Human-centered digital twins in hospitality: how employee perceptions and system design shape adoption

Introduction The digital transformation of hospitality is increasingly driven by technologies that integrate human and operational elements of service work. Within this evolution, human-centered Digital Twins leverage both human-related and operational data to digitally represent employees within their work contexts, enabling real-time feedback and data-informed decision making for both employees and organizations. Despite their potential, little is known about how hospitality employees perceive these systems or what shapes their willingness to use them. Methods This study examines the individual perceptual factors that influence employees’ intention to use a human-centered Digital Twin, focusing on performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and trust in the system. In addition, the study explores the role of gamification as a system design feature that may shape how these perceptions translate into adoption intentions. Data were collected from 141 customer-facing hotel employees across Europe using a structured survey based on validated scales. An Exploratory Factor Analysis confirmed the reliability and structural validity of the measurement model, and multiple linear regression analysis was used to test both the baseline and the extended models. Results Results show that all three perceptual factors significantly and positively influence intention to use, with performance expectancy emerging as the strongest predictor. Gamification moderates the relationship between effort expectancy and intention to use in a non-reinforcing manner: when gamification is higher, the positive effect of effort expectancy becomes weaker. Discussion These findings suggest that interaction design can alter how employees experience the ease of using advanced digital systems. This study provides empirical evidence on the perceptual determinants that influence front-line employees’ intention to use a human-centered Digital Twin in hospitality settings, highlighting the role of both core adoption beliefs and system design features in shaping adoption intentions.