The Influence of Technology Anxiety on Consumer Use of Self-Service Technologies in Sri Lankan Banking Industry: Moderating Role of Demographics

Abstract

Exploration of new technology is transforming many industries, specially the banking sector. Banking industry can be considered one of the sectors where self-service technologies are most commonly used in Sri Lanka. Their conversion to self-service technologies is aimed at the improvement of productivity and service quality, while reducing the costs. Self-service technologies have a major effect on how customers interact with the service providers. However, the customers do not always choose to use self-service technologies, nor do they accept changes as enhancements. Most of the researches have emphasized the interpersonal factors’ influence on service encounters; therefore, it is crucial that further studies focus on how customers interact with self-service technologies. Further, earlier studies did not make a proper distinction between technology-based self-services and labor-intensive self-services. It is important that a study focuses on how consumer interaction with technology-based services is influenced by their anxiety about technology. Based on a sample of 200 consumers, the research aims to discover the usage frequency of self-service technologies in the banking industry, and the impact of technology anxiety factor on the usage. The research findings show that respondents with higher technology anxiety are reluctant to use self-service technology. In addition, the moderating effects of age, gender and education level were analyzed and it was found that the impact of technology anxiety on consumer use of self-service technology is affected by the moderating factor of demographic characteristics (Age, Gender and Education level).