Adoption of shopper-facing technologies under social distancing: a conceptualisation and an interplay between task-technology fit and technology trust

Abstract

As an important measure to combat COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing is observed worldwide and increasingly being regarded as a normative behaviour that guides consumers' daily activities. In response, consumers have embraced a variety of digital technologies that facilitate in-home or contactless shopping. This study examines the emerging presence of technologies in shopping activities under social distancing by: 1) conceptualising the structures of shopper-facing technologies, and 2) examining the interplay between task-technology fit and technology-trust that influences shoppers' adoption of the multi-dimensional technologies. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling are used for data analysis (n = 508). Our findings reveal three distinctive dimensions of shopper-facing technologies which are labelled as shopper-dominant (pre-)shopping technologies, shopper-dominant post-shopping technologies, and technology-dominant automations. Shoppers' adoption intention depends on their evaluations of the technology fit in performing shopping tasks characterised by contact avoidance/minimisation. The impacts of task-technology fit are further moderated by shoppers' trust in those technologies. More importantly, task-technology fit and technology trust are found to demonstrate differentiated explanatory powers towards shoppers’ adoption of the different categories of technologies.