Ruud W.H. Wetzels

Papers

Total Citations

505

H-Index

About

Dr. Ruud W.H. Wetzels is a pioneering scholar at the intersection of service marketing, human-robot interaction, and consumer psychology. His research fundamentally explores how consumers build trust in service robots, particularly humanoid agents, and how anthropomorphic design influences adoption. His landmark 2019 paper, "Trust in humanoid robots: implications for services marketing," has garnered over 505 citations, establishing a foundational framework for understanding the trust paradox in robotic services. Wetzels critically examines how adding human-like features to robots can both enhance and undermine consumer trust, challenging simplistic assumptions in anthropomorphism theory. His work has profound implications for service design, showing that trust is not merely a function of human likeness but of perceived competence, warmth, and situational appropriateness. Beyond this core contribution, his research spans technology acceptance, customer experience, and the psychological mechanisms driving human-robot relationships. With a citation count reflecting his influence across marketing, robotics, and human-computer interaction, Wetzels is a leading voice in shaping how businesses and designers create trustworthy, effective service robots for the modern marketplace.