Firms increasingly offer customers the opportunity to coproduce self-service using online technologies. This requires novice customers to adopt a new role and engage in information search. This is particularly challenging in complex, high-risk services, such as online investment trading. Actively managing customers' task-specific self-confidence, or self-efficacy, in these types of technology-based self-service (TBSS) may convert novice customers into regular users and thereby increase return on investments. The authors show that self-efficacy increases novice customers' financial performance perceptions, service value evaluations, and future usage intentions. During online information search, novices focus on credibility and argument quality cues to determine their self-efficacy. The effects differ across information sources; third-party credibility and firm argument quality are most influential. Moreover, when consumers are highly engaged in their self-service role, the impact of credibility is strengthened, whereas that of argument quality is attenuated.
Agarwal, Ritu and Elena Karahanna (2000), "Time Flies When You're Having Fun: Cognitive Absorption and Beliefs about Information Technology Usage," MIS Quarterly, 24 (December), 665-694.
2.
Ahearne, Michael, John Mathieu, and Adam Rapp (2005), "To Empower or Not to Empower Your Sales Force? An Empirical Examination of the Influence of Leadership Empowerment Behavior on Customer Satisfaction and Performance," Journal of Applied Psychology, 90 (September), 945-955.
3.
Alba, Joseph W. and J. Wesley Hutchinson (1987), "Dimensions of Consumer Expertise," Journal of Consumer Research, 13 (March), 411-453.
4.
Bailey, James E. and Sammy W. Pearson (1983), "Development of a Tool for Measuring and Analyzing Computer User Satisfaction," Management Science, 29 (May), 530-545.
5.
Balasubramanian, Sridhar, Prabhudev Konana, and Nirup M. Menon (2003), "Customer Satisfaction in Virtual Environments: A Study of Online Investing," Management Science, 49 (July), 871-889.
6.
Bandura, Albert (1997), Self-Efficacy. The Exercise of Control. New York: W. H. Freeman.
7.
Bank of America (2007), "Self-Directed Investing." www.bankofamerica.com/hub/index.cfm?template=wealthmanagement (accessed November 15, 2007).
8.
Baron, Reuben M. and David A. Kenny (1986), "The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological Research: Conceptual, Strategic, and Statistical Considerations," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51 (December), 1173-1182.
9.
Bauer, Talya N., Todd Bodner, Berrin Erdogan, Donald M. Truxillo, and Jennifer S. Tucker (2007), "Newcomer Adjustment during Organizational Socialization: A Meta-Analytic Review of Antecedents, Outcomes, and Methods," Journal of Applied Psychology, 92 (May), 707-721.
10.
Bearden, William O., Richard G. Netemeyer, and Jesse E. Teel (1989), "Measurement of Consumer Susceptibility to Interpersonal Influence," Journal of Consumer Research, 15 (March), 473-481.
11.
Beatty, Sharon E. and Scott M. Smith (1987), "External Search Effort: An Investigation across Several Product Categories," Journal of Consumer Research, 14 (June), 83-95.
12.
Bendapudi, Neeli and Robert P. Leone (2003), "Psychological Implications of Customer Participation in Co-production," Journal of Marketing , 67 (January), 14-28.
13.
Bickart, Barbara and Robert M. Schindler (2001), "Internet Forums as Influential Sources of Consumer Information," Journal of Interactive Marketing , 15 (Summer), 31-40.
14.
Bobbitt, L. Michelle and Pratibha A. Dabholkar (2001), "Integrating Attitudinal Theories to Understand and Predict Use of Techonology-Based Self-Service," International Journal of Service Industry Management, 12 (5), 423-450.
15.
Bollen, Kenneth A. (1989), Structural Equations with Latent Variables. New York: John Wiley.
16.
Boyle, David, Sherry Clarke, and Sarah Burns (2006), "Aspects of Co-production: The Implications for Work, Health, and Volunteering." http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/uploads/sc3fcz451pnoi055r-drini3n22022007122759.pdf (accessed November 15, 2007).
17.
