| Abstract [eng] |
Artificial intelligence (hereinafter referred to as AI) is developing and penetrating various business industries. Investments in AI technologies by business and government institutions are growing every year, and AI-based service robots are already performing some service functions. For example, an AI-based voice assistant is already operating in Taco Bell restaurants, and AI robots moving around the airport help passengers navigate at one of the Istanbul airports. The Lithuanian Ministry of Economy and Innovation is implementing projects to develop the use of AI in Lithuania, and taking into account the aging factor of the population, in the future AI can help perform or take over some tasks in certain business sectors. Project problem. Although businesses are increasingly using AI in their daily processes and customer service, there is little research on AI and value co-creation. Scientific analyses have revealed a positive impact of proactive robotic service on consumer trust, value co-creation intention, engagement, and creating a sense of closeness. Scientific articles also note that perceived empathy has a positive impact on consumers, but the results of different studies are not always consistent. The results of studies on the impact of robotic anthropomorphism perception on value co-creation intention also do not always coincide. Although anthropomorphic features promote value co-creation, in certain contexts, too strong anthropomorphism has the opposite effect. It is worth noting that the ability of service robots to promote value creation through empathy has not been studied in Lithuania. Thus, due to the growing use of AI, contradictory results in scientific articles and the small number of studies, it is important to further delve into the impact of proactive robotic service on perceived robotic empathy and value co-creation intention and the moderating effect of anthropomorphic perception. Research object: the relationships robotic service proactivity, perceived robotic empathy, perceived robotic anthropomorphism, and consumers’ intention to participate in value co-creation. The aim of the research is to theoretically and empirically substantiate the relationships between robotic service proactivity, perceived robotic empathy, perceived robotic anthropomorphism, and consumers’ intention to participate in value co-creation. Research objectives: 1. to reveal the relevance and problematic of research on proactive robotic service, perceived robot empathy, perceived robot anthropomorphism and consumer intention to participate in value co-creation; 5 2. to theoretically argue the links between proactive robotic service, perceived robot empathy, perceived robot anthropomorphism and consumer intention to participate in value co-creation, to develop a conceptual model; 3. to develop a methodology for researching the links between proactive robotic service, perceived robot empathy, perceived robot anthropomorphism and consumer intention to participate in value co-creation; 4. to empirically verify the links between proactive robotic service, perceived robot empathy, perceived robot anthropomorphism and consumer intention to participate in value co-creation; 5. to present the limitations and further research directions of the research on proactive robotic service, perceived robot empathy, perceived robot anthropomorphism and consumer intention to participate in value co-creation. Main project results. The results of the study show that whether a robot has a face or not does not significantly affect how users perceive the robot's anthropomorphism. However, users are more likely to participate in value co-creation when the robot's proactivity is high. Perceived robot anthropomorphism does not have a moderating effect on the relationship between robot proactivity and users' intention to participate in value co-creation. Robot proactivity did not affect perceived robotic empathy, and perceived robotic empathy did not have a mediating effect on the relationship between robotic service proactivity and users' intention to participate in value co-creation. A linear regression analysis showed that the perceived gender of the robot had a statistically significant positive effect on users' intention to participate in value co-creation. |
