Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Conference Track

Marketing Research/ Demographics/ Consumer Behavior

Publication Date

2014

Abstract

Extant research indicates a significant relationship between the optimism (OPT) of consumer technology readiness (TR) and the behavioral intent to adopt self-service technology (SST). Independent determinant regressions of the basic Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) indicate that tech optimism (OPT) combines with the consumer trait of age (AG) and the situational factors of wait time (WT) and crowding (CR) to explain 33% of the variance of the behavioral intention (BI) to adopt or use SST. When regressed independently with behavioral intention, tech optimism (OPT) (alone) explains over 20% of BI’s variance (Martin, 2012). This study further examines optimism (OPT) in an effort to identify substitute variables for OPT that do not require methodological identification and assessment, and/or to consider OPT’s practical identification, assessment, and application in the use environment. While analyses indicate a significant relationship for optimism with age, gender, and income, the relationships are relatively weak; no demographic or psychographic customer trait variables are adequate substitutes for OPT in the model. Practical techniques of assessing optimism in retail self-scanning applications are considered and suggested to minimize methodological assessment.

About the Authors

Dr. Jon M. Martin is currently an Assistant Professor of Health Administration for Pfeiffer University in North Carolina. He received his M.M. from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University with concentrations in Marketing, Operations, and Quantitative Methods and his Ph.D. from Capella University with a focus on services marketing. Jon’s dissertation and field is in self-service technology (SST), and his 2014-2015 research will focus upon applying SST research to telemedicine models and MOOCs in health care and education.

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Digital Commons@Georgia Southern License

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