Brown, Steven P., Eli Jones, and Thomas W. Leigh (2005), "The Attenuating Effect of Role Overload on Relationships Linking Self-Efficacy and Goal Level to Work Performance," Journal of Applied Psychology, 90 (September), 972-979.
18.
Burton, Suzan, Simon Sheather, and John Roberts (2003), "Reality or Perception? The Effect of Actual and Perceived Performance on Satisfaction and Behavioral Intention," Journal of Service Research, 5 (May), 292-302.
Celsi, Richard L. and Jerry C. Olson (1988), "The Role of Involvement in Attention and Comprehension Processes," Journal of Consumer Research, 15 (September), 210-224.
21.
Chen, Gilad, Stanley M. Gully, Jon-Andrew Whiteman, and Robert N. Kilcullen (2000), "Examination of Relationships among Trait-Like Individual Differences, State-Like Individual Differences, and Learning Performance," Journal of Applied Psychology, 85 (December), 835-847.
22.
Chen, Serena and Shelly Chaiken (1999), "The Heuristic-Systematic Model in Its Broader Context," in Dual-Process Theories in Social Psychology, S. Chaiken and Y. Trope , eds. New York: Guilford, 73-96.
23.
Compeau, Deborah R. and Christopher A. Higgins (1995), "Computer Self-Efficacy: Development of a Measure and Initial Test," MIS Quarterly , 19 (June), 189-211.
24.
Dabholkar, Pratibha A. (1994), "Incorporating Choice into an Attitudinal Framework: Analyzing Models of Mental Comparison Processes," Journal of Consumer Research, 21 (June), 100-118.
25.
--- ( 1996), "Consumer Evaluations of New Technology-Based Self-Service Options: An Investigation of Alternative Models of Service Quality," International Journal of Research in Marketing, 13, 29-51.
26.
--- and Richard P. Bagozzi (2002), "An Attitudinal Model of Technology-Based Self-Service: Moderating Effects of Consumer Traits and Situational Factors," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 30 (Summer), 184-201.
27.
---, L. Michelle Bobbitt, and Eun-Ju Lee (2003), "Understanding Consumer Motivation and Behavior Related to Self-Scanning in Retailing," International Journal of Service Industry Management, 14 (1), 59-95.
28.
DeCarlo, Lawrence T. (1997), "On the Meaning and Use of Kurtosis," Psychological Methods, 2 (3), 292-307.
29.
De Jong, Ad, Ko de Ruyter, and Martin Wetzels (2006), "Linking Employee Confidence to Performance: A Study of Self-Managing Service Teams," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 34 (September), 576-587.
30.
Eyring, James D., Debra Steele Johnson, and David J. Francis (1993), "A Cross-Level Units-of-Analysis Approach to Individual Differences in Skill Acquisition," Journal of Applied Psychology, 78 (October), 805-814.
31.
Furse, David H., Girish N. Punj, and David W. Stewart (1984), "A Typology of Individual Search Strategies among Purchasers of New Automobiles," Journal of Consumer Research, 10 (March), 417-431.
32.
Gist, Marilyn E. (1987), "Self-Efficacy: Implications for Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management," Academy of Management Review, 12 (July), 472-485.
33.
---, Catherine Schwoerer, and Benson Rosen (1989), "Effects of Alternative Training Methods on Self-Efficacy and Performance in Computer Software Training," Journal of Applied Psychology, 74 (December), 884-891.
34.
--- and Terence R. Mitchell (1992), "Self-Efficacy: A Theoretical Analysis of Its Determinants and Malleability," Academy of Management Review , 17 (April), 183-211.
35.
Goodwin, Cathy (1988), "`I Can Do It Myself': Training the Service Consumer to Contribute to Service Productivity," Journal of Services Marketing, 2 (Fall), 71-78.
36.
Harris, Lloyd C. and Mark M. H. Goode (2004), "The Four Levels of Loyalty and the Pivotal Role of Trust: A Study of Online Service Dynamics ," Journal of Retailing, 80 (Summer), 139-158.
37.
Hartline, Michael D. and O.C. Ferrell (1996), "The Management of Customer-Contact Service Employees: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Marketing, 60 (October), 52-70.
