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Consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service in online

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Consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service in online retailing: an empirical study
Yuangao Chen, Jing Yu, Shuiqing Yang, June Wei,
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 Consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery
service in online retailing: an empirical study

Abstract:
Purpose: Online retailers widely use self-service parcel delivery as a solution to the last mile logistics

problems. This study focuses on investigating the factors that affect the consumer’s intention to use

self-service parcel delivery service.

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Design/methodology/approach: We integrate prior research and propose a comprehensive three-factor

model. Our study combines individual and situational factors and proposes a socialized factor.

Findings: This study found that location convenience, optimism, innovation, and the need for human
interaction positively affect the consumer’s intention to avail of the self-service parcel delivery service.

It also identifies that socialized factor positively influences the consumer’s intention to use self-service

parcel delivery services.

Research limitations: The test results show that the explanatory power of the individual factors of the

model is better than that of the situational factors. However, this does not imply that the situational

factors cannot explain consumer behavior well. Future studies should employ additional situational
factors to explain consumer behavior.

Practical implications: This study offers valuable theoretical and managerial implications. Delivery

service providers should concentrate on their marketing force and customize their services for
consumer groups who have specific individual characteristics, such as optimism and innovation.

Social implications: Strengthening service interactions in the social factor and choosing optimal

locations for self-service pickup machines are also essential for the expansion of the users’ population
and enhancement of service experience.

Originality/value: We combined situational and individual factors, proposed a socialized factor, and

presented the three-factor model of the consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service.

Keywords: online retailing; self-service parcel delivery; resource matching theory; consumer
coproduction theory; technology readiness

1 Introduction

The advancement of e-commerce, especially m-commerce, provides flexible, convenient,

personalized, and diverse choices in online shopping experience. M-commerce requires mobility,

diversity, and individuality of the entire shopping process. In mobile commerce, the majority of the

early adopters of new technology in the Singaporean market go after the convenience provided by
 mobile commerce (Lee and Whang, 2001; Gilbert and Han, 2005). The number of mobile shoppers in

China is rapidly increasing. Recent reports on China’s Internet statistics indicated that China’s mobile
users reached 620 million, and m-commerce customers expanded to 340 million along with an increase

of 43.9% at the end of 2015(CNNIC, 2016). With further implementation of m-commerce and the

accumulating integration/interaction between online and offline businesses, several consumers are
increasingly paying attention to the service experience of e-commerce and m-commerce. Recent

consumer surveys and market analyses show that the delivery services offered by e-retailers have

become one of the fundamental factors influencing an online shopper's decision to shop with them
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(Morganti et al., 2014). Thus, if online retailers intend to provide adequate support and improve service

quality, then they must strengthen their existing delivery services or introduce a new logistics solution.

Hence, some providers developed a new last mile logistics solution: self-service parcel delivery
service. As an alternative delivery service to traditional home delivery service, self-service parcel

delivery service began to appear in the people’s horizon. In Europe, pick-up points(PPs) and automated

parcel stations (APS) equipped with lockers have rapidly become popular alternatives to home delivery
(Morganti et al., 2014). Similarly, Amazon has provided a self-service parcel delivery service named

Amazon Locker, and JD.com in China has adopted self-service parcel pickup machines as a solution to

the last mile logistics problem. According to the data disclosed on the JD.com website, more than 200
self-service parcel pickup machines are being employed in metropolitan areas, such as Beijing,

Shanghai, and Guangzhou, since 2015. Owing to these robust self-owned logistics networks, including

home delivery forces and self-service facilities, JD.com has become one of the top three e-retailers in
China.

However, the disappointments in most of the existing logistics services in online shopping caused

the failure to achieve the real purpose of home delivery. In China, most third-party logistics companies
are facing the daily routine of collecting and distributing enormous parcels. Many delivery men are

under the strain of over work from stairs climbing, door knocking, and signature requesting. To save

time, most couriers usually set up appointments with customers in advance with regard to delivery time
and the accurate PPs to allow customers to pick up their ordered goods. Apparently, the latest delivery

services cannot satisfy the customers’ demands, and the terminal process of online retailing becomes a

dominant obstacle. Moreover, the time allotted for customers to pick up their ordered goods is limited.
One major observation about online shopping is that it is not restricted by time. Customers can place

their orders any time they want. With the percieved time pressure from customers, the courier cannot

successfully deliver on time, which results in dissatisfaction in the online logistics service and even in
the online retailer. Thus, the existing logistics services need to be improved signficantly. From the

delivery companies’ perspectives, their delivery time should be shortened, labor costs should be
 reduced, distribution efficiency should be improved, and a variety of parcel selections should be

offered to enhance their competence and consumer satisfaction. From the consumers’ points of view,
they seek more flexible schedules and more diverse options to claim their parcels. According to the

annual survey of the State Post Bureau of China (SPBC, 2016), the service satisfaction in self-service

parcel delivery service has significantly increased in 2015 and exceeded the total satisfaction score of
delivery service.

