Managing in-store shopping disruptions with technology: the impact of self-service technology on consumer control and decision comfort
研究实体零售店中自助服务技术如何帮助顾客应对购物中断,通过提升感知控制来增强决策舒适度,且对技术自信的顾客效果更明显。
Shoppers often encounter in-store disruptions that can undermine the shopping experience. This research examines how self-service technologies in physical retail stores can support customers in these moments by increasing perceived control and decision comfort. We further examine the moderating role of technology self-efficacy, with stronger benefits observed among customers with greater confidence in their ability to use technology. Across five studies, we demonstrate that using self-service technology to resolve in-store shopping disruptions increases perceived control, which in turn enhances decision comfort, and that this effect is stronger when technology self-efficacy is higher. Implications for theory, retail practice, and future research are provided.