If you install it, will they use it? Understanding why hospitality customers take “technological pauses” from self-service technology

This study extends the self-service technology (SST) paradigm by revealing a relatively unexplored area; namely the under-utilization of SST systems, within service settings. Focusing on an SST kiosk system installed within one of Macau's most luxurious hotel/casinos, this research shows that regardless of a customer's perceived technology readiness, overall, customers deem many SST options unimportant. The results reveal that the hotel's guests rate the SST option that helps them obtain discounts for entertainment and dining options as highest in importance compared to all the other SST options. Thus, fun emerges as an antecedent to SST usage. A qualitative follow-up study reveals that the customers also shun the hotel's SST system because customers may avoid using SST while on vacation—to engage in a so-called technological pause. This finding is original to the SST paradigm.