Customers' political ideology and Self-Service Technologies: Do political leanings predict usage of Self-Service Technologies?

Self-service technologies are widely used in business, and retailers and service firms invest significant resources to obtain and improve their Self-Service Technology capabilities. To allocate resources efficiently, it is crucial for firms to predict Self-Service Technology usage by their customers. However, predictors in the extant literature (e.g., customers' perceptions and personality traits) are not easy to objectively measure or obtain secondary data about. This research proposes and examines political ideology, for which fairly accurate and objective data can be obtained, as a novel predictor of customer Self-Service Technology usage. In four studies in different contexts, the authors consistently find that political ideology is significantly related to customers' intention to use and actual use of Self-Service Technologies; Liberals, on average, are found to be significantly more likely to use Self-Service Technologies compared to conservatives. Moreover, process complexity is identified as a moderator of this effect. In addition, two mediators, customers' need for interaction and customers' perceived control, through which political ideology affects intention to use Self-Service Technologies are uncovered. The manuscript concludes with a discussion of contributions and practical implications for managers and practitioners as well as avenues for future research.