Assessing Cobot’s Acceptability of French Workers: Proposition of a Model Integrating the TAM3, the ELSI and the Meaning of Work Scales
Résumé
Collaborative technologies are increasingly implemented in the workplace as they are in line with the values promoted by the 5.0 industry. This research investigates the acceptability of collaborative robots (“cobots”) in French workplaces. Using a questionnaire based on the Technology Acceptance Model 3, the Meaning of Work Inventory and the Ethical, Legal and Social implications scale, the authors have collected the perceived acceptability of cobots from 442 French workers. A model was created using the structural equations method. The results confirm that to be accepted, a cobot should be easy to use and represent an advantage for the worker. Several beliefs influence these factors and corroborate previous findings on technology acceptability.
Perceived safety is also an important factor in predicting intention to use a cobot. Finally, the
more useful workers perceive their work to be, the more useful they perceive the cobot. This
study can be used for stakeholders who wish to integrate cobots in their work force while caring
about the human resources of their organization.