###### Abstract  
The COVID-19 pandemic not only accelerated the spread of contactless robot services but also revitalized the golf industry. These changes have expedited the adoption of robot caddies, making it necessary to conduct research on golfers' acceptance of robot caddies. This study, thus, intended to investigate the importance of the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) in the framework of robotic golf caddies and examined health consciousness as a moderator. An online survey was conducted with South Korean golfers, and a total of 391 responses were analyzed. The data analysis results indicated that all five dimensions of the extended UTAUT have a positive impact on attitude. Also, attitude is a significant predictor of both intentions to use and word-of-mouth intentions. Lastly, this study discovered that the moderating effect of health consciousness on the correlation between performance expectancy and attitude was significant.  
robots; new technology-based services; attitude; technology acceptance behavior; behavioral intentions +
Footnote †: journal: _Sci._  
0000-0001-6991-5000-0000-0000-0000-0000-0000-0000-0000-0000-0000-0000-00000-0000-00000-00000-00000-00000-00000-00000-00000-00000-00000  
employment insurance when using a robotic golf caddy. Furthermore, golf carts are not allowed to enter the fairway in South Korea, so golf games are often delayed if one caddy is handling four golfers [6]. However, it is one caddy per person in regard to robotic golf caddies, so a smooth golf game without interruptions can be played. Robotic golf caddies are attracting a lot of attention for these reasons.  
This study tried to apply the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to the context of a robotic golf caddy. It is most important to identify the factor of consumers' adoption, which affects their behavioral intentions, for the success of a new technology-based product/service [7; 8], so the UTAUT is commonly applied in order to predict users' behavioral intentions when a new technology-based product/service is released [9; 10]. It has been verified that the original UTAUT is successful in regard to predicting the likelihood of consumers accepting and utilizing new technology-based products/services. The model consists of the following sub-dimensions, which include performance expectations, effort expectations, social influence, and facilitating conditions [11]. However, questions have continued to be raised that the UTAUT is insufficient in regard to fully explaining consumer behavior. Also, efforts have been made towards the extend UTAUT in regard to more clearly explaining consumer behavior in the field of new technology. This study adopted the original UTAUT for this reason, and it extended it by incorporating an additional construct, which is perceived risk, in order to increase the explanatory power of consumer behavioral intentions regarding robotic golf caddies for the first time.  
In summary, this research analyzed the impact of the five dimensions of the extended UTAUT, which included performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and perceived risk, on attitude. This research additionally examined how attitude influences intentions to use and word-of-mouth intentions. Lastly, this study assessed the effect of health consciousness as a moderator on the extended UTAUT and attitude relationship. The results of this study can provide valuable insights in regard to developing a marketing plan in order to advance the commercialization of robotic golf caddies based on the extended UTAUT framework.