Are Street Vendors Really Innovative Toward Self-service Technology?

Abstract

Street vending has acquired great importance in present times. This study attempts to link consumer innovativeness (CI) to street vending – an ancient occupation now emerging as a new market form using technology and innovation. The study investigates the behavior of street vendors (a group hypothesized to enjoy more innovativeness than those with similar socioeconomic backgrounds) regarding adoption of self-service technologies (SSTs) in the retail banking industry. In addition to primary research instruments, in-depth interviews were conducted with representatives of the two groups under study (street vendors and formal wage workers) to determine their awareness levels, usage, primary sources of information and reasons behind the adoption of the three SSTs considered along with their dependence on opinion leaders for making adoption decisions. Findings reveal that compared to formal wage workers, street vendors exhibit lower levels of innovativeness toward SSTs, and consumers are driven by three prime correlates of age, gender and income. Further, informal groups of street vendors earn higher income despite being less qualified technically or otherwise than the formal sector wage earners within their social class. These results will help practitioners revisit their existing marketing strategies and policies to increase the reach of self-service technology among urban lower middle class in India.

Keywords:

• consumer innovativeness
• self-service technology
• street vendors
• formal wage earners
• adoption behavior

Notes on contributors

Arun Kumar Kaushik (Corresponding Author) has received his MBA and Master of Commerce in marketing specialization. He is a full-time sponsored research scholar, working on research area related to “CI” while pursuing his Ph.D. in Marketing Management at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India. Before this, he has worked as an Assistant Professor with reputed B-schools in India. He has more than 6 years of experience in academic and corporate world. He has attended more than 15 international/national conferences and workshops, and published a few research papers in reputed journals. His areas of interest are marketing, consumer behavior and innovation.

Zillur Rahman has received his M.B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Business Administration. Currently he is working as an Associate Professor at the Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India. He has more than 18 years of experience in academics. He has attended various international conferences in the USA, Switzerland, Germany, Turkey and Poland. He has several publications in reputed international journals. He has published numerous research papers with heavy citation indices. He has organized several workshops and conferences and has worked on many sponsored research projects. His research interest is business strategy and international marketing. He was the recipient of the Emerald Literati Club Highly Commended Award in 2004 and Emerald/AIMA Research Fund Award in 2009 and 2012.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Arun Kumar Kaushik http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3023-0483