셀프서비스 기술의 의인화와 소비자 충성도의 관계에 관한 연구: 즐거움의 매개역할을 중심으로 (A Study on the relationship between Anthropomorphism of Self-service technologies and Consumer Loyalty: Focusing on the Mediating Effect of Enjoyment)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국유통학회
· 수록지 정보 : 유통연구 / 25권 / 2호 / 1 ~ 24페이지
· 저자명 : 전효아, 김상희

초록

셀프서비스기술은 고객의 독립적인 서비스 생산을 위한 기술적 인터페이스이며 이러한 기술은 기업에게는 경제적 혜택을 고객에게는 실용적 혜택을 줄 수 있다. 그러나 기업과 고객이 이러한 혜택을 얻기 위해서는 기술에 대한 고객의 지속적 이용이 선행되어야 한다. 특히 서비스접점의 중요성을 고려하면 고객의 기술에 대한 감정적 관여가 기술기반셀프서비스 접점을 보다 유의미하게 만들 수 있다. 본 연구는 셀프서비스기술의 의인화를 제안함으로써 의인화 여부에 따른 소비자의 행동적 및 태도적 충성도에서의 차이를 검증하고, 의인화를 통한 감정적 반응인 즐거움에 대한 메커니즘으로 밝히고자 한다.
이를 위해 본 연구는 의인화 vs. 비의인화 집단 간 실험 설계를 실시하였다. 연구 결과 비의인화된 셀프서비스기술보다 의인화된 셀프서비스기술에서 소비자의 태도적 충성도가 더 높았으며 소비자가 경험하는 즐거움 또한 더 높은 것으로 나타났다. 더욱이 셀프서비스기술 의인화와 태도적 충성도간의 관계는 즐거움에 의해 부분 매개되는 것으로 나타났다. 반면 셀프서비스기술의 의인화 여부에 따른 소비자의 행동적 충성도에서는 유의미한 차이가 나타나지 않았다.
본 연구는 기술기반셀프서비스에서의 소비자의 태도적 충성도를 얻고 즐거움을 경험하게 할 수 있는 요소로 의인화에 초점을 두었다. 이러한 연구는 셀프서비스기술에 대한 소비자의 수용이라는 관점에서 한 발짝 더 나아가 감정적 관여로의 새로운 목표설정이 필요함을 시사하고 있다.

영어초록

Self-service technologies(SSTs) are defined as technological interfaces for customers’ independent production of a service and give economic benefits to service firms and utilitarian benefits to customers. These benefits should be preceded by customers’ continued use of the technologies. However, given the importance of service encounters, customers’ emotional engagement with SSTs is able to make the encounter more meaningful. By suggesting anthropomorphism of SSTs, the present research explores the difference in consumers’ behavioral and attitudinal loyalty according to whether to be anthropomorphized or not and the mediated effect of enjoyment.
Anthropomorphism is to include humanlike external characteristics or internal characteristics such as motivation, intention, and emotion in non-human agents’ behavior. By definition of anthropomorphism, consumers using anthropomorphized SSTs will have different emotions, attitudes, or behavior intentions compared to those using non-anthropomorphized SSTs. This study applies the two-factor theory to understand the difference and particularly with regard to attitudinal loyalty, the uncanny valley theory is presented. First, according to the two-factor theory, we are able to consider the technical levels of SSTs as hygiene factors and the anthropomorphized levels of SSTs as motivators. Second, the uncanny valley theory suggests that an affinity with anthropomorphized SSTs be perceived higher. To sum up, considering that consumers’ behavioral loyalty is related to the continued use of the technologies, behavioral loyalty will not differ between anthropomorphized and non-anthropomorphized SSTs that have the technical levels. However, as their attitudinal loyalty is related to emotional engagement, consumers’ attitudinal loyalty of anthropomorphized SSTs having the human factors will be higher than that of non-anthropomorphized SSTs.
The relationship between anthropomorphism and enjoyment can be explained by elicited agent knowledge and emotional contagion. Especially, adding human factors to SSTs elicits knowledge about service employees from consumers and then causes their perceptual differences. That is, while non-anthropomorphized SSTs are related to result-oriented and use verbal communication, anthropomorphized SSTs are related to process-oriented services and both verbal and nonverbal communication. Thus, anthropomorphized SSTs are able to be associated with consumers’ enjoyment compared to non-anthropomorphized SSTs.
H1: While consumers’ behavioral loyalty does not differ between anthropomorphized and non-anthropomorphized SSTs, consumers’ attitudinal loyalty of anthropomorphized SSTs are higher than that of non-anthropomorphized SSTs.
H2: Consumers’ enjoyment of anthropomorphized SSTs are higher than that of non-anthropomorphized SSTs.
H3: The effect of SST anthropomorphism on attitudinal loyalty is mediated by enjoyment.
This study used an anthropomorphized vs. non-anthropomorphized between-subjects design to test the differences in consumers’ loyalty and enjoyment according to whether to be anthropomorphized or not and the mediated effect of enjoyment. A total of 126 undergraduate students participated in the study (68.3% female, MAge = 21.9) and they were randomly assigned to one of two conditions.
The study showed that the difference in behavioral loyalty between anthropomorphized (M=5.19, SD=1.30) and non-anthropomorphized SSTs (M=5.54, SD=1.21) was not significant (t=1.55, p=.13), but attitudinal loyalty was rated higher in the anthropomorphized condition (M=3.53, SD=0.99) than in the non-anthropomorphized condition (M=2.84, SD=1.03, t=-3.79, p=.000; figure 1). Therefore, H1 was supported.
To test the mediated effect of enjoyment, focusing on participants in the anthropomorphized condition we performed an analysis prescribed by Baron and Kenny (1986). First, SST anthropomorphism significantly affected enjoyment (β=.322, t=2.539, p<.05; model Ⅰ). Second, SST anthropomorphism significantly affected attitudinal loyalty (β=.518, t=4.365, p<.01; model 2). Third, when both SST anthropomorphism and enjoyment were included, the effect of SST anthropomorphism on attitudinal loyalty decreased (SST anthropomorphism: β=.518 → β=.415; model 3). These findings revealed that enjoyment partially mediated the effect of SST anthropomorphism on attitudinal loyalty and H3 was supported (table 1).
Enjoyment was also rated higher in the anthropomorphized condition (M=3.88, SD=1.06) than in the non-anthropomorphized condition (M=3.02, SD=1.00, t=-4.68, p=.000; figure 2), hence H2 was supported.
This research focuses on consumers’ emotions in technology-based self-service, which has theoretical significance by applying various theories such as the two-factor theory, the uncanny valley theory, elicited agent knowledge, and emotional contagion. In fact, it was reasonable to theoretically and practically underline pragmatic aspects of SSTs and behavioral loyalty to them in terms of customers so far but the findings practically implies that marketers should set new goals for consumers’ emotional engagement with SSTs beyond their adoption of them. Moreover, this study suggests that adding anthropomorphism factors to SSTs improve the negative effect of technology-based self-service with poor human factors.

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