You don’t have to tip the human waiters anymore, but … Unveiling factors that influence consumers’ willingness to pay a price premium for robotic restaurants
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
ISSN: 0959-6119
Article publication date: 17 May 2022
Issue publication date: 26 August 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to simultaneously examine the influence of demographic, psychographic and situational factors on consumers’ willingness to pay a price premium (WTPp) for robotic restaurants and to profile market segments based on consumers’ WTPp levels (positive, neutral and negative).
Design/methodology/approach
Using an online survey, the data were gathered from a sample of 897 Thai consumers who had dined at a robotic restaurant in the past 12 months. Structural equation modeling, chi-square tests and the one-way analysis of variance were used for data analysis.
Findings
Demographic (gender, age, income and marital status), psychographic (perceived advantages/disadvantages, personal innovativeness and personality traits) and situational factors (perceived health risk and self-protection behavior) significantly influence consumers’ WTPp for robotic restaurants. The positive price premium group differs significantly from the neutral and negative price premium groups in terms of demographic, psychographic and situational profiles.
Practical implications
The findings of this study help restaurateurs target the correct customers and set up appropriate price fences to safeguard profits and maximize return on investment.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on technology-based services and hospitality by heeding the calls made by Ivanov and Webster (2021) and providing much-needed empirical evidence of possible changes in consumers’ WTPp for robot-delivered services in restaurants due to COVID-19.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper was partially funded by the Faculty of Social Sciences and Leisure Management, Taylor’s University, Malaysia. The authors would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief Fevzi Okumus and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. The authors also gratefully acknowledge valuable feedback from S. Mostafa Rasoolimanesh on the earlier version of this manuscript.
Citation
Chuah, S.H.-W., Jitanugoon, S., Puntha, P. and Aw, E.C.-X. (2022), "You don’t have to tip the human waiters anymore, but … Unveiling factors that influence consumers’ willingness to pay a price premium for robotic restaurants", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 34 No. 10, pp. 3553-3587. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-08-2021-1023
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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