The more, the worse? Exploring the negative influence of robot replicates on human-robot rapport in the tourism and hospitality sector

The growing use of service robots in hospitality raises questions about how design affects consumer perceptions. This research examines the impact of robot replicates – multiple identical robots – on human-robot rapport. Across four experimental studies in scenario-based and field contexts, we test social presence as the underlying mechanism and identify robot variety and service context as moderators. Study 1 shows that replicates (vs. an individual robot) reduce rapport. Study 2 replicates this finding and demonstrates that diminished perceptions of social presence mediate the effect. Studies 3a and 3b reveal that robot variety mitigates the negative impact of replication. Study 4 shows that the effect occurs in hedonic but not utilitarian contexts. Together, the findings extend human–robot interaction literature by introducing replication and variety as key design factors and highlighting contextual contingencies. The research also provides guidance for hospitality managers on how to deploy robots strategically to enhance consumer experience.