As a novel solution to the last mile logistics problem in e-commerce(Xu and Hong, 2013),

self-service parcel delivery service offers significantly more advantages such as those of other
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Self-Service Technologies (SSTs; e.g., time saving, ease of use, and accessibility) compared with

traditional home delivery service (Meuter et al., 2000). However, the type of customers willing to

accept self-service parcel delivery service, as a new technology, should be determined. In addition, the
reasons that can persuade online consumers to adopt this service should be idenfitied. These topics are

worthy to look into.

In the academe, self-service parcel delivery service as an emerging technology can be categorized
under SSTs. To understand the determinants of this service, we combined traditional individual factors

and situational factors and introduced a socialized factor to explore the effects of the mechanism of

these factors on the consumer’s intention to adopt self-service parcel delivery service.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Following the Introduction, Section 2 reviews the

related literature. Section 3 proposes the research model and outlines the hypotheses. Section 4

highlights the research methodologies and processes. Section 5 presents the data analysis and findings.
Section 6 reveals some discussions and implications. Finally, Section 7 concludes the paper with some

remarks and directions for future research.

2. Literature review

In today’s online business environment, we intend to maintain a competitive advantage, which

may lie in changing the supporting services such as the logistics mode (Mentzer and Williams, 2001).
Mentzer et al. (1989) clarified the understanding of physical distribution service and stressed the

importance of logistics and distribution. Youn et al. (2014) emphasized the importance of logistics

services in e-commerce. Lee and Whang (2001) pointed out that the key to succeeding in an e-business
should be excellent delivery service.

Numerous researchers have investigated e-commerce and delivery service. Wang and Liao (2007)

developed a measurement scale of m-commerce consumer satisfaction. Especially in m-commerce,

customers have put forward several requirements for the delivery service providers because of their

transfer behaviors from the offline to the online channel (Lu et al., 2011; Maity and Dass, 2014; Yang
 et al., 2015). Karaca and Akınlar (2005) proposed a real-time parcels tracking system to improve

delivery efficiency. Chen et al. (2011) examined consumer satisfaction in home delivery. Other
researchers mainly focused on the quality of logistics service. Parasuraman et al. (1988) introduced a

fundamental scale measurement, called SERVQUAL, to measure service quality. Mentzer et al. (1999)

developed a scale for measuring logistics service quality. Rafiq and Jaafar (2007) reported about an
empirical research based on the customers’ mail survey of third-party logistics services. With the

improvements in delivery technology, a number of scholars have developed a new approach for solving

the last mile logistics problem, such as autonomous vehicles (Davidson and Spinoulas, 2015; Kamin
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and Morton, 2015). A new type of self-service parcel pickup machine has also been used worldwide

(Fitzsimmons, 2003). In this process, the question of which factors will affect the use of new

technologies is the matter of our concern.

With the self-service parcel pickup machine, couriers can input information and place a

customer’s package into one of those closets. The system will send a message through the backstage

system and send a verification code. Customers will have the freedom to pick up parcels whenever they
want. After receiving a prompt and a password, the recipient can input the passcode into the machine

and claim the ordered items.

To understand the new technology acceptance, Parasuraman (2000) proposed the construct of
technology readiness. This study shows that drivers like optimism, and innovativeness, and inhibitors

like insecurity and discomfort appeared to be good predictors of customer behavior. Many study used

technology readiness 1.0 in different context ever since. Parasuraman and Colby (2015) updated
technology readiness index by change some items of measurement scale to adapt to new technologies

like cloud computing, mobile commerce and social media. Meuter et al. (2005) defined SSTs as

“technological interfaces that enable customers to produce service independent of direct service
employee involvement.” Rowley (2006) reviewed prior research and provided an understanding of the

role of e-service and technology-based self-service. In this manner, self-service parcel delivery, as an

alternative service to home delivery service, varies from the traditional option. For instance, customers
can pick up parcels without meeting the courier and without direct assistance from an employee of the

delivery service provider or online retailer. Thus, we can categorize self-service parcel delivery under

SSTs. In the area of SSTs, considerable research has focused on the determinants of Self-Service
Technology. After Davis (1989) proposed the technology acceptance model (TAM) to describe the

adoption of new technology, some scholars have used TAM to examine the consumers’ behavioral

intention with regard to the new technology (Ho and Yang, 2017; Gan et al., 2016; Legris et al., 2003;
Tan et al., 2014; Van De Belt et al., 2015). Meuter et al. (2000) examined the source of customer

satisfaction through the critical incident technique, which is easy to use and time saving. Meuter et al.
 (2005) mainly focused on individual factors and discovered consumer readiness as a mediating variable

to the consumers’ behavioral intention. Other researchers have paid attention to situational factors.
Belk (1975) found out that situational factors are often used to describe the physical and social

environments faced by consumers. Strombeck and Wakefield (2008) indicated how the situational

variations of flight passengers influenced customer evaluations on service quality. All of these studies
have shown that situational factors are great predictors of the consumers’ behavioral intention.

Compared with other SSTs, in the self-service parcel delivery service, customers can choose services

on the e-retailer platform in advance rather than select services temporarily when they actually receive
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the packages, whereas the customer’s decision of using some SSTs (e.g., the automatic teller machine)

depends on how many people are queuing in front of the teller window and how long will it take to

serve all of them. Therefore, identifying which types of situational factors influence customer’s
intention to use this particular service is crucial.

