Tell me the truth: Consumer responses to feedback solicitation with robots versus humans

Advanced technologies enable service robots to handle a broader range of tasks than ever before. Among these, this research examines the potential of service robots to solicit and collect high-quality consumer feedback. This research, comprising four experimental studies, including a field study in a hotel, demonstrates that unsatisfied consumers are more likely to provide honest feedback to service robots than to human employees. Drawing on the theory of mind perception, the present research finds that such an effect is attributed to consumers’ concern for others' feelings (i.e., empathetic concern). Moreover, the proposed effects are diminished when the robot has a high (vs. low) level of emotional capability but are more pronounced among consumers with interdependent (vs. independent) self-construal. This research offers practical insights that enable advanced robotic technologies to be useful beyond simple physical tasks: consumer feedback management.