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This study aims to measure the effect of customers’ technology readiness and the quality of electronic services on customer satisfaction.

The statistical sample included 410 respondents from 24 branches of a private bank. The sampling method was questionnaire. Because of the structural and organizational similarity of private banks and the elimination of nuisance variables, a bank with the most branches and customers has been selected. To test the model, equation modeling was performed to test the hypotheses. Data were collected through a self-developed structured questionnaire, which served as the measurement tool as well.

The results of the study showed that technology readiness has a significant and positive effect on customer satisfaction through the quality of self-service. Moreover, the intermediate role of perceived value in this regard was confirmed; however, the role of trust was not confirmed.

Previous studies have considered technology readiness as an effective factor in the quality of self-service and customer satisfaction. In this study, apart from quality of service in self-service banking and customer satisfaction, two variables of trust and perceived value have been investigated. An attempt has also been made to address some questions, including “what the effect of customer technology readiness on perceived value of self-services as well as customer satisfaction is?” and “how it is possible to improve self-service quality in modern banking based on customer expectations?” or “what effects variables such as trust and perceived value have on customer satisfaction?” Having a glance at the studies done before, it can be understood that so far, there has been no study done using a mixture of these variables, yet societies’ demands for self-service operations grow day by day. It is, therefore, mandatory to study the prerequisites associated with any actions before one is taken. The paper contributes in the following way: trust and perceived value are added to the the study because of their role in customer satisfaction. In addition, for the first time, variables have been studied, which had never been under focus in any studies in developing countries before.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of chronological age on the likelihood to choose a service provider with technological machines versus humans in the context of services.

Two experimental studies were used to collect data. In both experiments, scripts were devised to depict a food ordering situation. The studies, each of which represents two between-subject conditions, were presented to a total of 312 participants.

The results of studies show that as age increases, consumers show a higher visit likelihood with human servers as compared to self-ordering machines. This effect emerges because as age increases, people find it more comfortable and convenient to order from human servers. Nevertheless, when a self-ordering machine is the only option, older and younger people find it equally comfortable and convenient.

This research indicates that as age increases, consumers tend to choose human servers. However, age does not impact willingness to use technology when human service is not available. A limitation of our research is that we look at food ordering contexts only. Another limitation is that most participants were between 18 and 60 years of age.

With a better understanding of the effect of age on preference for service types and the reason behind it, this research helps implement and manage service technologies that may elicit favorable judgments and decisions from consumers.

It demonstrates how, when and why age affects the intention to visit service providers that adopt self-service technologies. This research suggests that as age increases, consumers like human service better, but they do not resist self-service technology.

This study aims to investigate the effects of two types of expertise (self-service technology and service type) on the disconfirmation of customers’ expectations and the use-related outcomes of technology-based self-service (TBSS).

This empirical study pertains to the mandatory use of a national public transport chip card in The Netherlands based on a sample of 267 users of this TBSS.

The findings show that technology experts experienced a less positive disconfirmation of expectations and reported less positive evaluations of the new self-service than technology novices. Technology experts also showed lower intentions to engage in positive word-of-mouth than technology novices. The evaluation of the self-service by technology novices is more positive for those that are service experts as compared to service novices, while the evaluation by technology experts is more negative for those that are service experts as compared to service novices.

This study provides insight into how different types and levels of customer expertise affect individuals’ assessments of a TBSS upon its mandatory use.

For marketing managers and public policy-makers, understanding the multifaceted role of customer expertise enables more effective market segmentation and targeting, thus improving implementation of TBSS.

This research suggests that customers’ technology and service expertise have some counter-intuitive effects on TBSS use-related outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of shopper age on attitudes toward and use of retail self‐service technology (SST). The age variable has received relatively little attention in the literature.

Questionnaire responses from three age groups are compared. Also, cluster analysis is used to group subjects based on similarity in attitudes toward and use of SST.

Compared to younger consumers, older consumers had experience with fewer types of SSTs, less confidence in using SST, reported missing human interaction to a greater degree, used self‐checkout less often when the option was available, were less willing to pay a premium for express checkout, and were more likely to attribute a corporate self‐interest for the introduction of SST. For the total sample of 718 subjects, 40 percent reported using store self‐checkout 15 percent of the time or less when the option was available. Only 25 percent of subjects reported using automated store checkout on more than half of their shopping occasions.

Only eight types of SST were studied and only one technology was investigated in depth.

Based on the findings of this study, four managerial actions are recommended that may potentially increase traffic throughput at automated retail checkout.

This is believed to be the first study to find significant differences among age groups on multiple dependent variables associated with SST. Also, the identification of consumer clusters based on attitudes toward and use of SST may be novel.

The application of self‐service technology in transaction‐based e‐service (e.g. online financial services) creates a challenge for firms: what combination of features should they offer to satisfy needs from different customer segments? This paper seeks to address the above question by highlighting similarities and differences of consumer preferences among self‐service, hybrid service and professional service segments for online financial services.