38.
Hawkins, Scott A. and Stephen J. Hoch (1992), "Low-Involvement Learning: Memory without Evaluation," Journal of Consumer Research, 19 (September), 212-225.
39.
Hedeker, Donald and Robert D. Gibbons (2006), Longitudinal Data Analysis . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
40.
Hill, Thomas, Nancy D. Smith, and Millard F. Mann (1987), "Role of Efficacy Expectations in Predicting the Decision to Use Advanced Technologies: The Case of Computers ," Journal of Applied Psychology, 72 (May), 307-313.
41.
J.D. Power (2006), "Online Trading Investor Satisfaction Survey." http://www.jdpower.com/finance/ratings/online_investment/index.asp (accessed November 15, 2007).
42.
Johnson, Eric J., Steven Bellman, and Gerald L. Lohse (2003), "Cognitive Lock-In and the Power Law of Practice," Journal of Marketing, 67 (April), 62-75.
43.
Jolson, Marvin A. and F. Anthony Bushman (1978), "Third-Party Consumer Information Systems: The Case of the Food Critic," Journal of Retailing , 54 (Winter), 63-79.
44.
Kahn, William A. (1990), "Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work," Academy of Management Journal , 33 (December), 692-724.
45.
Kelley, Scott W., James H. Donnelly Jr., and Steven J. Skinner (1990), " Customer Participation in Service Production and Delivery," Journal of Retailing, 66 (Fall), 315-335.
46.
---, Steven J. Skinner, and James H. Donnelly Jr. (1992), "Organizational Socialization of Service Customers," Journal of Business Research, 25 (November), 197-214.
47.
Kempf, Deanna S. and Robert E. Smith (1998), "Consumer Processing of Product Trial and the Influence of Prior Advertising: A Structural Modeling Approach," Journal of Marketing Research, 35 (August), 325-338.
48.
Klein, Lisa R. and Gary T. Ford (2003), "Consumer Search for Information in the Digital Age: An Empirical Study of Prepurchase Search For Automobiles ," Journal of Interactive Marketing, 17 (Summer), 29-49.
49.
Konana, Prabhudev and Sridhar Balasubramanian (2005), "The Social-Economic-Psychological Model of Technology Adoption and Usage: An Application to Online Investing ," Decision Support Systems, 39 (May), 505-524.
50.
Kowalchuk, Rhonda K., H.J. Keselman, James Algina, and Russell D. Wolfinger (2004), "The Analysis of Repeated Measurements with Mixed-Model Adjusted F Tests," Educational & Psychological Measurement, 64 (April), 224-242.
51.
Laczniak, Russell N. and Darrel D. Muehling (1990), "Delayed Effects of Advertising Moderated by Involvement," Journal of Business Research, 20, 263-277.
52.
Littell, Ramon C., George A. Milliken, Walter W. Stroup, Russell D. Wolfinger, and Oliver Schabenberger (2006), SAS for Mixed Models. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.
53.
Mathwick, Charla, Caroline Wiertz, and Ko de Ruyter (2008), "Social Capital Production in a Virtual P3 Community ," Journal of Consumer Research, 34 (April), 832-849.
54.
Mardia, Kanti V. and K. Foster (1983), "Omnibus Tests of Multinormality Based on Skewness and Kurtosis," Communication in Statistics, 12 (2), 207-221.
55.
McKee, Daryl, Christina S. Simmers, and Jane Licata (2006), "Customer Self-Efficacy and Response to Service ," Journal of Service Research, 8 (February), 207-220.
56.
Menon, Geeta, Priya Raghubir, and Norbert Schwarz (1995), "Behavioral Frequency Judgments: An Accessibility-Diagnosticity Framework," Journal of Consumer Research, 22 (September), 212-228.
57.
Meuter, Matthew L., Amy L. Ostrom, and Robert I. Roundtree (2000), "Self-Service Technologies: Understanding Customer Satisfaction with Technology-Based Service Encounters ," Journal of Marketing, 64 (July), 50-64.
58.
