A Conceptual Model of Self‐service

Abstract

The article focuses upon the concept of self‐service within the service sector. The nature and growth, as well as the present and potential use of self‐service are analysed and explored. Starting with the service industry, several common classification and evaluation schemes are reviewed. Recent contributions to the understanding of the self‐service industry are next discussed. A model of the self‐service sector is proposed which incorporates attributes drawn from three major sectors: the consumer, the organisation, and the environment. Examples and hypotheses to be explored are included.

Customer Efficiency, Channel Usage, and Firm Performance in Retail Banking

“…Fuchs (1968) notes that customers are always either passively or actively involved in the service production process. Subsequent research on service operations management recognized the interaction between the customer and firm (Chase 1978) and the importance of integrating the production role of customers into the design of service delivery systems (Globerson and Maggard 1991). Prior research has also noted that the design of these self-service delivery systems can have significant competitive implications Pitbladdo 1995, Heskett et al 1997).…”

La automatización en el sector terciario: evolución del service encounter

“…La continua proliferación de tecnologías self-service pone de manifiesto la importancia que ha adquirido la tecnología en el service encounter. Aunque diversos investigadores han contribuido al estudio de la repercusión que tiene la tecnología en la prestación del servicio (Globerson & Maggard, 1991;Fisk, Brown, & Bitner, 1993;Schneider & Bowen, 1995;Dabholkar, 1996a;Dabholkar, 1996b;Lawrence & Karr, 1996;Parasuraman, 1996;Quinn, 1996;Harvey, Lefebvre, & Lefebvre, 1997;Meuter & Bitner, 1998;Bitner, Brown, & Meuter 2000;Bowden, 2002;Ba, Stallaert, & Zhang, 2010) sigue existiendo un vacío en este campo. La preocupación fundamental ha sido el estudio de la reacción del cliente, siendo escasos los trabajos que analizan el efecto que la incorporación de la tecnología puede tener en todos los elementos que intervienen en el service encuounter, esto es, no sólo en el cliente, sino también en el personal en contacto y en la organización.…”

Offering Appropriate Information Technologies at Different Stages in the Customer Service Life Cycle for Improved Service Delivery

“…This typically results in a more complex website because of the level of personalization that is required. However, the website must still be simple, accessible, easy to use [35,41] and provide immediate feedback through pictures, on-screen displays, or text messages.…”

“…This assumption of risk can be critical for those customers who are inclined toward full-service [39]. Full-service gives these buyers the opportunity to avoid any risk in the performance of the service because the server is accountable for all of the activities after the intent to purchase is stated [39][40][41]. The final benefit of full-service contact is an avoidance of customer effort.…”

“…For example, employees at General Electric (GE) use a system called Trading Partner Network Register to electronically order office supplies from pre-approved vendors because it saves them money [44], wait times are shorter, no paperwork needs to be filled out, and authorizations are done electronically [41,45]. In addition to these benefits, SSTs offer an interactive, convenient, consistent, and personal way of communi-cating with the seller [35,41,46]. While SSTs can provide immediate feedback and a personal focus, they do not offer the same number of cues (e.g.…”