Understanding robot acceptance/rejection: the SAR model

By shifting the focus from the future and robots’ potentiality to real opportunities, this paper investigates key factors of acceptance/rejection of robots’ service provision. A qualitative method was adopted due to the novelty of the topic, with several steps of investigation, to deal with the socially constructed meanings related to the agents’ acceptance and use of robots. By building on the service robot acceptance model, the paper addresses the role of value-in-context and context congruence to explain the contribution of conversational agents and service robots to value creation. An extended model – the SARM - is presented and highlights the crucial role of value-in-context, representing a novel element to be added to social-emotional, functional, and relational elements. The SARM offers a more complete understanding of users’ perception regarding robots by including context-specific reasons serving as important linkages between functional, emotional, and relational features regarding robot acceptance or rejection.