Co-creation 5.0: The frontline employee–robot team and firms’ outcomes. The Tin Woodman paradox

Abstract

Co-creation 5.0 is a new era in which frontline employees (FLE) and service robots work as a team. This study examines the consequences of co-creation 5.0 on service outcomes in a real context and analyses the moderating effect of the FLEs and collaborative service robot (CSR) teams. We employed the attribution theory as the conceptual framework. Moreover, we studied the relationships between two service outcomes (perceived value of the firm and word of mouth (WOM) intention about the firm), two explanatory variables related to the two agents (perceived competence of FLEs and satisfaction with human–robot interaction (HRI), and the moderating effect of the FLE–CSR team. An empirical investigation was designed involving two CSRs that provided customers with information for one week each in two hotel lobbies. Qualitative research was conducted through observations and personal interviews with employees and customers. Customer evaluations were performed using a questionnaire based on scales validated in the literature. The findings show that in the current state of technology, in the context of co-creation 5.0, the FLE is primarily responsible for the firms’ outcomes from the customer perspective. The CSR is seen as a service delivery team member with a complementary character. However, personnel have negative opinions about CSRs and do not regard them as partners. However, customers assign responsibility to CSR, and an increase in their social–emotional skills leads to increased attribution of responsibility.