Consumers and robots: How people really feel about humanoid robots at home and work

Releasing September 8 -- People are broadly skeptical of humanoid robots, but that skepticism collapses on contact according to a new survey of 1,000 adults in the United States and United Kingdom.

For the 70% of respondents who have never interacted with a humanoid or service robot, negative attitudes outnumber positive ones nearly two to one: 47% versus 23%. Among the 7% who interact with robots frequently, 88% are positive, including 57% who describe themselves as "very positive."

The gap hits the wallet too. Purchase intent among frequent robot users is very strong at 75 out of 100. For those who have never met a humanoid robot, it's just 28 of 100: a 3X difference.

Across the full sample:

• 40% of respondents have negative attitudes toward humanoid robots
• 33% are positive
• 27% are neutral

Average likelihood to purchase is just 36%, and Net Promoter Score sits at -68, with 78% unlikely to recommend a humanoid.

"It's early days for humanoid robots, but if the industry wants a broad positive attitude towards humanoid robots, the data is pretty clear," said John Koetsier, co-founder and editor-in-chief of HumanoidMegaHub. "Nothing moves attitudes the way a single real-world encounter does. Every moment of actual contact with a robot is associated with warmer attitudes and higher purchase intent. Clearly, the fastest route to a consumer market is putting machines where people can walk up to them."

Skeptical, but resigned

Consumers do not expect their reservations to slow robot technology down. The median respondent expects humanoid robots to be a common sight within 10 years, and 42% expect to see robots everywhere within five years.

At the same time, most people remain unconvinced humanoids will be safe, necessary, or beneficial. On 1-to-5 bipolar scales, respondents averaged 2.8 on threatening-to-beneficial, 2.7 on unsafe-to-safe, and 2.6 on unnecessary-to-essential. All of those measure below the midpoint.

Top concerns include safety and jobs, with a majority reporting those concerns, along with worries that robots may do jobs well but lack the emotional intelligence to work with humans.

• Safety and security: 63%
• Job displacement: 61%
• Lack of emotional intelligence: 54%
• Cost: 31%

"What stands out for me is that cost isn't what's holding people back ... trust is," said Tony Robinson, CEO of Next Events & Conferences and co-founder of HumanoidMegaHub. "That's a solvable problem, but it gets solved in public, in retail floors and hospitality settings and live demonstrations at our coming Humanoid Technology Expo, not in press releases or product launches."

What consumers actually want

If there's one place consumers clearly want humanoid robots, it's dangerous work.

Asked to rank five use cases, respondents put hazardous work first by a wide margin (37% ranked it their top priority), ahead of entertainment (22%), personal assistance (17%), elder care (16%) and education (8%).

On robot design, capability beat aesthetics decisively. People rated task ability as very important by 57% of respondents and learning and adaptation by 55%, compared with 44% for voice and communication and just 25% for appearance.

Income effects diverged sharply between the two markets. 

In the UK, attitudes and purchase intent climbed steadily with household income: 50% of respondents earning £70,000 or more were positive about humanoids, against 34% of those earning under £20,000, and their purchase intent of 49 out of 100 was the highest of any income group in the survey. In the US, no comparable gradient appeared. The lowest earners, those under $25,000, were the most positive American group, and attitudes were essentially flat from $50,000 upward.

The full report with charts, graphs, and configurable adjustments is available here.

Methodology

Online survey of 1,000 adults (600 US, 400 UK) conducted June 23, 2026 via Pollfish. Figures are unweighted counts of actual responses; applying Pollfish's demographic weights shifts headline figures by no more than approximately two percentage points and does not change the direction of any finding. Income bands exclude the approximately 3% of respondents who preferred not to answer. "Positive" combines somewhat positive and very positive responses; "negative" combines somewhat negative and very negative. Net Promoter Score is calculated as the percentage scoring 9–10 minus the percentage scoring 0–6 on the 0–10 recommendation scale.

The full report, including interactive breakdowns by market, age, income and sex, is available at https://www.humanoidmegahub.com/reports/consumer-survey/2026-06

About HumanoidMegaHub

HumanoidMegaHub is the global humanoid robot index: a data platform and media property tracking the companies, robots, investors and capital flows shaping the humanoid robotics industry. Its constantly-updated database covers hundreds of companies, robot platforms and investors, alongside original research and industry reporting.

About Humanoid Technology Expo

Next Events & Conferences is launching the Humanoid Technology Expo in Stuttgart, Germany in September 2027. It's the first exhibition 100% focused on the technologies required for bringing humanoids to life. We expect 3,000+ key industry leaders, OEMs, integrators, and investors to attend.