Table for One, Please—And Make It a Robot Waiter

By Professor Kimmy Chan

From Jim CARREY in The Majestic to Nicholas CAGE in It Could Happen to You, movies have long played with the romantic trope of lonely customers falling for kind service workers. With the rise of solo dining and traveling, this classic theme seems increasingly relevant. But there's a new twist: the growing presence of frontline anthropomorphized robots (FARs). Can lonesome customers genuinely connect with robots? A recent study[1] suggests that, under the right conditions, they just might!

As anyone who has ever dined alone with their phone knows, loneliness has become a defining part of modern life. In fact, sales of single round-trip travel tickets surged by 200% in the summer of 2021 in the US, while “table for one” reservations accounted for the largest market segment—35%—at U.S. restaurants in 2020. At the same time, technology is transforming the service sector, with FARs—robots designed to look and act human—replacing more and more human workers. But while some customers may form a social rapport with service robots, leading to positive feedback, others find them eerie and unsettling. So, are solo diners doomed to loneliness?

Researchers studied both field and online data from diverse samples across airports, restaurants, and hotels to explore how social rapport and eeriness affect the service experiences of solo versus group customers interacting with FARs. The results? Solo customers formed stronger bonds with FARs, but they were also more sensitive to the robots' unnatural qualities. Meanwhile, group customers seemed to overlook the eeriness, possibly because the presence of others distracted their focus from the distinctiveness of the robots.

The findings show that social context matters—there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to deploying FARs. Instead, firms can leverage our natural preference for familiarity, known as in-group favouritism. For example, simple cues, like adding a national flag or cultural symbols to a hotel FAR, can make domestic tourists feel more at home. Meanwhile, personalised interactions, like addressing customers by name, can also strengthen these connections, especially as technology gets more powerful.

Because people generally value control, solo customers may appreciate a fully automated FAR experience, while group customers might find this lack of control unsettling. Thus, businesses should try to strike a balance, using simple solutions like a help button connecting with human staff to reassure customers without undermining automation. Businesses can also enhance FAR interactions by creating immersive, sensory-rich environments by adding elements like ambient lighting and music. Solo customers, especially, respond better with the FAR when the experience feels engaging rather than purely functional. For more task-focused customers such as business travellers, traditional self-service options may be a better fit.

And for romantic customers? Don’t lose hope! Since even tech visionaries like Elon MUSK have expressed fascination with AI companions, such as Sophia—an advanced robot designed to mimic human intelligence, emotions, and expressions—romance might just be around the corner!

Reference:

[1]  Khoa, D.T., & Chan, K.W. (2024). Being alone or together: How frontline anthropomorphized robots affect solo (vs. joint) service consumption. Journal of Service Research, 27(4), 579–599. https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705231218405