This research addresses a critical gap in understanding how service failures by robots versus human employees shape customer compensation expectations in the hospitality industry. While substantial literature explores service failure, the nuanced impacts of failure severity and the interplay with different types of service providers – robotic or human – have not been thoroughly examined. Through three experimental studies, we discover that customers expect higher compensation when service failures involve robots and that this expectation is further influenced by the severity of the failure, which intensifies compensation expectations across both types of service providers. Moreover, our analysis reveals that blame attribution mediates the relationship between service provider type and compensation expectations, with severity of failure moderating this mediation effect. These findings offer insights for service firms aiming to navigate the challenges posed by integrating service robots, suggesting the importance of tailored service recovery strategies to maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty.

中文翻译：

---

在服务失败中影响客户补偿期望：比较服务机器人和人类员工的角色


这项研究解决了在理解机器人与人类员工的服务故障如何影响酒店业的客户薪酬期望方面的关键差距。虽然大量文献探讨了服务故障，但故障严重性的细微影响以及与不同类型服务提供商（机器人或人类）的相互作用尚未得到彻底研究。通过三项实验研究，我们发现，当服务故障涉及机器人时，客户期望获得更高的赔偿，并且这种期望会进一步受到故障严重程度的影响，这加剧了这两种类型的服务提供商的赔偿期望。此外，我们的分析表明，责备归因在服务提供商类型和薪酬期望之间的关系中起中介作用，失败的严重程度会调节这种中介效应。这些发现为旨在应对集成服务机器人所带来的挑战的服务公司提供了见解，表明了量身定制的服务恢复策略对于保持客户满意度和忠诚度的重要性。