PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore situational influences on customers' actual choice between self‐service and personal service and to examine the impact of past experiences on self‐service technology (SST) attitudes and behavior.Design/methodology/approachA supermarket self‐checkout machine is the SST under investigation. A mixed qualitative research design was used and a total of 209 observations and 47 interviews were obtained from customers in five supermarket stores in Australia.FindingsPerceived waiting time, perceived task complexity, and companion influence are the three situational factors that impact on a customer's actual choice between self‐service and personal service. Past experiences influence SST attitudes and behavior in a more complex manner than SST characteristics and other individual difference variables.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings may not be generalizable to internet‐ or telephone‐based SST contexts.Practical implicationsBy understanding what factors affect a customer's choice, better strategies can be developed to manage and coordinate multiple service delivery options. The findings also highlight the importance of preventing frequent failure and providing speedy recovery in the SST context.Originality/valueThis paper goes beyond SST attitudes/intentions and focuses on the moderating effect of situational factors on a customer's actual SST behavior. It also examines the impact of focal product and product‐norm experiences on SST attitudes and behavior.
This study suggests that, in addition to willingness, ability is a relevant and important dimension of self-service technology (SST) acceptance and, going beyond prior studies' exclusive focus on willingness, develops an SST acceptance model that captures both consumer ability and willingness to use such technologies. Previous research on consumer acceptance of SSTs has focused primarily on consumers' willingness, while neglecting their ability – this is evident in many SST studies investigating adoption intentions. However, using an SST often requires skills and some level of confidence. Drawing upon the ability–willingness framework, this study adopts a cross-sectional field survey approach to recruit real consumers using self-checkout technology at a supermarket. Results from structural equation modelling based on 281 consumers highlight the relevance and importance of ability, and show that consumers' willingness and ability to use SSTs are determined by different factors.
Prior self-service technology (SST) studies focus primarily on the initial adoption and its drivers. However, the long-term viability and success of an SST depend on regular and frequent usage. Therefore, this study draws on social psychology and information system/information technology literature to investigate the habit of SST usage and its driving forces. Using panel data pertaining to 626 Australian customers who used a supermarket self-checkout machine over 12 weeks, the results reveal a strong carryover effect of habit. Satisfaction and self-efficacy positively contribute to habit development. Past behavior exerts an impact through frequency and recency effects. Moreover, the driving forces of habit are more complicated for men than for women. The findings provide important implications for service providers planning technology upgrades. The results suggest that to prevent habit disruption, gradual improvements are a better and safer strategy than introducing a new, disruptive technology.
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