The purpose of this study is to investigate how consumers perceive and accept service robots specifically designed for use in thermal hotel environments. To achieve this objective, the research focuses on the roles of positive emotions, negative emotions, and consumers’ behavioral intentions toward adopting service robots. Employing a mixed-methods design, the study integrates both qualitative insights and quantitative rigor to examine the interrelationships among emotional and cognitive factors. Data were collected from 458 guests staying at thermal hotels across Türkiye. The analysis was conducted using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) alongside fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), enabling a robust and multidimensional evaluation of the proposed hypotheses. The findings from PLS-SEM indicate that novelty and satisfaction exert a statistically significant positive influence on consumers’ acceptance of service robots, whereas the effects of enjoyment and negative emotions were non-significant. However, fsQCA results revealed that specific combinations of emotional states rather than individual factors alone, can effectively lead to higher acceptance levels of acceptance. These findings provide valuable implications for developing strategies for implementing service robot in hospitality environments.
Ali Eren Balıkel (2025) studied this question.