How robot-to-human ratio shapes tourist emotions: insights from sentiment analysis in hybrid services

As service robots become increasingly integrated into tourism and hospitality, making it crucial to understand their emotional impact on tourists. Adopting the lens of Integrated Threat Theory, this study examines how robot-to-human ratios in hybrid service teams influences tourists’ emotional experiences. A role-playing experiments with five service team compositions, ranging from fully human to fully robotic staff. Participants’ narrative descriptions of their service encounters were analyzed using six sentiment analysis tools complemented by qualitative content analysis. The findings reveal a non-linear pattern: tourists’ emotion remain stable when humans are the majority, but positive emotions decline significantly and negative emotions intensify as robots predominate. These results suggest non-linear threat-emotion dynamics and extend Integrated Threat Theory to human-robot interactions by showing how increased robot presence can heighten perceived threat and alter emotional experiences. The results offer theoretical insights and practical strategies for designing emotionally intelligent service systems that optimize tourist experiences.