Facilitation of Customer Empathy: The Effect of Robot Apology on Customer Reaction Following a Service Failure

Abstract

Despite the rapid increase in the employment of robots, robot service failures are inevitable. Previous studies advocate human employees to provide service recovery rather than robots themselves. Few marketing studies have demonstrated how robot service recovery affects customer reactions. This study examined the effects of service recovery provided by robots (i.e., robot apology) on customer satisfaction and the underlying psychological mechanism. Based on two experimental scenarios, we argue that robot apology significantly influences customer satisfaction through the mediation of customer empathy after a service failure. In addition, the effect of robot apology is moderated by customers’ sense of power. This research offers theoretical implications for robot service recovery and practical implications for firms employing service robots.