Personality determinants of need for interaction with a retail employee and its impact on self-service technology (SST) usage intentions
Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing
ISSN: 2040-7122
Article publication date: 14 August 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was, first, to link interpersonal-hedonic values, intuitive-experiential thinking style, external locus of control (LOC) and sociability to the need for interaction with a retail employee; and, second, to empirically test the moderating effect of the time convenience of self-service technologies (SSTs) on the proposed relationships in the model.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was conducted in a retail setting in which an automated checkout process occurred with the use of self-checkout systems. A self-administered, online survey approach was utilized targeting consumer panel members. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
Interpersonal-hedonic values, external LOC and sociability emerged as reliable antecedents of the need for interaction with a retail employee, whereas the intuitive-experiential thinking style did not. This study also showed the inverse relationship between the need for interaction with a retail employee and the intentions to use SSTs. In relation to the moderating role of the time convenience of SSTs, the positive effects of interpersonal-hedonic values, intuitive-experiential thinking style, external LOC and sociability on the need for interaction with a retail employee were shown lesser for consumers with low levels of the time convenience of SSTs. The negative effect of the need for interaction with a retail employee on the intentions to use SSTs was shown to be greater for consumers with low levels of the time convenience of SSTs.
Originality/value
The present study adds to a growing body of literature on SSTs by exploring the causal and hierarchical effects of personality traits that determine the intentions to use SSTs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Inha University Research Grant.
Citation
Lee, H.-J. (2017), "Personality determinants of need for interaction with a retail employee and its impact on self-service technology (SST) usage intentions", Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 214-231. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIM-04-2016-0036
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited