Selling with technology: understanding the resistance to mobile sales assistant use in retailing |
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Authors: | Philipp Spreer Philipp A. Rauschnabel |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Business Administration, University of Goettingen, Platz der Goettinger Sieben 3, D-37073 Goettingen, Germany;2. College of Business, The University of Michigan – Dearborn, Fairlane Center South, 19000 Hubbard Drive, Dearborn, MI 48126-2638, USA |
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Abstract: | The rise of online competitors and increasingly well-informed customers have spurred stationary retailers to take measures to increase the quality of face-to-face selling as a key differentiator. Mobile sales assistants (MSAs) represent an intensively discussed technological approach to address these challenges in the salesperson–customer dyad. However, in many cases, salespeople do not or only sporadically use MSAs. Prior research provides inadequate answers as to why this is the case, as extant technology acceptance and resistance theories have limited applicability to MSAs. To address these research gaps, the authors conduct a qualitative, theory-building approach and identify 21 factors associated with resistance. In a subsequent quantitative survey study, they validate these factors and refine their conceptual structure. The results show that several largely unknown factors are associated with salespeople’s resistance to MSA use: The three higher-order constructs, ‘incongruence’, ‘relationship deterioration’, and ‘operational imperfection’, are newly introduced to the literature on technology resistance. The findings extend prior technology acceptance and resistance theories and provide comprehensive insights for retail managers. |
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Keywords: | mobile sales assistants tablets adoption barriers technology acceptance technology resistance technology-assisted selling salespeople retail |
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