Anthropomorphic Service Robots in Branding and Customer Experience

This chapter examines anthropomorphic service robots as strategic tools for branding, customer experience, service management, and entrepreneurship. It argues that human-like robots are no longer only automation devices but interactive brand touchpoints that shape customer trust, engagement, satisfaction, loyalty, and service memory. The chapter discusses how robot appearance, voice, gestures, emotional cues, social responsiveness, artificial intelligence, and personalization influence customer perceptions and brand identity. It also evaluates robot-enabled service design, employee integration, data governance, performance measurement, customer acceptance, and ethical risks such as privacy, service failure, uncanny valley effects, and algorithmic bias. Entrepreneurial opportunities include Robot-as-a-Service, custom robot branding, analytics platforms, maintenance services, and sector-specific robotic solutions.