Graduation Semester and Year
2023
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing
Department
Marketing
First Advisor
Elten Briggs
Abstract
The widespread adoption of self-service technology (SST) has revolutionized how customers make decisions and dramatically shifted the roles of front-line employees (FLEs) in retail environments. However, most research on SSTs only focuses on their effects on customer behavior. This three-essay dissertation explores how SST affects the job outcomes of FLEs and their interactions with consumers in the current service environment. The first essay is a conceptual paper that overviews the current SST literature and proposes a theoretical framework that draws from the pyramid model and socio-technical system theory (STS). The second essay employs qualitative research methods, such as in-depth interviews and focus groups, to investigate FLEs' attitudes and behaviors toward SST. The findings of the second essay are used in the third to develop a quantitative field study that uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze how a company's readiness to implement SST and the types of self-service platforms offered to customers affect employees' job outcomes and perceptions of customer service encounters.
Keywords
Self-service technology, SST, Front-line employees, FLEs, Customer employee interactions, Service interactions, Retailing, Services
Disciplines
Business | Marketing
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Torres Rico, Abigail, "UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT SELF-SERVICE TECHNOLOGY (SST) HAS ON FRONT-LINE EMPLOYEES (FLES) IN A RETAIL SERVICE ENVIRONMENT" (2023). Marketing Dissertations. 16.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/marketing_dissertations/16
Comments
Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington