From Miso to Tray-C: The Impact of Hedonic and Utilitarian Name Preference on Non-Humanoid Service Robots in Restaurants

Service robots are become common in the restaurant industry. Robot suppliers recommend business name such robots to increase the likelihood of their acceptance by employees and consumers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the preferences of robot names representing "Utilitarian" and "Hedonic" attributes. Our findings show that study respondents had a significantly stronger preference for hedonic names compared to utilitarian names. Names with hedonic attributes were perceived positively and were considered more trustworthy. The name identified through this study was adopted for the service robot at a hospitality management program in the United States. This report also provides practical implications for restaurant operators on how to name their service robots. Future studies can investigate whether hedonic (vs. utilitarian) names can provide higher employee interaction and guest satisfaction in hospitality businesses deploying service robots.