October 5, 2020
Editorial
Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

Robots Save Us Time—But Do They Make Us Happier?

By: A.V. Whillans, Emanuel de Bellis, Fabian Nindl and Tobias Schlager

Format:Electronic

Abstract

Autonomous products such as robotic vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, and playmates for our pets are meant to improve people’s lives—but do they actually make consumers happier? The authors share the results of recent research which found that owning autonomous products does in fact increase happiness, but with two important caveats: first, they found that consumers felt less comfortable using products with highly human-like features such as voices or names, and actually reported feeling guilty about relegating their dirty work to these products. Second, they found that if using a robotic product was associated with laziness, that could also decrease consumer happiness. Based on these findings, the authors offer several practical suggestions for how manufacturers can most effectively develop and market these time-saving products to the modern consumer.

Keywords

Technology; Consumer Behavior; Attitudes; Customer Satisfaction; Marketing Communications

Citation

Whillans, A.V., Emanuel de Bellis, Fabian Nindl, and Tobias Schlager. "Robots Save Us Time—But Do They Make Us Happier?" Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (October 5, 2020).