Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Nika Mozafari is an emerging researcher specializing in human-robot interaction, service technology, and consumer behavior in digital service environments. Her work sits at a compelling intersection of service management and artificial intelligence, focusing particularly on how users respond to service failures and recovery efforts when interacting with robotic and automated service agents. Mozafari's most significant contributions explore how robot design influences user attributions during service failures — a critical challenge as businesses increasingly deploy robots across customer-facing roles. Her highly cited 2022 study, "Users Taking the Blame?" (38 citations), investigates the psychological mechanisms by which users assign responsibility when robotic services go wrong, offering firms actionable guidance on robot design to minimize user churn. Her complementary research on humanoid service robots further examines an intriguing asymmetry in user behavior: people tend to claim credit for successful interactions but readily blame the robot when things fail. With a growing citation record and focused research agenda, Mozafari is making meaningful contributions to our understanding of service robot acceptance — an increasingly urgent topic as automation transforms customer experience across retail, hospitality, and digital service industries. Her work is essential reading for scholars and practitioners navigating the future of AI-driven service delivery.