On March 04, 2026, Peking University HSBC Business School UK Campus (PHBS-UK) hosted an interesting and intriguing session of its Research Seminar Series, featuring Dr. Qionglei Yu from Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University. The research seminar, titled “Responsible adoption of customer service robots in services: the impact on customers’ well-being,” focused on the role of AI and robotics as service providers within the broader context of the global loneliness epidemic. The research seminar was moderated by Dr. Stephan Gerschewski, Associate Professor in Management at Peking University HSBC Business School.
Speaker Profile
Dr Qionglei Yu, is Reader in Marketing and Director of Accreditation at Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University. Qionglei obtained her Doctoral Degree from University of Sheffield. Her research interests initially cover applying marketing philosophy and practices within organisations and the tourism sector. Her utmost research interest lies in exploring the effect of technology on consumer psychology, social interaction and community well-being. She has published dozens of research papers and conference proceedings on various topics, including Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, European Journal of Marketing, International Marketing Review, Journal of Business Research, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Tourism Management Perspectives and many others. Apart from academic research, Qionglei also has years of experience in industrial consultancy.
Dr. Yu began the seminar by introducing the motivation for this research, recalling the journey to the topic and tying the subject to the broader field of stakeholder well-being and internal marketing. She opened the conversation to the room, encouraging the audience to discuss their perceptions of “loneliness” as a concept. Harnessing the momentum from the discussion, Dr. Yu delved deeper into the evolution of loneliness in research, interweaving interdisciplinary research insights to consumer behaviour and internal marketing.
With the background well established, Dr. Yu introduced the rise of the loneliness epidemic, current advancements in technology, and their influence on behavioural trends. These insights were collected from interviews about consumer views on service robots in contrast to human service providers. Individuals participating in the research were not explicitly questioned about their emotional state, but rather wider conversations were held about preferences in service technologies. Results were extracted mainly via NLP (Natural Language Processing) frameworks.
A key insight shared by Dr. Yu was the duality of technology in both dampening and heightening feelings of loneliness in the modern landscape. Technology can inadvertently encourage feelings of isolation, insecurity, detachment and alienation. Alternatively, these same technologies can also provide alternative coping mechanisms, social sanctuaries, and previously inaccessible avenues of connection. Dr. Yu also highlighted differences in behavioural preferences, giving examples of situations where consumers may be more inclined towards automated service and vice versa. An example given was an unexpected finding in consumer preferences for service robots and automation during hotel check-ins in individuals experiencing loneliness. She also opened the conversation to the room, allowing the audience to explore their preference motivations for automated or robotic services, including AI companionship. Then Dr. Yu related the discussion back to research findings. She noted that situational differences, task complexity, and information exchange can affect choice preferences, in addition to a consumer’s mental state and well-being.
Dr. Yu concluded by encouraging social impact in research. On a practical level, she emphasised the importance of addressing loneliness in today’s social environment, and utilising technology as another vehicle for connection rather than seeing it as a hindrance.
This seminar offered an in-depth exploration of technology consumption preferences within the current modern landscape, highlighting the interconnectedness of consumer behaviour in marketing as a field. True to the spirit of the seminar topic, Dr. Yu facilitated meaningful conversations about loneliness in today’s consumption landscape.
By Jing Li, Stephan Gerschewski
Photo : Hu Shishi
