Purpose: Besides the direct physical health consequences, through social isolation COVID-19 affects a considerably larger share of consumers with deleterious effects for their psychological well-being. Two vulnerable consumer groups are particularly affected: older adults and children. The purpose of the underlying paper is to take a transformative research perspective on how social robots can be deployed for advancing the well-being of these vulnerable consumers and to spur robotic transformative service research (RTSR). Design/methodology/approach: This paper follows a conceptual approach that integrates findings from various domains: service research, social robotics, social psychology and medicine. Findings: Two key findings advanced in this paper are (1) a typology of robotic transformative service (i.e. entertainer, social enabler, mentor and friend) as a function of consumers' state of social isolation, well-being focus and robot capabilities and (2) a future research agenda for RTSR. Practical implications: This paper guides service consumers and providers and robot developers in identifying and developing the most appropriate social robot type for advancing the well-being of vulnerable consumers in social isolation. Originality/value: This study is the first to integrate social robotics and transformative service research by developing a typology of social robots as a guiding framework for assessing the status quo of transformative robotic service on the basis of which it advances a future research agenda for RTSR. It further complements the underdeveloped body of service research with a focus on eudaimonic consumer well-being. ; Peer reviewed
Robotic transformative service research: deploying social robots for consumer well-being during COVID-19 and beyond
2020-10-01
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
512 Business and Management , COVID-19 , Eudaimonic well-being , Robotic transformative service research , Social robots , Vulnerable consumers , KOTA2020 , PREM2020_10 , 2 - Hybrid open access publication channel , 1 - Self archived , https://helda.helsinki.fi/dhanken/handle/10227/357813 , 1- Minst en av författarna har en utländsk affiliation , 1- Publicerad utomlands , 0- Ingen affiliation med ett företag , AoS: Competition economics and service strategy - Service and customer-oriented management , SDG 9 - Industry , Innovation , and Infrastructure
DDC: | 629 |