Daniel Ruiz‐Equihua
Papers
2
Total Citations
81
H-Index
2
About
Daniel Ruiz‐Equihua is a leading researcher at the intersection of service robotics, consumer psychology, and hospitality management. His work fundamentally explores how customers perceive and interact with service robots, with a particular focus on the psychological mechanisms that drive engagement and satisfaction. A central theme in his research is the concept of **psychological ownership**—the feeling that a robot is “mine” or “ours”—and how it is triggered by robot design and social cues. His most-cited paper, “Human–robot interactions in the restaurant setting” (73 citations), demonstrates how social cognition and anthropomorphism foster psychological ownership, ultimately shaping customer responses to robot waiters. More recently, his 2025 study on “Employee-robot collaboration in services” (8 citations) extends this framework, examining how robot attributes like perceived manipulability and attractiveness influence customer attributions and engagement during human-robot team service encounters. Ruiz‐Equihua’s work is highly impactful for practitioners designing robotic assistants and for scholars studying technology acceptance. By revealing the psychological pathways that turn a machine into a perceived social actor, he provides critical insights for the future of automated hospitality and frontline service.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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