---, ---, Mary Jo Bitner , and Robert Roundtree (2003), "The Influence of Technology Anxiety on Consumer Use and Experiences with Self-Service Technologies ," Journal of Business Research, 56 (November), 899-906.
59.
---, Mary Jo Bitner, Amy L. Ostrom, and Stephen W. Brown (2005), "Choosing among Alternative Service Deliver Modes: An Investigation of Customer Trial of Self-Service Technologies," Journal of Marketing, 69 (April), 61-83.
60.
Morrison, Elizabeth W. and Jeffrey B. Vancouver (2000), "Within-Person Analysis of Information Seeking: The Effects of Perceived Costs and Benefits," Journal of Management, 26 (1), 119-137.
61.
Murray, Keith B. (1991), "A Test of Services Marketing Theory: Consumer Information Acquisition Activities," Journal of Marketing , 55 (January), 10-25.
62.
Murray, Kyle B. and Gerald Häubl (2007), "Explaining Cognitive Lock-In: The Role of Skill-Based Habits of Use in Consumer Choice," Journal of Consumer Research , 34 (June), 77-88.
63.
Newell, Stephen J. and Ronald E. Goldsmith (2001), "The Development of a Scale to Measure Perceived Corporate Credibility," Journal of Business Research, 52 (June), 235-247.
64.
Noortgate, Wim Van den and Patrick Onghena (2006), "Analysing Repeated Measures Data in Cognitive Research: A Comment on Regression Coefficient Analyses," European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 18 (6), 937-952.
65.
Overall, John, Chul Ahn, C. Shivakumar, and Yallapa Kalburgi (1999), "Problematic Formulations of SAS PROC.MIXED Models for Repeated Measurements," Journal of Biopharmaceutical Statistics, 9 (January), 189-216.
66.
Oyedele, Adesegun and Penny M. Simpson (2007), "An Empirical Investigation of Consumer Control Factors on Intentions to Use Selected Self-Service Technologies ," International Journal of Service Industry Management, 18 (3), 287-306.
67.
Pavlou, Paul A. and Mendel Fygenson (2006), "Understanding and Predicting Electronic Commerce Adoption: An Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior ," MIS Quarterly, 30 (March), 115-143.
68.
Pechmann, Cornelia and S. Ratneshwar (1992), "Consumer Covariation Judgments: Theory or Data Driven?" Journal of Consumer Research, 19 (December), 373-386.
69.
Petty, Richard E., John T. Cacioppo, and Rachel Goldman (1981), "Personal Involvement as a Determinant of Argument-Based Persuasion," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 41 (November), 847-855.
70.
---, ---, and David Schumann (1983), "Central and Peripheral Routes to Advertising Effectiveness: The Moderating Role of Involvement," Journal of Consumer Research, 10 (September), 135-146.
71.
--- and Duane T. Wegener (2006), The Elaboration Likelihood Model: Current Status and Controversies. New York: Guilford .
72.
Prahalad, C.K. and Venkat Ramaswamy (2004), "Co-creation Experiences: The Next Practice in Value Creation," Journal of Interactive Marketing, 18 (Summer), 5-14.
73.
Priester, Joseph R. and Richard E. Petty (1995), "Source Attributions and Persuasion: Perceived Honesty as a Determinant of Message Scrutiny," Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21 (June), 637-654.
74.
Purohit, Devavrat and Joydeep Srivastava (2001), "Effect of Manufacturer Reputation, Retailer Reputation, and Product Warranty on Consumer Judgments of Product Quality: A Cue Diagnosticity Framework," Journal of Consumer Psychology, 10 (3), 123-134.
75.
Raudenbush, Stephen W. and Anthony S. Bryk (2002), Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
76.
Russo, J. Edward, Margaret G. Meloy, and Victoria Husted Medvec (1998), "Predecisional Distortion of Product Information," Journal of Marketing Research, 35 (November), 438-452.
77.
Salanova, Marisa, Sonia Agut, and José María Peiró (2005), "Linking Organizational Resources and Work Engagement to Employee Performance and Customer Loyalty: The Mediation of Service Climate," Journal of Applied Psychology , 90 (November), 1217-1227.
