Consumer perceived risk of using autonomous retail technology

Abstract

Recent technological advances have led to the emergence of autonomous consumer-facing retail technologies that perform mental and physical tasks on behalf of the consumer, such as artificial intelligence-enabled checkouts. However, despite substantial convenience benefits, consumers are reluctant to use these technologies, and empirical insights are lacking into the inhibitors of consumer adoption of autonomous retail technologies. Therefore, this research integrated consumer perceived risk theory and the motivation–opportunity–ability framework to develop and empirically test a model of consumer perceived risk of using autonomous retail technology (PR-ART). The findings of a field study revealed that the multidimensional and unique nature of consumer PR-ART is crucial in predicting consumer adoption. Furthermore, this research identified consumer-related (i.e., innovativeness, self-efficacy) and context-related (i.e., retailer trustworthiness) mitigators of PR-ART. These findings contribute to the research on consumer-facing technology and have important implications for retailers.