Abstract:

Background:
A close observation of the evolution of humanoid robots demonstrates that they are to play an increasingly important role in human life and to become the "friend of the future". Hanson Robotics declared that four models, including Sophia, would start rolling out of factories in the first half of 2021, just as researchers predict the pandemic will open new opportunities for the robotics industry.
In order to gain a 360-degree understanding of the consumer, researchers must go straight to the source: the consumer’s brain. Data gained by using neuromarketing tools such as Eye Tracking (ET) provide strategic information that can be useful in tailoring advertising campaigns or designing new products towards consumer preferences and needs.

Objective:
To analyze Romanian consumers’ perceptions towards humanoid robots involved in various fields: Education and Entertainment, Research and Space Exploration, Personal Care, Search and Rescue, Public Relationship or others.

Methodology:
Considering that this research uses a neuromarketing technique – ET, the proposed sample size was not determined by calculation, thus not being statistically representative. Therefore, the number of subjects was 20 people, 10 women and 10 men. The minimum, median and maximum ages of the participants were 18 years, 44 years and 70 years respectively. In terms of studies, 10% of the respondents are High school graduates, 50% of the respondents are Master graduates, and 40% of the respondents are Bachelor graduates. The data obtained were interpreted by the ET software.

Results:
Starting from the responses received from the respondents and the data analysis, the following are the major findings of the study: in the educational, research and space exploration, search and rescue/healthcare fields there is no difference in preferences if the robot is a woman or a man; people over 50 years old present a higher level of attention to the human speaker; people bellow 44 years old are more willing to attend a course presented by a humanoid robot; more than half of the respondents over 44 years old are reticent to the idea of taking their children to schools where the teachers are humanoid robots; less than 1 of 3 women over 40 years would leave her child alone with a babysitter humanoid robot; men find a higher interactivity in the relationship with a humanoid robot as a trainer or teacher; women feel more motivated in performing activities with a human being than with a humanoid robot.

Conclusions:
This study has found that a real understanding of the consumer’s perceptions about the humanoid robots will help the robotics industry implement efficient projects and designs of the appropriate humanoid robots, more and more useful in various domains, due to the Covid-19 pandemic need of social distancing. A higher level of information and education of consumers in robotic field will imply increased consumers’ skills in the decision-making process.

Originality:
Analyzing specialized literature, the use of neuromarketing tools in determining the perceptions towards humanoid robots, especially in pandemic context, is rarely encountered.

Future research:
We consider of great interest for future research to investigate consumers’ perceptions towards the penetration of humanoid robots in different domains, using other neuromarketing tools such as electroencephalography.

Keywords:

Neuroscience, consumer behavior, neuromarketing, academic research, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Eye Tracker (ET), marketing research.