Living and Working with Service Robots : A TCCM Analysis and Considerations for Future Research

Purpose – Service robots are now an integral part of our living and working environment, making them one of the hot topics for service researchers today. Against this background, this paper reviews the recent service robot literature following a Theory-Context-Characteristics-Methodology (TCCM) approach to capture the state-of-art of the field. In addition, building on qualitative input from researchers active in this field, we highlight where opportunities for further development and growth lie.Design/methodology/approach – This paper identifies and analyzes 88 manuscripts (featuring 173 individual studies) published in academic journals featured on the SERVSIG literature alert. In addition, qualitative input gathered from 79 researchers active in the service field and doing research on service robots is infused throughout the manuscript.Findings – The key research foci of the service robot literature to date include comparing service robots with humans, the role of service robots’ look & feel, consumer attitudes toward service robots, and the role of service robot conversational skills & behaviors. From a TCCM view, we discern dominant theories (anthropomorphism theory), contexts (retail/healthcare, U.S. samples, B2C settings, and customer-focused), study characteristics (robot type: chatbots, not embodied, and text/voice-based; outcome: customer intentions), and methodologies (experimental, picture-based scenarios).Originality/value – This paper is the first to analyze the service robot literature from a TCCM perspective. Doing so, this study gives (1) a comprehensive picture of the field to date and (2) highlights key pathways to inspire future work.Paper type: literature review