Can AI Servicescapes Lead To Customer Engagement Behaviors?

Artificial intelligence(AI)technology has been increasingly introduced into the tourism and hospitality industry to create novel experiences,and managers are concerned about the service consequences of the application of technology.The existing studies focus on how the functional characteristics of AI services affect the use intention,interaction,and other results,lack of in-depth discussion on the environment shaped by AI and its influence,although the environment is the critical factor that arouses the tourists’ satisfaction in of the tourism and hospitality industry.In terms of service results,given the current AI performance and limitations of the customer groups it has touched,customer engagement behaviors such as feedback,help,and comment are more meaningful for the sustainable development of enterprises,as well as how they change under the ground of AI application.Therefore,this study examines the influence of different service modes in different environment(i.e.,AI environment conspicuousness and environment normality with AI services)on customer engagement behaviors(repurchase,word-of-mouth,help others and give feedback),as well as the corresponding mediating mechanism and boundary conditions.Specifically,this study investigates AI servicescape and its three key elements namely,AI environment conspicuousness(vs.the normal environment with auxiliary AI)and customer technology readiness(low vs.high),robot anthropomorphism(high vs.low)on customer trust and engagement behavior based on three correlated studies.Study 1 examined the effect of AI environment conspicuousness on customer engagement behavior,the moderating effect of customer technology readiness,and the mediating effect of customer trust in AI.Study 2 was designed to test the mediating mechanism of ideal self-congruity and to exclude the possible influence of the mediating alternative explanation of actual selfcongruity.Study 3,2*2 laboratory experiments were used to investigate the moderating effect of robot anthropomorphism on the interaction between AI environment conspicuousness and customer technology readiness.The results show that the AI environment conspicuousness significantly increases customer engagement behaviors by affecting customer trust for AI services,while the customers’ technology readiness strengthens this effect.In this process,the ideal selfcongruity of customers to the environment plays a mediating role.Specifically,although both types of customers(high level of technology readiness and low level of technology readiness)showed more positive word-of-mouth,help others and give feedback in the AI environment conspicuousness(compared with the environment normality),the customer in the AI environment conspicuousness would show more positive to repurchase intention and word-of-mouth due to the ideal self-congruity when the customers’ technology readiness was high.Furthermore,the study also found that the robot anthropomorphism in servicescape weaken the effect of the interaction between AI environment conspicuousness and customer technology readiness on customer engagement behavior by affecting customer trust for AI services.This study theoretically sheds light on the research of AI application and practically helps hotels effectively design AI services and environments to improve customer engagement behavior.