This study employs a web‐based discrete choice experiment, in which 1,319 consumers were offered different account alternatives, which include features for self‐service and professional assistance, price per transaction, and promotion offers.

The results demonstrate that overall, consumer preferences for features of online financial services differ across segments. Moreover, with the variation in the strength of self‐reliance, interesting trends regarding the relative importance of features are observed. With the given customer segments, this study also identifies several demographic features with significant effects on the choice of service alternatives through a multinomial logistic model.

The authors believe that these results have both managerial and research implications for design and operations strategy formulation for online financial services.

The purpose of this study is to examine ways in which service quality delivered by self‐service kiosks influences consumers' retail patronage intentions.

The model was tested in two self‐service kiosk settings: self‐checkout and information kiosk. Survey participants were members of a consumer panel from an online survey agent. A total of 1,230 e‐mails were distributed. Of these, 600 usable surveys were used for data analysis. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The study demonstrates that service quality delivered by self‐service kiosks is a direct and an indirect determinant of consumers' retail patronage intentions; service quality delivered by self‐service kiosks directly influences consumers' retail patronage intentions and also indirectly influences consumers' retail patronage intentions through three dimensions of retail service quality (i.e. reliability, personal interaction, and problem solving).

Compared with previous studies that were heavily focused on consumer acceptance or trial of self‐service technologies, the study attempts to address formerly unexplored aspects of self‐service kiosks' contribution to retail patronage. A second contribution of the study which makes it different from prior studies that were mostly conducted in the context of self‐checkouts is that it tests a conceptual model related to two types of self‐service kiosks (i.e. self‐checkout and information kiosk) to examine whether the proposed relationships are similar or dissimilar across the two types.

When a failure occurs with a self-service technology (SST), do customers want to give back the “self” in self-service? The authors explore employee’s role in a self-service failure and how the presence of other customers can change that role. Specifically, they examine how the self-monitoring of customers behavior during a failure can change recovery preferences.

Data were collected from customers of a movie self-service ticket kiosk and a grocery self-checkout. Three experiments were conducted.

Results from these studies find that customers want employees to fully take over a transaction after a failure if it takes place in isolation. If other patrons are present or waiting in line, then customers prefer the employee to simply correct the problem and let them complete the transaction. Finally, the servicescape along with the presence of other customers in a self-service area can induce self-monitoring behaviors and alter optimal recovery strategies.

These findings have implications on the appropriate amount of recovery assistance customers need in a self-service experience.

This research reveals the social and functional complexities associated with executing a satisfactory SST failure recovery, particularly with respect to determining the extent to which the employee or customer should control the attempt.

This is the first study to examine the employee’s role in a self-service failure. While other studies have examined customers’ intentions in a self-service failure, authors examine how a service provider can assist in the recovery of a self-service failure.

The purpose of the present study is to examine the effect of waiting lines on customers’ decisions between using a self-service alternative and using a service employee. As self-service technologies are expensive and time-consuming to design and implement, service providers need to understand what drives customers to use them. Service operators have the most control over waiting lines and flexibility in expanding capacity, either by adding service employees or by adding self-service kiosks.

The study used online scenario-based surveys following a 4 (number of customers waiting for the self-service technology) × 4 (number of customers waiting for the service employee) design. A binary dependent variable was used to record participants’ choice of service delivery alternative.

Using logistic regression, the authors found that customers are increasingly motivated to use self-service technology as the waiting line for the service employee grows longer. This effect is influenced by perceived usefulness, anticipated quality of the self-service technology, need for interaction and technology anxiety.

This study should be replicated in a real-world setting where actual behavior, and not only intention, can be measured.

The study provides guidance on how service providers can design their service to take advantage of the motivating effect of waiting lines on usage of self-service technology.

The present study is the first to combine a scenario-based experiment with a binary dependent variable to isolate the impact of waiting lines on the choice between using a self-service technology and using a service employee. The use of the binary dependent variable overcomes the ambiguity of extrapolating from a continuous measure of intention to draw conclusions about behavior, a binary variable.

The application of technology‐based self‐service in service delivery has grown rapidly in recent years, but our current understanding of customer retention and satisfaction in such contexts remains limited. This paper proposes a conceptual framework that utilizes the construct of relational benefits to explain the link between Internet‐based self‐service technology attributes and customer loyalty and satisfaction. The framework posits that confidence and special treatment benefits mediate the impact of Internet self‐service technology attributes on customer loyalty and satisfaction. The results of an empirical study using two contexts finds support for a fully mediated model. That is, confidence benefits mediate the impact of perceived control and performance on customer loyalty and satisfaction, while special treatment benefits mediate the relationship of efficiency and convenience with customer loyalty and satisfaction. The findings afford not only practical implications for marketers but also directions for future research on customer relational benefits and Internet‐based self‐service.