The Impact of Social Presence on Technology Based Self-Service Use: The Role of Familiarity

Abstract

Technology based self-services (TBSS), such as airline ticket kiosks, automated hotel checkout systems, and self-scanning merchandise checkout stations, stand to become the primary interactive interface used by retailers to facilitate customer transactions. Research suggests TBSS adoption is often influenced by attitudes toward specific technologies and the degree of technological anxiety exhibited by the consumer. Yet social influence, a variable shown to play an important role in the consumption process, has received little research attention regarding its effects on attitudes toward TBSS use. Thus, a between-subjects field experiment tested the impact of mere social presence on consumers' emotional responses and behavioral intentions toward TBSS use. The results of this study suggest that while boundary conditions regarding social size effects exist under which social impact theory does not hold, such effects appear to be moderated by the level of familiarity with the purchase/task situation.