Personalization Perceptions in Retail Technology Adoption: The Mediating Role of Dependency and Intrusiveness: An Abstract

The modern retail environment is experiencing a shift in how retail service is conducted (Rafaeli et al. 2017). Increasingly, technology is integrated into the retail service, such as Kroger’s new shop and scan program, which encourages shoppers to use scanners while they are shopping to streamline the checkout process (Forbes 2018). Implementing retail technologies can save retailers money by requiring less employee involvement and can also improve the shopper’s experience as shopper data are collected and utilized to create a more personalized offering (Inman and Nikolova 2017). However, personalization alone may not be enough to persuade shoppers to adopt a new shopper-facing retail technology. The shopper’s dependence on technology and their feelings about the invasiveness of the technology may also influence the relationship between personalization and retail technology adoption. This study uses parasocial interaction theory to look at the relationship between personalization perceptions of retail technology and the adoption of that technology using the mechanisms of dependency upon the technology and perceived invasiveness. As shoppers perceive offerings to be more personalized to their specific needs, a level of dependency is developed based around the parasocial relationship with the technology. This dependency negatively influences the level of perceived intrusiveness tied to technology. Without the development of dependency, the perceptions of intrusiveness can limit the shopper’s intentions to adopt the technology. By limiting the perceived intrusiveness through the development of dependency, the service provider can act to limit the issues associated with shopper-facing retail technology. When personalized campaigns increase the dependency associated with the offering, negative effects on intrusiveness and intentions to adopt can create a positive indirect path from personalization to adoption intentions. Moreover, this indirect path provides a better explanation of the influences of adoption intentions than personalization alone. These results will begin to provide academics with a better understanding of how shoppers develop parasocial interactions with technology and perceptions of personalization in shopper-facing retail technology. Additionally, the study attempts to provide recommendations to practitioners on how to effectively implement personalization in the experience for the benefit of their shoppers.