Tourists' adoption of self-service technologies at resort hotels

This study proposes and tests a model of travelers' self-service technology adoption to explain why travelers choose self-service technologies over service staff. Desire for interaction with service staff serves as a countervailing construct against technology-related perceptions and a subsequent technology adoption decision. Based on a resort hotel industry and data from a national sample, the proposed model provides cogent explanations for the two service transaction options' counteracting nature (self-service technologies vs. the service staff) toward the traveler's technology adoption in business transaction situations. The study shows the differently conceptualized role of the customer's desire for interaction. The proposed model allows service providers to examine the customer's willingness to adopt or avoid using self-service technologies and to determine a proper combination of technology and staff deployment. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.