Since the pandemic accelerated the penetration of AI-based autonomous service robots (ASRs) in hospitality and tourism, people are more likely to experience these service innovations, which raises critical ethical concerns from consumers’ perspectives. This dissertation focuses on the ethics of ASRs in hospitality and aims to 1) explore consumers’ ethical perceptions of ASRs, 2) investigate factors that can affect consumers’ intention to adopt ASRs in a post-pandemic context, and 3) examine how initial trust can mediate the relationship between consumers’ ethical perceptions and facilitate the intention to adopt ASRs. This dissertation conducted two studies using the exploratory mixed methods approach to achieve these goals. Study one explored the consumers’ ethical perceptions of ASRs, driven by various ethical theories, such as teleology and deontology. Using triangulation methodology, data collection proceeded through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and on-site interviews. The findings revealed eight themes of consumers’ perceived ethical issues of ASRs. These themes were categorized into two dimensions: ethical issues that arise during interactions and ethical issues that are inherent to the characteristics of ASRs. Therefore, a total of 16 ethical issues were identified. Study two further developed measurements of consumers’ perceived ethical issues of ASRs by conducting two rounds of online surveys. A second-order model based on Technology Acceptance Model and Initial Trust Model was built to understand better the relationship between consumers’ ethical perceptions and their intention to adopt ASRs. By utilizing second-order confirmatory factor analysis and partial least square structural equation modeling, the main results demonstrated the relationships between the two dimensions of consumers’ perceived ethical issues, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, initial trust, and behavioral intention. Furthermore, initial trust significantly mediated the relationship between consumers’ ethical perceptions and behavioral intention, while personal innovativeness moderated the relationship between initial trust and behavioral intention. This study is the first to empirically explore, measure, and validate a framework regarding consumers’ ethical perceptions of ASRs in hospitality. The findings contribute to the literature on ethics studies in business and information technology and provide valuable implications for managers in tourism and hospitality, policymakers, and those implementing ASRs in broader service contexts.

Increasing demands of youth sport participation has resulted in a lack of time for youth to engage in non-sport activities associated with positive youth development (PYD; West & Strand, 2016; Witt & Dangi, 2018). Though sport participation has the potential to increase positive PYD in participants, it is evident that sport participation alone does not generate PYD (Coakley, 2011). A positive environment, space to build internal assets, and continuous intentional, evaluative programs are a few of the components that may facilitate PYD in sport (Petitpas, Cornelius, Van Raalte, & Jones, 2005). When an appropriate development context is lacking, sport participation may actually lead to negative outcomes including intrapersonal (e.g. anxiety due to excessive criticism), interpersonal (e.g. parental pressure or lack of time to participate in other age-appropriate activities), or structural outcomes (e.g. overuse/burnout, cost, or lack of free play) (Witt & Dangi, 2018; Reverdito, et al., 2020). These risks may be particularly pronounced for athletes whose sole activity is sport. One way to address this is to provide non-sport activities as part of a sport program. For example, creative arts activities can enhance self-awareness (Perryman, Moss, & Cochran, 2015), improve communication (Moon, 2007), and decrease psychological distress (Ansari & Lalani, 2014). Further, creative arts can be sport related and built into sport program. Given the value of creative activities in PYD, and the potential lack of creative opportunities for athletes, it is important to examine if such activities are associated with PYD outcomes for athletes. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the experience of participation in creative activities for youth athletes, with a specific focus on potential PYD associations. Fifteen current youth sport athletes engaged in an art-based activity, followed by a semi-structured interview. Findings suggest indicators of active engagement in creative art activities are distraction, reflection, expression, and relaxation. Further, when participants were actively engaged in creative arts, they perceived the following three benefits: 1) connection with teammates, 2) empowerment, and 3) positive identity. These findings provide practical implication for youth sport administrators as well as contribute to the limited body of literature on creative arts and youth sport programing.