Remind Consumers of Robots’ Competence

When planning my prostate surgery, the urologist asked if I’d like it done by a robotic device. Authorizing an unmanned Roto-Rooter to probe and clean out body parts I associate closely with my manhood did not interest me. Sensing my reaction, the urologist added that the robot incorporated the best state-of-the-art expertise of human prostate surgeons and that a real-life urologist would be right there beside the robot. That did ease my resistances. Rejection of the robotic option ended up being for scheduling restrictions.
     This episode was brought back to mind by a question which researchers at Weber State University and University of Toledo posed: Would people prefer a robotic financial advisor to a human one? Answers from the data: When people trust that the human has substantial expertise, they’ll prefer the human over the robot. But when they perceive that the human is a novice financial advisor, people are equally comfortable choosing the human or the robot.
     Consumers are attracted to self-service technologies like robotic financial advisors because of perceived reliability and convenience. Consumers resist using such SSTs due to concerns about privacy violations and limited control. But with health care and financial management SSTs, a central issue is trust. A robotic financial advisor would be seen as having extensive information and unbiased judgment, leading to trust. On the other hand, personal interaction with a human advisor allows the consumer to assess trustworthiness.
     When there’s a serious mistake, consumers are more likely to blame a human service provider than a robotic service provider, according to studies at University of Zaragoza and Eindhoven University of Technology. With the robot, consumers generally held the firm responsible. Because the human service provider who fails is more accessible than “the firm,” restoring trust after a mistake should be easier with the human.
     People expect consistent performance from a robot. Consistency can build trust, yet there’s also a downside to consistency. The study participants said they’d expect a human service provider to shape up more quickly after a service failure than would be true for a robot.
     Along with reliability and convenience upsides of SSTs for consumers, there are the cost advantages for service providers. Look for ways to encourage consumers to embrace the robots. Foster trust by detailing how sophisticated analytical capabilities are built in and continually updated. As with my prostate surgery option, say that a human monitors the machine.

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