The development of SSTs alongside the growth of sharing economy that promote collaborative

consumption (Hamari et al., 2016), classical examples of these include accommodations community
(e.g., Airbnb), intelligent sharing bike (e.g., Mobike), social ride-sharing (e.g., Uber) and peer to peer

financing (e.g., Lending Club). These brand-new companies are considered as different instances of the

business phenomenon that we can label “the sharing economy.” Various models of the sharing
economy have showed the characteristics of collaborative consumption and some forms of ideology.

Many sharing economy activities like basketball sharing and sharable chargers require a self-service

machine. Meuter et al. (2005) argued that the using of SST requires consumer coproduction. Whitaker
(1980) were among the first to suggest that consumer coproduction can be a key factor in public

delivery service success. Consumer coproduction has been examined in many different context like

virtual community, NFC service and electronic service support setting (Etgar, 2008; Troye and
Supphellen, 2013; Harrison and Waite, 2015).

This paper mainly studies which factors affect the consumer’s acceptance of self-service parcel

delivery service in the online retailer platform. To complete this study, we integrate individual and
situational factors and additionally propose a socialized factor. Based on empirical data from customer

surveys and an analysis of the structure equation model, we conclude the results and present the

implementation insights.

3. Research model and hypotheses

Before making hypotheses, we believe that the use of SSTs would be affect by two kinds of
factors, individual factors and situational factors, individual factors were proposed by Parasuraman

(2000), this factors are considered to have a strong explanation power to the acceptance of SSTs,
 situational factors were proposed by Belk (1975) to explain the behavior of users when facing physical

or social environment, and later were used by Collier et al. (2015) to explain the acceptance of SSTs. In
his view, the situation customers are facing will have an impact on the difficulty customer has to

complete the task. Furthermore, Zhu et al. (2007) pointed out that both of individual factors and

situational factors can determine user’s effectiveness and have a strong influence towards user’s
attitude. Dabholkar et al. (1996) proved that user’s attitude towards SSTs determine user’s behavior

intention. Therefore, we include both individual factors and situational factors are critical indicators of

user’s SST behavior intention.

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3.1 Resource matching theory

Resource matching theory is used to explain how to optimize the user's cognitive resources to
complete tasks (Anand and Sternthal, 1990). This theory assumes that consumer’s cognitive resources

are limited. When the user’s mental elaboration of cognitive resources and tasks are matched, we can

have the best results. More or less, user's cognitive resources than the required task, the user's decision
performance will be affected.

Zhu et al. (2007) and Collier et al. (2015) have adopted resource matching theory in SST

literature. Zhu et al. (2007) have pointed out the design of SST interface would affect the cognitive
loads of user. After that, Collier et al. (2015) proposed other situational factors would also have an

influence on user’s cognitive loads as interface of SST. The surrounding of SST can divert user’s

cognitive resource away. For example, if the user has to drive a long way to the pick-up point, the task
will become harder due to the extra effort of access into the pick-up point. Additionally, a user felt the

time pressure may affect their cognitive resources. When the user falls short from the cognitive

resources, it may also affect his pick-up behavior.

3.1.1 Location convenience

Location convenience has been used to explain consumer’s perceived time pressure in using SSTs
(Collier et al., 2015). In addition, Jones et al. (2003) examined the relationship between consumer

satisfaction and location convenience. Considering the difference between self-service parcel delivery

and other SSTs, we assume that if a self-service parcel pickup machine has been installed in a certain
point that is far away from a consumer, then, the consumer will opt for an alternative convenient

service instead. According to resource matching theory, customer should allocate matching cognitive

resource to the task, if the location is too far or hard for customer to access, the task will need for more
cognitive resource (Anand and Sternthal, 1990), so we hypothesize that location convenience has a

direct and positive influence on a consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service:
 H1. Location convenience positively affects a consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel

delivery service.

3.1.2 Perceived time pressure

Compared with traditional home delivery service, self-service parcel delivery service can make
the delivery of products timely. Herrington and Capella (1995) reported that the perceived time

pressure negatively influences a shopper’s supermarket purchasing behavior. As a matter of fact, the

busier single workers or households are, the less time they spend on shopping in supermarkets.
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Purchasing on the Internet and waiting for home delivery have become the favorable option. Based on

the resource matching theory, perceived time pressure will affect the allocation of customer’s cognitive

resources, if the perceived time pressure is high, user may not spend too much cognitive resources on
the task (Anand and Sternthal, 1990). Under perceived time pressure, households believe that home

delivery is inconvenient and may choose an alternative program, such as self-service parcel delivery

service. Collier et al. (2015) proved that perceived time pressure strongly affect consumers’ adoption
decisions of SST. Thus, we come up with the following hypothesis:

H2. Perceived time pressure positively affects a consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel

delivery service.

3.2 Technology readiness

Although new technology can benefit customers, frustration could come in dealing with
technology-based system. Parasuraman (2000) first introduced the construct of technology readiness.

