Nicolas Pontes
Papers
2
Total Citations
41
H-Index
2
About
Nicolas Pontes is a leading researcher at the intersection of artificial intelligence, consumer psychology, and retail innovation. His work focuses on how humanoid social robots (HSRs) and human–robot collaboration reshape customer experiences and behaviors in frontline service encounters. Pontes’s most influential paper, “Retail robots as sales assistants: how speciesism moderates the effect of robot intelligence on customer perceptions and behaviour” (2023, 36 citations), reveals that consumers’ speciesist attitudes critically moderate how robot intelligence influences trust and purchase intentions—a foundational insight for designing AI that resonates with diverse audiences. His more recent study, “The impact of master–servant relationships in human–robot collaboration on customer perceptions and behaviors” (2025), draws on leader–member exchange and intergroup threat theories to show that the perceived hierarchy between human staff and robots can either enhance or undermine customer outcomes. Pontes’s work is notable for bridging robotics, ethics, and marketing, offering actionable frameworks for retailers deploying AI. With growing citation impact, he is shaping the future of service automation and human–robot interaction.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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