Research Insight | The Disconnect Between Service Robots and Corporate Social Responsibility
Brands are increasingly adopting two strategies at the same time: (1) using service robots to increase efficiency and (2) engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to positively shape brand-related perceptions and behaviors. For example, a service robot concierge named “Connie” answers Hilton guests’ questions about the hotel and shares information about the chain’s sustainability efforts.
A Journal of Interactive Marketing study shows these two strategies are not necessarily compatible: Consumers commonly interpret service robots as a signal of profit-oriented motives, which clashes with the expectations of sincerity created by CSR.
Luckily, service robots are considered more acceptable in some CSR contexts. When CSR is “high-fit” (i.e., when the CSR initiative matches the brand’s image or positioning; think Marriott’s homelessness relief program), brands suffer more from the introduction of service robots than when the CSR is “low-fit” (i.e., when the CSR initiative is less in line with a firm’s core business; think Wells Fargo’s philanthropic donations to food banks).
While the focus on CSR continues to grow, these findings show that the introduction of embodied AI such as service robots can undermine efforts to enhance a brand’s social responsibility image—especially in cases in which CSR initiatives are closely aligned with the firm’s core values. This interaction underscores the importance for firms to carefully consider how new technologies might affect broader strategic objectives, including their CSR commitments.
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What You Need to Know
- Although high-fit CSR is generally seen as more genuine and positive, such CSR initiatives can backfire when also deploying service robots.
- Low-fit CSR initiatives are generally preferred when companies plan to implement service robots or other AI-enabled technologies.
- A communal service robot strategy can mitigate the negative impact of service robots in instances of high-fit CSR.
Abstract
Brands increasingly adopt two strategies in tandem: They use artificially intelligent agents, such as service robots, to more efficiently serve customers, and they engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to positively shape brand-related perceptions and behaviors. In this research, across four studies (including a pilot study, an online interaction with an AI-powered robot, and three preregistered studies, involving real and fictitious brands and intentional and actual behavior) the authors provide evidence for the notion that these two strategies are not necessarily compatible. The authors reveal the counterintuitive and nuanced finding that brands engaging in high-fit CSR suffer more from the introduction of service robots than brands that engage in low-fit CSR. This outcome is explained by a perceived lack of alignment in consumers’ attributions regarding brands’ motivations behind the two strategies, especially regarding the brand’s profit-maximization intentions. The authors further identify two managerially actionable moderators. First, a communal service robot strategy can mitigate the negative impact of service robots in instances of high-fit CSR. Second, a more communal CSR implementation (i.e., volunteering time compared with donating money) can lead to a negative impact of service robots when a firm pursues a low-fit CSR strategy.
Marina Puzakova, Amir Grinstein, and Marc Becker, “Do Robots Serve Brands’ Socially Responsible Image? How Mixed Signals Shape Consumers’ Brand Preference and Engagement,” Journal of Interactive Marketing. doi:10949968251413529.