The definition of technology readiness by the author refers to the customer’s propensity to embrace

new technology to their work and life. The technology readiness measurement scale has a sound
psychometric property. Researchers have used it in many different contexts (Lwin and Williams, 2003;

Kassim and Abdullah, 2008; Berry et al., 2010; Summak et al., 2010). In order to adapt to new

technologies (mobile commerce, social media, cloud computing), Parasuraman and Colby (2015)
updated technology readiness index with some changes in measurement scale. Several researches have

used Technology Readiness 2.0 (TRI2.0) to test the acceptance of cutting edge technology such as

mobile payment, mobile social networks，internet banking service and SSTs (Pietro et al., 2015; Zaidi
et al., 2016; Shin and Biocca, 2017; Tam and Oliveira, 2017). Based on technology readiness we adopt

two individual factors including innovativeness and optimism.

3.2.1 Innovativeness
 Several researchers have used innovativeness as a factor to investigate the acceptance of a new

technology or a new product (Parasuraman, 2000; Blake et al., 2003; Chen et al., 2010; Lu et al., 2011;
Liu et al., 2015). Four factors in technology readiness have been proposed, optimism, innovativeness,

discomfort and insecurity. Thakur and Srivastava (2015) illustrated that innovativeness positively

influences consumer online retailing adoption and effectively reduces the perceived risk from using the
Internet channel for shopping. Aldás‐Manzano et al. (2009) asserted that innovativeness is a key

construct in a consumer’s willingness to adopt a new service. Thus, we come up with the following

hypothesis:
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H3. Innovativeness positively affects a consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery

service.

3.2.2 Optimism

Optimism is an individual factor that reflects the degree of people’s expectation for the future

(Carver, 2010). According to the study of Eliaz and Ran (2008), the extent of optimism directly affects
a consumer’s buying intention. Parasuraman (2000) presented that optimism is the pivotal factor in the

technological readiness of a consumer’s adoption of new SSTs, in the four factors of technology

readiness, optimism, innovativeness, discomfort and insecurity, both discomfort and insecurity haven’t
pass the principal components analysis with varimax rotation. In our opinion, it’s possible because the

pick-up behavior from the self-service machines does not involve monetary transaction, consumer is

less sensitive to insecurity and discomfort when using this new SSTs.
In this way, we select two factors in technology readiness, optimism and innovativeness. Lu et al.

(2011) considered optimism, as a powerful driver of consumer readiness, to have a strong relationship

with the use of technology-based service. Thus, the fourth hypothesis is described as follows:
H4. Optimism positively affects a consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service.

3.3 Consumer coproduction theory

Other from technology readiness, Meuter et al. (2005) showed that the consumer readiness is the

key driver to SSTs. Consumer readiness is a stage or a condition in which consumers are prepared and

tend to try an innovation for the first time. As a set of consumer’s characteristics, consumer readiness is
conceptualized as role clarity, motivation, and ability. Role clarity, a predictor of consumer readiness,

was examined to has a great influence to consumer coproduction in the research of Meuter et al.

(2005). They proposed personal interaction during the service as an inhibitor to the acceptance of SSTs
and also argued that coproduction activities occur during SSTs. Lovelock and Young (1979) were

among the first to proposed the concept of consumer coproduction. For examples, in delivery service,
 customers increasingly pick up their parcels from the machine without the delivery man help. This

option has revolutionized the interface between the service providers and the customers (Vargo and
Lusch, 2004). The use of a new SST requires customers to engage in new behavior frequently, which

helps to accelerate the process of consumer socialization (Meuter et al., 2005). Prior research

investigating the nature of consumer socialization activities in a work setting, it can affect the role
perception of a consumer (Anakwe and Greenhaus, 1999). Langeard et al. (1981) indicated that

consumer provide a key role in a firm’s production. Meuter et al. (2005) described that consumer

coproduction can improve the productivity of a company. Thus, the revolution of the interface between
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the service providers and consumers might cause some changes of social environment. According to

Parasuraman and Colby (2015), social environment could be a motivator to the acceptance of SSTs.

Many researches have discussed social influence based on this article (Benoit et al., 2016; Kim and
Drumwright, 2016; Zhang and Xiao, 2017).

3.3.1 Need for human interaction

We propose the “need for human interaction” as a socialized factor compared with situational and

individual factors. Langeard et al. (1981) and Bitner et al. (1990) believed and evaluated need for

human interaction as an important factor in service encounter. Many scholars have examined need for
human interaction in SSTs. Ledingham (1984) carried out a study based on videotext service and found

out time saving when using videotext service at home cannot compensate the loss of the need for

human interaction. Human interaction as a socialized factor should be verified in this particular service,
especially on whether it acts as the habit inertia of traditional home delivery service or an inhibitor of

self-service parcel delivery service. As a consumer trait, the need for human interaction has been used

to describe consumer behavior (Lee and Lyu, 2016) and has been recognized as a moderator in
explaining user transfer from one channel to another (Aslanzadeh et al., 2014). Consumer traits, such

as offline habit, are considered as an inhibitor of consumer intention from transfer usage (Lu et al.,

2011). Similarly, the package pick-up method transformation from home delivery to self-service
delivery can be regarded as transfer usage. Furthermore, the need for human interaction is a factor of

consumer readiness that explains consumer adoption of new technology (Meuter et al., 2005). A high

level of need for personal interaction decreases the desire to try an SST (Dabholkar et al., 1996).
Parasuraman and Colby (2015) preceded a two-phase experiment and found out that social influence is

one of the key motivators to technology. Considering this circumstance, we come up with the fifth

hypothesis as follows:
H5. The need for human interaction negatively affects a consumer’s intention to use self-service

parcel delivery service.

