Honesty, Social Presence and Self-Service in Retail. Issue 2 (3rd April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Siebenaler, Susan; Szymkowiak, Andrea; Robertson, Paul; Johnson, Graham I; Law, Jan; Fee, Kenneth
• Is Part Of: Interacting with computers. Volume 31:Issue 2(2019)
• Page Start: 154
• Page End: 166
• Publication Date: 2019-04-03
• Subjects: agent-based interaction -- anthropomorphism -- retail shrinkage -- social presence -- self-service -- eye tracking; Human-computer interaction -- Periodicals; 004.019
• DOI: 10.1093/iwc/iwz010
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-5438

Abstract

Abstract: : Retail self-service checkouts (SCOs) can benefit consumers and retailers, providing control and autonomy to shoppers independent from staff. Recent research indicates that the lack of presence of staff may provide the opportunity for consumers to behave dishonestly. This study examined whether a social presence in the form of visual, humanlike SCO interface agents had an effect on dishonest user behaviour. Using a simulated SCO scenario, participants experienced various dilemmas in which they could financially benefit themselves undeservedly. We hypothesized that a humanlike social presence integrated within the checkout screen would receive more attention and result in fewer instances of dishonesty compared to a less humanlike agent. Our hypotheses were partially supported by the results. We conclude that companies adopting self-service technology may consider the implementation of social presence to support ethical consumer behaviour, but that more research is required to explore the mixed findings in the current study. Research Highlights: A method by Vohs and Schooler (2008) was adapted for investigating dishonesty. Social presence is proposed as a mediator for dishonest behaviour. There is scope for social presence to influence user behaviour in a world that increasingly relies on self-service transactions. The effectiveness of measures of dishonesty needs to be researched further.