78.
Sanbonmatsu, David M. and Frank R. Kardes (1988), "The Effects of Physiological Arousal on Information Processing and Persuasion," Journal of Consumer Research, 15 (December), 379-385.
79.
---, ---, David C. Houghton , Edward A. Ho , and Steven S. Posavac (2003), "Overestimating the Importance of the Given Information in Multiattribute Consumer Judgment," Journal of Consumer Psychology, 13 (3), 289-300.
80.
Satorra, Albert and Peter M. Bentler (1988), "Scaling Corrections for Chi-Square Statistics in Covariance Structure Analysis," American Statistical Association 1988 Proceedings of the Business and Economic Sections , 308-313. Alexandria, VI: American Statistical Association.
81.
Schwarzkopf, David L. (2007), "Investors' Attitudes toward Source Credibility ," Managerial Auditing Journal, 22 (1), 18-33.
82.
Seijts, Gerard H., Gary P. Latham, Kevin Tasa, and Brandon W. Latham (2004), "Goal Setting and Goal Orientation: An Integration of Two Different yet Related Literatures," Academy of Management Journal, 47 (2), 227-239.
83.
Singh, Jagdip (1993), "Boundary Role Ambiguity: Facets, Determinants, and Impacts," Journal of Marketing, 57 (April), 11-31.
84.
Slovic, Paul, and Lichtenstein, Sarah (1971), "Comparison of Bayesian and Regression Approaches to the Study of Information Processing in Judgment ," Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 6, 649-744.
85.
Smudde, Peter M. (2005), "Blogging, Ethics and Public Relations: A Proactive and Dialogic Approach," Public Relations Quarterly, 50 (3), 34-38.
86.
Stajkovic, Alexander D. and Fred Luthans (1998), "Self-Efficacy and Work-Related Performance: A Meta-Analysis," Psychological Bulletin, 124 (September), 240-261.
87.
Stapel, Diederik A. and Hart Blanton (2004), "From Seeing to Being: Subliminal Social Comparisons Affect Implicit and Explicit Self-Evaluations," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87 (October), 468-481.
88.
Steckel, Joel, Russell Winer, Randolph Bucklin, Benedict Dellaert, Xavier Drèze, Gerald Häubl, Sandy Jap, John Little, Tom Meyvis, Alan Montgomery, and Arvind Rangaswamy (2005), "Choice in Interactive Environments ," Marketing Letters, 16 (December), 309-320.
89.
Tax, Stephen S., Mark Colgate, and David E. Bowen (2006), "How to Prevent Your Customers from Failing," MIT Sloan Management Review, 47 (Spring), 30-38.
90.
Vancouver, Jeffrey B., Charles M. Thompson, and Amy A. Williams (2001), "The Changing Signs in the Relationships among Self-Efficacy, Personal Goals, and Performance," Journal of Applied Psychology, 86 (August), 605-620.
91.
Wang, Alex (2006), "Advertising Engagement: A Driver of Message Involvement on Message Effects," Journal of Advertising Research, 46 (December), 355-368.
92.
Webster, Jane and Joseph J. Martocchio (1992), "Microcomputer Playfulness: Development of a Measure with Workplace Implications," MIS Quarterly, 16 (June), 201-226.
93.
Xie, Chunyan, Richard P. Bagozzi, and Sigurd V. Troye (2008), "Trying to Prosume: Toward a Theory of Consumers as Co-creators of Value," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 36 (Spring), 109-122.
94.
Yeo, Gillian B. and Andrew Neal (2006), "An Examination of the Dynamic Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Performance across Levels of Analysis and Levels of Specificity ," Journal of Applied Psychology, 91 (September), 1088-1101.
95.
Zauberman, Gal (2003), "The Intertemporal Dynamics of Consumer Lock-In ," Journal of Consumer Research, 30 (December), 405-419.
96.
Zhu, Zhen, Cheryl Nakata, K. Sivakumar, and Dhruv Grewal (2007), "Self-Service Technology Effectiveness: The Role of Design Features and Individual Traits," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 35 (Winter), 492-506.