 Based on the analysis in the preceding paragraph, we generalize the entire model in Fig. 1.

Figure 1 Research Model

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4. Research method
4.1 Research setting

For several reasons, we used self-service parcel delivery services in Chinese online retailing

platform, such as JD.com and Amazon, to test our model. First, China’s online shopping market has
been inflating in recent years, and it comes with numerous last mile logistics problems in the delivery

solution. Compared with European and American countries, China has different features of package

delivery, including large amounts of daily parcels, excessive reliance on the labor force, and inefficient
package processing. As a consequence, the average time for parcel delivery is longer than that of the

customer’s expectation, and most delivery men are undertaking exhausting overwork. Second, JD.com

and Amazon are well-known for their own logistics competence. In addition, the terminal equipment of
these online retailers for self-service parcel pick-up has dominated major Chinese cities. Thus, we

chose these two online retailers as research objects. Both JD.com and Amazon are working on costly

infrastructure construction of self-service parcel pickup utilities all over China. However, can this
countermeasure be a suitable solution to the last mile logistics problem? Such concern is the main

motivation for doing this research.

4.2. Measurement

Based on the aforementioned assumptions, we used questionnaires to test the validity of the

proposed model. We employed Questionnaire Star, an online survey site (www.sojump.com), to

complete our study. All items were from the existing measurement scale and the existing literature.

Table 1 lists all sources of the items, in which the items with good reliability and validity were
 retained. Given that these scales were written in English, the questionnaire items were first translated

into Chinese. To ensure accuracy of translation, we applied back translation. Minor modifications we
reapplied to accommodate the specific service context. After the draft of the questionnaire was

completed, we invited some experienced users and logistics experts to review the questionnaire. Based

on their feedback, we modified the questionnaire accordingly.

The final questionnaire consists of two parts. The first part is about the respondent’s demographic

information. The second part is about the construct items designed to test the degree of the

respondent’s agreement with the items. Among these items, location convenience was measured by
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three items adopted from Collier et al. (2015). Perceived time pressure was measured by two items

adopted from Strombeck and Wakefield (2008) and Collier et al. (2015). Innovativeness in new

technology was measured by three items adopted from Crespo and Bosque (2008) and Lu et al. (2011).
The need for human interaction was measured by two items adopted from Lee and Lyu (2016).

Optimism was measured by three items adopted from Parasuraman (2000) and Lu et al. (2011).

Intention to use was measured by three items adopted from Meuter et al. (2005) and Chen et al. (2011).
Items, such as location convenience, innovativeness in new technology, need for human interaction,

and optimism, were measured using a five-point Likert scale, where 1 denotes strongly disagree and 5

denotes strongly agree. To measure accurately the perceived time pressure, it was measured using a
seven-point Likert scale, where 1 denotes strongly disagree and 7 denotes strongly agree.

Table 1 Constructs and sources

Construct Self-service items Source

Location convenience Loc1 Collier et al. (2015)

Loc2

Loc3

Perceived time pressure Time1 Strombeck and Wakefield (2008) and

Collier et al. (2015)

Time2

Need for human interaction Hum1 Lee and Lyu (2016)

Hum2

Innovativeness in new Inn1 Crespo and Bosque (2008)

technology
Inn2

Inn3

Optimism Opt1 Parasuraman (2000) and Lu et al.

(2011)
 Opt2

Opt3

Intention to use BI1 Meuter et al. (2005) and Chen et al.

(2011)

BI2

BI3

4.3 Sample collection

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The questionnaire was administered in the specific website (https://www.sojump.com) and

disseminated through forums and social networks (e.g., BBS of Questionnaire Star, and WeChat APP).
Data collection began in April 2016 and ended in May 2016, with 309 questionnaires returned and

completed. Respondents who completed the survey in an unrealistically period were considered

invalided. Therefore, we weeded out 28 Invalid questionnaires. Thus, a total of 281 questionnaires
were left. The sample is composed of 112 males and 169 females. The sample with 0.7% is under the

age of 18, 44.5% being ages 18–24, 31% being ages 24-30, and 23.8% over the age of 30. With regard

to the respondents’ educational levels, 67.3% of them are undergraduates and 18.1% are graduate
students or above. Table 2 displays the respondents’ demographic characteristics.

