the determinants of restaurant managers’ behavioural intention (BI) to adopt customer relationship management (CRM)-driven service robots within the Iraqi hospitality sector. In this developing market, digital transformation remains at an early stage. Drawing on the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 3 (UTAUT3), the model incorporates performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), facilitating conditions (FC), hedonic motivation (HM), price value (PV), habit (HA), and personal innovativeness (PI). Data were collected from 283 managers employed in four-star and higher-rated Iraqi restaurants using a mixed-methods survey design and analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS v3.9. The results demonstrate that all hypothesised relationships were significant, with PI, HA, and PV emerging as the strongest predictors of adoption intention, followed by HM and PE. EE, FC, and SI exerted weaker yet meaningful effects. These findings underscore the importance of individual traits, economic considerations, and experiential motivations in shaping technology acceptance, in contrast to global studies that emphasise PE and SI. The research advances the UTAUT2 framework by integrating PI and offers theoretical insights into adoption in emerging markets. Practical implications are highlighted for vendors, managers, and policymakers in the restaurant industry who are seeking to foster service innovation under resource constraints.