Service robots : a customer perspective

Juquelier, Antoine
(2025)

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Authors
  • Juquelier, AntoineUCLouvain
    author
Supervisors
Poncin, Ingrid
 ;
Hazée, Simon
Abstract
In the era of automation, companies are increasingly deploying service robots to interact with customers. However, customers often perceive these robots as impersonal, cold, and limited in their capabilities, which can lead to frustration and dissatisfaction. To address these challenges, developers and managers are equipping service robots with advanced social and agentic features—such as automated social presence (ASP), artificial empathy, and proactivity—to make interactions more engaging and effective. While academic research has begun to investigate how customers respond to these advancements, the literature remains fragmented and underdeveloped. This doctoral dissertation addresses these limitations through three essays, each grounded in the cross-robot comparison perspective within service robot research. The first essay investigates ASP—a service robot’s capacity to engage customers socially. Using a meta-analysis, it validates, refines, and extends the theoretical framework of ASP. The second essay examines artificial empathy—a service robot’s ability to understand and respond to customer emotions. Through three experiments, it evaluates the impact of empathic chatbots on customer responses in service interactions. The third essay explores proactivity—a robot’s capacity to autonomously operate in dynamic and fast-changing environments. Through three experimental studies, it uncovers how proactive robot shapes customer responses in sales interactions. Together, these essays advance the theoretical understanding of how distinct social and agentic features reshape customer interactions with service robots. This dissertation not only addresses key research priorities in marketing and service but also offers actionable insights for managers seeking to design and deploy service robots more effectively in frontline settings.
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Juquelier, A. (2025). Service robots : a customer perspective. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/260590