Table 2 Demographic characteristics of respondents

Demographic profile Item Frequency Percent (%)

Gender Male 112 39.9

Female 169 60.1

Age (years old) <18 2 0.7

18–24 125 44.5

25–30 87 31.0

>30 67 23.8

Education High school or below 9 3.2

Three-year college 32 11.4

Four-year college 189 67.3

Graduate school or above 51 18.1

Occupation Corporate 122 43.4
Government 14 5.0
Education 29 10.3
Student 108 38.4
Others 8 2.8
Monthly Income (CNY) <1000 77 27.4
1000–2999 51 18.1
 3000–5000 87 31.0
>5000 66 23.5

5. Data analysis and results

Based on our analysis of reliability and validity, we ruled out three items. Table 3 illustrates the
reliability and validity of the questionnaires. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the remaining items

range from 0.759 to 0.855. All these alpha coefficients are greater than 0.7, which is the minimum

cut-off value. The results indicate good reliability (Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994).
Table 3 Item reliability analysis
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Self-service items Cronbach’s alpha Standardized factor t-values

coefficients loading

Location convenience(Loc) 0.778

Loc1 0.9050 17.4435

Loc2 0.8950 12.8278

Loc3 0.8040 9.1257

Perceived time 0.759

pressure(Time)

Time1 0.9120 1.5100

Time2 0.9230 1.9009

Need for human 0.799

interaction(Hum)
Hum1 0.8980 12.9412

Hum2 0.9340 15.4728

Innovativeness in new 0.739

technology(Inn)

Inn1 0.8670 13.4544

Inn2 0.7950 8.7533

Inn3 0.8630 13.0719

Optimism(Opt) 0.772

Opt1 0.8330 20.6363

Opt2 0.8460 16.6150

Opt3 0.7820 15.6550

Intention to use(BI) 0.773

BI1 0.8740 20.9190

BI2 0.8660 19.2645

 BI3 0.9000 23.1848

Among all the structural equation model methods, such as Amos and LISREL, we used the partial

least squares (PLS) method to test our model. Compared with other methods, PLS has certain
advantages, including fewer restrictions of measure scales, sample size, and raw data distribution

(Urbach and Ahlemann, 2010; Hair et al., 2012). We used the Smart PLS 3 with bootstrapping to test

our model.

5.1 Measurement model

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In the trail test, we initially adopted all four items from technology readiness, but both of
discomfort and insecurity had failed the validity test according to Table 4. Parasuraman (2000) defined

discomfort as a sense of lack of control over technology and insecurity as skepticism and distrust of

technology about the ability to work properly. In the context of self-service pick-up service, consumers
can claim their parcels when they input the appropriate package code. The machine in the APS is easily

operated. Furthermore, the whole process is simple and of short duration. We believed that neither

monetary transaction nor vulnerable personal information being involved in the process of package
pick-up is the reasonable cause of these two invalid items. Therefore, two items of technology

readiness, optimism and innovativeness were adopted in the measure model.

Table 4 Trial validity test

Component
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Location
convenience (Loc)
Loc1 .8610 .2200 -.055 .0670 .1260 .0610 -.0500
Loc2 .7970 .2770 -.0370 .0720 .1020 .1050 .0340
Loc3 .8090 .1910 .1350 -.0490 .0100 .0180 .1140
Perceived time
pressure (Time)
Time1 -.1040 .2440 .0720 .0930 -.0050 .8230 .0250
Time2 .3260 -.0640 -.0650 .0310 .1640 .7590 -.0280
Innovativeness (Inn)
Inn1 .3430 .2190 .0600 .0150 .7870 .1160 -.0450
Inn2 -.0770 .1760 .0390 .2880 .7880 .0710 .2020
Inn3 .0810 .0040 .1010 .0330 .7890 -.0020 .9640
Need for human
interaction (Hum)
Hum1 .0810 .1340 .1850 .8690 .0950 .0990 -.0080
Hum2 -.0110 .1170 .2340 .8560 .1720 .0360 .0600
Optimism (Opt)
Opt1 .2720 .6450 .2030 .0320 -.1360 -.2740 -.2350
 Opt2 .2290 .6760 .0850 .2000 -.1050 -.3190 -.1710
Opt3 .3320 .6160 .0430 -.1400 -.1870 -.2930 -.1890
Discomfort (Dis)
Dis1 .0080 .3410 .1180 .1350 .0730 .0580 .7210
Dis2 -.0350 .2590 .0970 .1920 .0650 .2290 .7270
Dis3 .0430 .1890 .0510 .0150 .2930 -.0210 .7540
Insecurity (Ins)
Ins1 -.1330 .0810 -.3970 -.1470 .0660 -.0650 .7170
Ins2 -.1770 .1520 -.4410 -.0850 .0630 -.2210 .6930
Ins3 -.1880 .1750 -.4960 -.0400 .0160 -.1300 .6720
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The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure accuracy was at 0.823. Based on the theory of Kaiser and Rice
(1974) and Bartlett’s sphericity test (Dziuban and Shirkey, 1974), all the remaining items are suitable.

Six components explain the total variance at 77.159%. As seen in Table 5, all items are strongly

correlated with their related factors and a low correlation with other items. The items factor loading
range from 0.631 to 0.911. The first construct is marked as “Location convenience” and the second one

is “Intention to use the service”. The third construct is “Innovativeness” and the fourth one is

“Optimism”. The fifth construct is “Need for human interaction” and the last one is “Perceived time
pressure”.

