Leisure Trip vs. Business Trip: Whether Greater Self-Efficacy Increases Customer Satisfaction Under Hedonic/Utilitarian Conditions When Using Self-Service Technologies

Abstract: In the past few decades, a considerable number of firms have applied a variety of Self-Service Technologies (SST) in their businesses to cut down labor costs and improve the customer experience. One of the questions in SST applications is whether the use of SSTs increases customer satisfaction. Prior research suggests self-efficacy could be an explanation for increasing customer satisfaction (to the brands) under SST applications. This paper explores whether customers with higher self-efficacy are more satisfied with SST application than the face to face transactions. More specifically, this paper tests whether the relationship between self-efficacy and customer satisfaction holds for transactions with hedonic or utilitarian motives. In the first experiment, participants rate their satisfaction to a five-star hotel during a leisure trip (hedonic motive) versus a business trip (utilitarian motive). In the next study, we manipulate people’s perceived self-efficacy levels and explore whether customer satisfaction to the firms increases when customers’ self-efficacy level increase. The self-efficacy manipulation is also performed under the two motive conditions (hedonic versus utilitarian) to show the moderating effect of the motives. This paper predicts that higher self-efficacy increases customer satisfaction to the firms while using SSTs but only when the consumptions happen based on utilitarian motives. Although the proposal suggests that hedonically driven brands may hurt customer satisfaction when using SSTs, further research should look into individual differences in which SSTs can still benefit the firm with hedonic products and services.  

Key words: customer retention; micro marketing; firms and business economics

JEL codes: M310a