Purpose: Social robot anthropomorphism is widely recognized for performing crucial tasks in supporting the service industry and enhancing the employee experience. This study elucidates how social anthropomorphic robots can influence the psychological well-being of employees in the hotel industry. The study further examines the impact of social robot warmth, psychological ownership and technology readiness in the above relationship.Design/methodology/approach: The research utilized an online survey questionnaire for data collection and analysis. Data were collected from Indian hotel employees (N = 275). Structural equation modeling was applied to validate the conceptual model. The study examines the results using AMOS v25 and the SPSS PROCESS Macro.Findings: The study empirically finds that social robot anthropomorphism positively impacts the psychological well-being of hotel employees. Further, it substantiates that despite low technology readiness, social robot anthropomorphism enhances psychological well-being through psychological ownership. Additionally, anthropomorphizing social robots emits warmth, which enhances employees' psychological well-being in the hotel industry.Originality/value: These empirical results and theory suggest a novel dimension of anthropomorphism in social robot interactions, significantly impacting the employees' psychological well-being. A moderated mediation relationship is established, which confirms social robot warmth and psychological ownership as mediators and technology readiness as a moderator of the social robot anthropomorphism and employee psychological well-being relationship. The results validate the conceptual model of research that is grounded in the theory of psychological ownership and the realism maximization theory.

Environment sustainability is becoming an important social obligation for organizations. As consumers are becoming conscious of the environment conservation, organizations are using technology to increase efficiency while saving labor costs and providing a unique in-store experience, engaging consumers interaction with the brand. Artificial intelligence (AI), that involves machines or applications mimicking human intelligence, is transforming the manner in which the consumers interact with the brands. Applying the theory of anthropomorphism and the psychological ownership theory, this study significantly contributes to the existing literature by investigating the interplay between crucial constructs such as AI anthropomorphism, psychological ownership, and product usage barrier in the context of green brands. Data was collected through a questionnaire from Indian consumers (N = 295). Data analysis was conducted using the SPSS PROCESS macro. The study provides empirical evidence on the significant role of psychological ownership with green brand AI anthropomorphism for building consumer relationships. The findings revealed that green brand AI anthropomorphism creates product usage barriers, but along with psychological ownership, the influence on consumer relationships remains positive.