The Robot–Human Paradox: A Meta-Analysis of Customer Service by Robots Versus Humans on Customer Experience
Article
de Oliveira Santini, Fernando, Lim, Weng Marc, Sampaio, Claudio Hoffmann, Rasul, Tareq, Ladeira, Wagner Junior, Thaichon, Park and Choudhury, Debdutta. 2025. "The Robot–Human Paradox: A Meta-Analysis of Customer Service by Robots Versus Humans on Customer Experience." Journal of Consumer Behaviour: an international research review. 24 (3), pp. 1392-1404. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2470
| Article Title | The Robot–Human Paradox: A Meta-Analysis of Customer Service by Robots Versus Humans on Customer Experience |
|---|---|
| ERA Journal ID | 19810 |
| Article Category | Article |
| Authors | de Oliveira Santini, Fernando, Lim, Weng Marc, Sampaio, Claudio Hoffmann, Rasul, Tareq, Ladeira, Wagner Junior, Thaichon, Park and Choudhury, Debdutta |
| Journal Title | Journal of Consumer Behaviour: an international research review |
| Journal Citation | 24 (3), pp. 1392-1404 |
| Number of Pages | 13 |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publisher | John Wiley & Sons |
| Place of Publication | United Kingdom |
| ISSN | 1472-0817 |
| 1479-1838 | |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2470 |
| Web Address (URL) | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cb.2470 |
| Abstract | The integration of robots in customer service has attracted considerable interest from both academia and industry. While some studies highlight positive impacts on customer experience, others report neutral or negative outcomes. This meta-analysis synthesises findings from 25 articles comprising 62 independent studies, 147 effect sizes, and a cumulative sample of 19,668 participants. The results indicate that robot-provided services generally reduce customers' positive emotion and intention compared to human-provided services. However, upon closer scrutiny, we found that robots outperform humans in contexts involving embarrassment (vs. non-embarrassment) and in services with a utilitarian (vs. hedonic) orientation. Fur, robot use is more effective in low (vs. high) complexity service settings. Furthermore, humanoid robots with visual output capabilities are more effective than non-humanoid or text-based robots. Moreover, the negative effects of robots (vs. humans) on customers' satisfaction and intention are less pronounced in product-oriented industries or sectors like electronics and retail than in service-oriented ones like healthcare and hospitality. These findings underscore the conditions under which robots are suitable for customer service, thereby providing valuable insights for strategically optimizing their deployment to improve customer experience. |
| Keywords | customer experience; customer service; human ; meta-analysis ; robot |
| Contains Sensitive Content | Does not contain sensitive content |
| ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 350605. Marketing management (incl. strategy and customer relations) |
| Byline Affiliations | University of the Sinos Valley, Brazil |
| Woxsen University, India | |
| Sunway University, Malaysia | |
| Arizona State University, United States | |
| Swinburne University of Technology | |
| Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil | |
| Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait | |
| School of Business |
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| J of Consumer Behaviour - 2025 - Oliveira Santini - The Robot Human Paradox A Meta‐Analysis of Customer Service by Robots.pdf | ||
| License: CC BY 4.0 | ||
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