Table 5 Principal components analysis with varimax rotation

Component
1 2 3 4 5 6
Location
convenience(Loc)
Loc1 0.8690 0.1520 0.1000 0.1640 0.0280 0.0240
Loc2 0.8230 0.1520 0.1120 0.2130 0.0460 0.0360
Loc3 0.8000 0.1080 0.0250 0.1530 −0.0170 0.0960
Perceived time
pressure(Time)
Time1 0.0420 −0.0270 0.0830 0.1150 0.0610 0.9060
Time2 0.0900 0.0690 −0.0340 0.0130 −0.0270 0.9110
Innovativeness(Inn)
Inn1 0.2160 0.1980 0.7830 0.2180 −0.0020 0.0840
Inn2 −0.1080 0.1920 0.7680 0.0710 0.2760 0.0540
Inn3 0.1530 0.1300 0.8230 0.1460 0.1640 −0.0620
Need for human
interaction(Hum)
Hum1 0.0770 0.0640 0.1770 0.1220 0.8830 0.0440
Hum2 −0.0320 0.1940 0.1570 0.1010 0.8760 −0.0110
Optimism(Opt)
Opt1 0.2540 0.2260 0.0770 0.7390 0.1480 0.1560
 Opt2 0.2480 0.3470 0.1340 0.6310 0.1890 0.1030
Opt3 0.1610 0.1560 0.2500 0.7820 0.0170 −0.0350
Intention to use(BI)
BI1 0.2670 0.6720 0.1590 0.4050 0.1150 0.0160
BI2 0.1290 0.8530 0.1830 0.1670 0.0970 −0.0270
BI3 0.1470 0.8360 0.2250 0.1990 0.1410 0.0750

5.2 Structural model

After determining the measurement model with satisfactory results, we began to study the
structural model. The results of the structural model include path loading, corresponding t-values, and
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R-squares. The test results of the structural model are shown in Figure 2. The situational factor

(location convenience) and individual factors (optimism and innovativeness) are identical with the
previous hypotheses. The socialized factor (need for human interaction) has a positive effect on a

consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service, and the influence of perceived time

pressure on a consumer’s intention is insignificant. Therefore, H2 and H5 are not supported.

The results show that the sole situational factor (location convenience) significantly positively

affects a consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service. However, perceived time

pressure does not have a significant correlation with a consumer's intention to use self-service parcel
delivery service. Thus, a contradiction exists with the study of Collier et al. (2015).

Compared with the performance of the situational factors, the results show a strong correlation

between individual factors and a consumer’s behavioral intention. Both innovativeness and optimism
have a positive effect on a consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service. Our study

shares similar results on the individual factors with that of Parasuraman (2000) and Lu et al. (2011),

which revealed that innovativeness and optimism are the drivers of a consumer’s intention to embrace
new technology.

The socialized factor in our model (need for human interaction) positively influences a

consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service. However, as a contradiction, Lee and
Lyu (2016) employed the “need for human interaction” as a mediator in their model, which negatively

affects consumer’s utilitarian and hedonic attitudes.

Figure2 Test results of structural model

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Note: * p<0.05; ** p<0.01.

6. Discussions
This study focused on a specific area of self-service parcel delivery service. To demonstrate the

mechanism of a consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service, we integrated

situational and individual factors and proposed a socialized factor. Our research used the inquiries from
respondents as part of the research context.

6.1 Theoretical implications

Based on resource matching theory, consumer coproduction theory and technology readiness, this
paper proposed a comprehensive three-factor model that explicated the influencing mechanism of a

consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service.

From the perspective of situational factors, the results demonstrated that location convenience
positively affects a consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service. Therefore, this

paper complemented prior research results, which revealed that location convenience has significantly

positive effect on a consumer’s attitude toward SSTs. This finding suggests that online retailers should
value the suitability and accessibility of the locations of self-service pickup machines. Location

convenience is a factor that consumers are concerned about when choosing a delivery service. If the

location of the self-service pickup machine is far away from the consumers or it is difficult for them,
then alternative services are likely to be chosen. However, if the self-service pickup machine is located

along the consumer's way home from work or in his neighborhood, then it may strengthen the

consumer’s intention to adopt this new service. Moreover, perceived time pressure was not supported
by the study of Collier et al. (2015). In our conceptual model, the result shows that perceived time

pressure is not related to the behavioral intention to use this particular service. With regard to

individual factors, innovativeness and optimism are proven to have a strong relationship with the
intention to use self-service parcel delivery service. This result suggests the same conclusion with that
 of the research of Parasuraman (2000) and Lu et al. (2011). Innovative and optimistic people are highly

inclined to embrace new technology and adopt the self-service parcel delivery service. This finding
may be related to the consumer groups, which have been categorized based on their demographic

characteristics. 76.2% of our sample is composed of individuals aged less than 30 years. The group of

young population generally becomes increasingly familiar with electronic equipment and enthusiastic
in adopting new technology.

Furthermore, the socialized factor we proposed varies from that of the study of Lee and Lyu

(2016). The need for human interaction is determined to have positive effect on a consumer’s intention
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to use self-service parcel delivery service. As a possible explanation for this difference, traditional

door-to-door delivery service does not require a huge amount of human interactions with the courier, as

compared with banking service, which is in need of human interactions. Therefore, as an alternative
service, consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service does not negatively affect the

need for human interaction (Zhu et al., 2007; Yang et al., 2015).

