Self-service Delight Unveiled: A Multidimensional Validation Study

Abstract

Retail brands have increasingly adopted self-service options to enhance customer attention and engagement. This study builds on that trend by introducing the concept of customers’ self-service delight (SSD). Across six stages of research, the present study develops and tests a typology of customers’ SSD, which is conceptualized as an intrinsic hedonic motivation to serve oneself while making a purchase. The scale development process comprises six stages: two qualitative processes (focus groups and open-ended survey), an expert opinion analysis, exploratory data analysis and validation studies. Data were collected from active users of self-service technologies in different stages following a mixed research design approach. Various statistical techniques were used, such as exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, regression analysis and structural equation modelling. The study identifies nine unique SSD dimensions and their items, and finally checks the scale’s predictive power to measure SSD within the offline retail context. Several theoretical and decisive implications have also been discussed based on multiple SSD dimensions. Researchers and policymakers can now rely on diverse SSD measures that best fit their context. At the same time, the former also get some insights into future research directions.