Abstract
This study investigates the impact of AI-powered robots on hospitality employees’ creativity and reveals the psychological mechanisms behind this effect. A within-person design using a weekly survey spanning five weeks was conducted with 109 hospitality employees who interacted daily with AI-powered robots. Data were analyzed using multilevel regression techniques. The results indicate that exposure to AI-powered robots enhances employee creativity, mediated by increased work engagement and decreased emotional exhaustion. The perceived usefulness of the robots negatively moderates the relationship between exposure to AI-powered robots and employee creativity. The findings highlight the dual impact of AI-powered robots on employee creativity, emphasizing the need for a balanced integration of robots and employees.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-23 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | Sept 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2026 |
Keywords
- employee creativity
- exposure to AI-powered robots
- Human–robot collaboration
- interdependence theory
- week-level within-person design
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Management Information Systems
- Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management
- Marketing