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

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 tasktechnology 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.

Automated summary

This study examines the emerging presence of technologies in shopping activities under social distancing by conceptualizing the structures of shopper-facing technologies and examining the interplay between task-technology fit and technology-trust that influences shoppers' adoption of the multi-dimensional technologies. The impacts of task-technology fit are further moderated by shoppers' trust in those technologies. Task-technology fit and technology trust are found to demonstrate differentiated explanatory powers towards shoppers' adoption of the different categories of technologies.