Intelligent service systems and value co-creation in hotel frontlines

Purpose Drawing on service-dominant logic, this study examines how mechanical- and feeling-intelligent service systems contribute to value co-creation through distinct customer-engagement pathways and how these effects change over time and following the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Design/methodology/approach Using a large-scale dataset of hotel information and online reviews, we conduct text mining to measure key variables and regression analyses to examine the proposed relationships and their changes over time and following the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Findings The results show that mechanical-intelligent service systems contribute to co-created value through functional engagement, whereas feeling-intelligent service systems contribute through emotional and social engagement. Additionally, value co-creation driven by both types of intelligent service systems strengthens over time, with a notable surge observed following the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Originality/value This study advances understanding of how intelligent service systems participate in frontline value co-creation in hospitality and provides practical guidance for service firms seeking to deploy such systems strategically in service frontlines.