Iseteenindustehnoloogiate kasutamise kogemused ja motivatsioon noorte kasutajate näitel

Abstract

The purpose of the following bachelor thesis „The usage and motivation of self-service technologies among young people“ was to study the usage practices of self-service technologies. Furthermore, the aim was also to find out the main reasons why self-service technologies are used and how consumers define their roles during the consumption. In the first chapter I will give an overview of the self-service technologies, while relying mostly on the theory of Meuteri et al (2005, 2000), Parasuraman (2000), Collier & Sherrell (2010) and Dabholkar & Bagozzi (2002). The second chapter introduces method and the sample. In the third chapter I will analyze results and in the final discussion chapter I will present results. In the empirical part of the thesis 10 semi-structured interviews were carried out with users of different self-service tehnologies. At first I studied the genereal experiences and focused on this how consumer experience has changed because of self-service technologies. Since young people were interviewed, technology adaption was not a problem. Meanwhile, when problems had occured, assistance from personnel was needed. Consumers also expected services to be available 24/7. Secondly, motivation and the reasons of self-service usage was studied. According to the results, self-service technologies are being used because of three main motivations dimensions: time, control and dependence. Convenience and speed of transaction were also mentioned. Independence turned out to be quit important motivator – it was possible to use self-service anywhere and anytime. Thirdly, co-creation was studied and as a result interviewees believed that their role during the service was minimal. Also, they were ready to take responsibility when they made a mistake. Obviously, when technology failed or some other problem occured, they did not take responsibility. In conclusion, it is important to notice that users were so used to the self-services around them that they did not notice how much they actually used self-services. While the advantages of self-services were clear to users, the understanding of their role as a co-creator was not. So there is still lot to be done in this area – to get better service experiences, users should understand their role. Also, companies should pay more attention to the role of consumer.