The Power of Self-service Technologies in Creating Transcendent Service Experiences: The Paradox of Extrinsic Attributes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to draw upon the theory of consumption values and the experiential value scale to develop a conceptual model concerning hospitality customer’s use of self-service technologies (SSTs) and their impact on consumers’ service experience. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaires were administered to 220 hotel and restaurant customers. The researchers tested the hypotheses by using descriptive analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis. Findings Both extrinsic and intrinsic attributes of SSTs influence consumers’ satisfaction with SST usage significantly, while the extrinsic attributes play a stronger role. It is worth noting that while the intrinsic attributes have a significant impact on consumers’ transcendent service experience, the extrinsic attributes negatively influence such experience. Practical implications The findings help managers create effective strategies to better match consumers’ needs and to deliver more customized self-service experience. The role of SSTs can be expanded beyond functional attributes to satisfy consumers’ curiosity, foster customer–customer interactions and personalize consumer experience. Originality/value Although most SSTs research focus on technology adoption intention, features, functionality and benefits to the service provider, this research is among the first attempts to examine the role of SSTs in creating better consumer experience. The bidimensional conceptualization of SSTs experience developed in this research suggests that SSTs in the hotel and restaurant sector should be utilized for reasons beyond their utilitarian attributes: SSTs should be designed to help create a transcendent service experience