This study focuses on buyers’ continued use of self-service technology (SST). This area is often neglected because most studies focus on buyers’ adoption or acceptance of SST. In comparison to new buyer acquisition, continued use is a cost-effective market strategy aimed at retaining buyers. Based on a sample of 1831 Estonian Internet banking customers, we find that continued use of SST is positively affected by buyers’ perceived usefulness. We also find that continued use of SST is negatively affected by multichannel satisfaction. As our results show, two important issues are facing developers of SSTs and sellers using SSTs: First, continued use of SST is achieved when the buyer finds the SST useful. Second, SSTs need to be considered in the context of all channels in the buyer–seller interface because the buyer does not separate the service offering of an SST from other channels. The benefits associated with using SSTs will increase if these strategic issues are taken into account.
Increasingly, the role of face-to-face interaction between suppliers and buyers is being replaced with self-service technologies (SSTs), which allow the buyers to produce and use these services by themselves, without direct contact with any employees of the firm. Although it is evident that SSTs are gaining in popularity as a method of doing business, it is less clear what the drivers for buyers’ continued use of this kind of service are (Yen and Gwinner, 2003).
An answer may be provided by the increasing body of research on information systems usage (Bhattacherjee, 2001). Research based on innovation diffusion theory (Rogers, 1995) has examined attitudinal variables that affect usage behavior, and the technology acceptance model (TAM) (Davis et al., 1989) has examined attitudinal variables that influence behavioral intentions, which they find affect actual use. Whereas these theories add substantially to our understanding of why technologies are adopted and used, they do not explicitly focus on the continued use of the technology. Previous research has shown that consumer adoption and continuance behavior is influenced by different factors (Fernandes et al., 2006). Because more resources are required to attract a buyer than to retain an existing one, it is particularly important to analyze buyers’ continued use of the technology (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990). In addition, as buyers gain experience using a technology, their needs and wants change (Blake et al., 2005). To continue to meet their needs and wants, sellers must, therefore, be aware of these changes. The goal of this study is to contribute to the innovation theories by investigating buyers’ continued use of an SST. The initial acceptance of a technology is an important first step; however, the eventual success of the technology depends on its continued use (Bhattacherjee, 2001).
The purpose of this article is to conceptualize, develop, and validate independent variables that convey continued usage of Internet banking, an SST. In accordance with previous research (Bhattacherjee, 2001; Davis et al., 1989), we identify users’ perceived usefulness of and satisfaction with Internet banking as indicators of their continued usage of this SST.
The rest of this article is organized as follows: We begin with a discussion of buyers’ continued usage and antecedents of perceived usefulness and multichannel satisfaction. Based on the literature review, we propose three different hypotheses. After the literature review, the methods and data analysis are presented. Finally, the results of this study are presented, followed by a discussion of the implications.
