To be right on the button: How and when hotel frontline service employees’ AI awareness influences deviant behavior

Abstract

In the foreseeable future, artificial intelligence (AI) may take on approximately 70 % of tasks in the hospitality industries. When employees become aware that AI could replace them, the awareness may lead them to deplete their own resources, subsequently resulting in deviant behavior. Therefore, drawing upon the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to explore how AI awareness affects deviant behavior and its underlying mechanisms. A paired sample of 394 hotel frontline service employees and their coworkers was collected at two time points and analyzed with hierarchical regression analysis. The results showed that AI awareness positively influenced deviant behavior, with this relationship mediated by ego depletion. Tolerance of uncertainty negatively moderated the path between AI awareness and ego depletion and negatively moderated the indirect effect of AI awareness on deviant behavior through ego depletion. Moreover, we discussed the theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future recommendations of this research.