Consumer-computer interaction and in-store smart technology (IST) in the retail industry: the role of motivation, opportunity, and ability

ABSTRACT

Recent advances in technology have led to the emergence of smart technology systems in brick-and-mortar stores. This study aims to explore the factors that influence customer adoption of in-store smart technology in a retail setting. By adopting the motivation, opportunity, and ability framework, the present study examines the role of relative advantage, perceived complexity, flow experience, enjoyment, retailer support, perceived attractiveness, technology readiness, and self-efficacy in customer perception of shopping effectiveness, which in turn, impacts their adoption intentions. By adopting a quantitative approach, a survey questionnaire was used to collect 747 responses from Australia and Indian retail shoppers. The results show that the motivation, opportunity, and ability framework provided a very insightful way for understanding customer adoption of IST. Specifically, we find significant differences in the role of flow, retailer support, and perceived attractiveness in determining customer evaluation of in-store smart technology for Australia and India. Findings have important managerial implications.

KEYWORDS:

• Smart technology
• smart retailing
• motivation
• opportunity
• ability
• culture
• PLS path modelling

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sanjit K. Roy

Sanjit K. Roy is an associate professor of Marketing at UWA Business School. He is a Fellow at the Centre for Business Data Analytics. His research interests include Marketing of Services, Impact of Technology on Marketing, and TransformativeService Research. He has published in journals including European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Marketing Management, Internet Research, Information Systems Frontiers and Journal of Services Marketing among others.

M. S. Balaji

M. S. Balaji is an associate professor of Marketing at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. His research focuses onservices failure, value facilitation, and customer-employee interaction. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed research papers in a number of leading journals. The author can be contacted at [email protected]

Bang Nguyen

Dr. Bang Nguyen, PhD, is Professor of Marketing at the Department of Entrepreneurship and Relationship Management, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding, Denmark, and Adjunct Professor at the Department of Management at Shanghai University, in Shanghai, China. He is the Editor of The Bottom Line, a journal on the economics of information, and on the Editorial Board of Journal of Marketing Management. His research interests include customer relationship management (CRM), branding, entrepreneurship, BtB marketing, and innovation management. Bang has extensive knowledge in technology and service organizations and has published widely in journals such as Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, Business Ethics Quarterly, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Management, The Service Industries Journal, Harvard Business Review (Chinese), and so on. He has published in more than 180 peer reviewed scientific articles, books, conference papers, and book chapters.