Does past experience influence the preferences of consumers toward service robots?

Purpose To date, only a small number of consumers have experienced robot hotels, and whether the past experience of consumers will influence their preferences of consumers regarding service robots has received limited attention from previous academic studies. To enhance knowledge development in this area, this study aims to investigate the preferences of experienced and inexperienced consumers toward a variety of hotel service robots based on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). Design/methodology/approach The preferences of consumers of a variety of hotel service robots were investigated through multinomial logistic regression analysis. Findings Findings show that consumers who have had robot hotel experiences, such as robot-shaped artificial intelligence-based robots and service delivery-based robots, can be explained by the effortless “peripheral” processing system of the ELM. Practical implications Valuable insights are provided to hospitality practitioners about the service robot design. In particular, robot-shaped robots will be preferred by consumers. Originality/value The present study explores the preferences of experienced and inexperienced consumers toward a variety of hotel service robots, extends the ELM into a hospitality context and contributes to the literature on the influence of past experience on the preference of consumers toward service robots.