Humanoid versus non-humanoid robots: How mortality salience shapes preference for robot services under the COVID-19 pandemic?

This paper examines the influence of mortality salience on preference for humanoid robot service. Six studies confirm that consumers/tourists are reluctant to adopt humanoid (vs. non-humanoid) service robots and robotic services when mortality is salient. The effect is driven by the perceived threat to human identity. However, temporal distance can alleviate the mortality salience effect. Eliciting a distant-future temporal perspective can reduce consumers'/tourists' existential anxiety, and then attenuate negative reactions to humanoid service robots. This research provides an innovative standpoint on consumers' reactions to service robots under conditions of mortality salience (e.g., during the COVID-19 pandemic). It also offers insight into service robot implementation and design in the hospitality and tourism industry.