The role of service agent, service quality, and user satisfaction in self-service technology

This paper seeks to answer two questions: (1) Do consumers perceive the four service quality dimensions (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy) differently when interacting with Self-Service Technologies (SSTs) and human agents? and (2) How do these four dimensions affect consumers' satisfaction when using SSTs versus using human agents? Based on an extensive literature review, we propose that consumers will perceive higher service quality from human agents compared to from SSTs. Additionally, we propose that higher service quality will have a positive impact on consumer satisfaction. We tested our propositions using experimental data collected from 181 subjects. The results indicated that consumers perceived higher levels of reliability, assurance, and empathy from human agents compared to SSTs, but did not perceive a significant difference in responsiveness. Furthermore, the service quality dimensions affected consumer satisfaction differently when receiving service from human agents versus SSTs. This study raises important implications for research and practice.