Self-service technologies (SSTs) are becoming increasingly popular in retailing contexts. Previous theories of SST adoption have largely ignored the basic human needs, such as competence, autonomy and relatedness, that drive customer motivation and the use of SSTs. We address this theoretical gap and examine self-determination theory (SDT) in the context of the supermarket self-checkout. Based on the argument proposed by SDT, self-determined motivation is hypothesized to mediate the relationships between autonomy, competence, and perceived anonymity, and the intention to use SSTs. Data collected from 361 respondents form a structural equation model and support these hypotheses. The current study is important as it helps understand the role of customers' participation in the self-service. Managerial and theoretical implications are suggested.
One of the fastest-growing business phenomena in the past decade has been the adoption of self-service technologies (SSTs) in retailing. SSTs are defined as “technological interfaces that enable customers to produce a service independent of direct service employee involvement” (Meuter et al., 2000, p. 50). The increased presence of technology-mediated interactions in retailing is evidenced by the emergence of new technology-enabled shopping modes in both offline and online retailing contexts (Verhoef et al., 2009). These SSTs have radically changed the way businesses interact with customers, as the latter have increasingly become co-producers of services (Ho and Ko, 2008 and Meuter et al., 2000). This changing customer role frequently requires customers to engage in new behavior (Meuter et al., 2005).
SSTs provide many benefits to businesses. For example, they help businesses serve more customers at higher speeds with fewer resources, thus reducing costs because employees can be replaced by SSTs (Yang and Klassen, 2008). SSTs also help businesses to reduce costs in training, real estate, equipment, and communication (Canbase, 2009 and Hall, 2004). In the retail industry, SSTs have helped grocery stores cut costs and reduce head count; four self-service registers can reduce the number of service staff from four to one (Rosen, 2001). By eliminating the involvement of service representatives with SSTs, companies can offer cost-effective services (Cunningham et al., 2008) and enhance store patronage (Lee and Yang, 2013). SSTs also offer more consistent and stable services and are not affected by fluctuations of service demand or employee mood (Weijters et al., 2007). The literature indicates that SSTs can also increase customers' satisfaction and loyalty and can enable a company to effectively reach new customer segments (Bitner et al., 2002). In addition to improving efficiency, SSTs can empower both customers and employees (Hsieh, 2005) as they add customer value by increasing place and time convenience (Yang and Klassen, 2008).
Because SSTs are important to businesses, supermarkets have increasingly deployed self-checkout systems. For example, one of Ireland's most widely recognised supermarkets Superquinn deployed self-checkout systems in its 19 stores in 2007 (NCR, 2007). High street supermarket chain Spar in the UK installed self-checkout in its 2700 stores in 2009 (Green, 2009). In Australia, Woolworths and Coles installed 3000 self-service checkouts in 500 and 545 stores in 2012 (Silmalis, 2013)). In 2013, 40% of transactions were handled by self-checkouts at Coles (Chieftech, 2013). The number of customers using self-checkout machines is also growing. In the U.S., more than 80% of consumers said they would be likely or very likely to use self-checkouts, and 40% of consumers said they were more likely to shop in stores equipped with self-checkout systems (Patterson, 2004). In a survey of 350 consumers (Maras, 2006), 94% of the respondents said that they had used a self-checkout scanner at least once, and 27% of the respondents reported that they used self-checkout scanners 70% of the time to process their checkouts.
As customers increasingly accept self-checkout machines, it is essential for firms to identify ways to enhance the use of SSTs among customers to make such investments worthwhile. Customers must know what is expected of them and must be motivated and able to use SSTs to successfully coproduce a service/product (Dellande et al., 2004 and Meuter et al., 2005). However, current theories of technology adoption have vastly ignored the role of customers' participation in the self-service. To fill this theoretical gap, we examine self-determination theory in an SST context and investigate how basic human needs such as autonomy, competence, and perceived anonymity drive customers' intentions to use SSTs. The current study is important as it helps clarify the role of customers' participation in the self-service in terms of basic human needs. The following sections present current theories of technology adoption, the self-determination theory, basic human needs, hypotheses and the conceptual model.