In conclusion, we investigated the effect of individual factors, situational factors, and the
socialized factor on consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service. The test results of

the proposed model show that the explanatory power of the individual factors of the model is better

than that of the situational factors. However, this does not imply that the situational factors cannot
explain consumer behavior well. Future studies should employ additional and improved situational

factors to explain consumer behavior. Innovativeness is considered an important factor in new

technology adoption, and optimism, as part of technological readiness, is considered an important

feature to describe the acceptance of new technologies (Lee and Lyu, 2016). Furthermore, we

discovered the positive influence of socialized factor on the use of SSTs. Unlike previous studies, this

study determined that the socialized factor is considered an inhibitor in the intention to use SSTs.
6.2 Managerial implications

This study also has practical value for delivery service providers or online retailers, encourages

them to design a suitable parcel pick-up service based on consumers’ needs. For instance, this paper
can provide useful information regarding SSTs interface design based on the characteristics of

self-service parcel pick-up service.

Indeed, this research explains which variables might be relevant in the context. First,
innovativeness and optimism are found to be the most influential variables, and individual factors have

better explanatory power than the situational and socialized factors. Therefore, delivery service

providers should pay attention to analyzing the consumer’s profile, customizing service plan, and
matching with personalized demands. In addition, delivery service providers or online retailers can

target certain consumer groups, improve the service experience, and meet the exact requirements of
 consumers. Moreover, word-of-mouth marketing through experienced users can induce new consumer

development and result in high customer satisfaction to product quality. Second, to meet the
consumer’s demand for the need of human interaction, self-service pickup machine must provide

human-friendly interface and smart services through new information technology, such as artificial

intelligence, virtual reality, and so on. For instance, a self-service pickup machine can present a virtual
intelligent agent to introduce the service process, guide the operation, and answer the frequently asked

questions (FAQ) if users have problems. Finally, a suitable location to setup the self-service pickup

machine should be selected. Jones et al. (2003) claim that a convenient location won’t affect consumer
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repurchase intention for traditional service relationship. While in SSTs, location has indirect influence

on the consumer’s intention to use these equipment (Collier et al., 2015). Our research also supports

this conclusion. Delivery service providers or online retailers can setup these machines in the lobbies of
business buildings, main entrances of communities, and urban transport hubs, such as subway and bus

stations.

Furthermore, Meuter et al. (2000) described SSTs as “technological interface that provide indirect
service.” Alba et al. (1997) believed that design features, such as choice comparisons and information

searching, are of considerable value to users in computer-based shopping environments. Prior studies

have provided many evidences of the positive impact of SSTs design features (Coyle and Thorson,
2001; Zhu et al., 2007). They suggested that SSTs interface should provide informed services. In our

findings, cluttered interface design will make the customer’s task complicated. The more cognitive

resources the task need, the few benefits will be achieved for advertisement. Advertising is crucial to
the design of SSTs interface. The optimization of the cognitive resources of the advertising

information, can affect the user’s behavior intention.

At the same time, self-service parcel pick-up service has entered the stage of market integration.
Competition will be intensified in the near future. A successful profit model is crucial to the service

providers. A Chinese parcel pick-up service provider, Sposter.net is over the loss of nearly 30 million

yuan in the first quarter of 2017, because of the limitation of their revenue source. In addition, with the
booming of sharing economy over the world, platform can also provide value-added service to sharing

economy companies, such as UberEATS, an expansion service of UberGroup, it utilizes part-time

deliverers to distribute partner restaurants menus door to door. With the self-service pickup machine,
they can put the food into the cabinet and inform consumers to pick up by themselves. This approach

might improve the efficiency of these part-time deliverers by saving the waiting time. For service

provider, this value-added service might not only form into a new profit model by charging usage fees
from those sharing economy companies but also effectively reduce the idleness ratio of the machine.
 In conclusion, delivery service providers or online retailers should concentrate on their marketing

force and customize their services for consumer groups who have specific individual characteristics,
such as optimism and innovativeness. Strengthening service interactions and choosing optimal

locations for self-service pickup machines are also essential for the expansion of the user group and the

enhancement of user’s service experience. Meanwhile, service providers should optimize

advertisements in order to match to the consumer’s cognitive resource. Finally, the owners of

self-service pickup platform need to embrace the sharing economy, increase terminal service network

investment, hasten the pace of innovation and establish revolutionary business model.
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7. Conclusions

This study focused on the consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service. We
combined situational and individual factors, proposed a socialized factor, and presented the three-factor

model of the consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service. We collected data through

inquiries and used the PLS method to test our model. The results showed that individual factors have
better explanatory power than the situational factors, and that both innovativeness and optimism are

strongly correlated with the consumer’s intention to use self-service parcel delivery service. However,

the two situational factors induce different influences on the consumer’s intention to adopt self-service
parcel delivery service. Location convenience has a positive effect on the consumer’s intention to use

self-service parcel delivery service even if the perceived time pressure has no significant effect.

Compared with our original hypothesis, we discovered that the need for human interaction positively
influences the consumer’s intention. Finally, we provided considerable theoretical and practical advice.

In this research, we depicted the consumer’s intention to adopt self-service parcel delivery service.

Considering the limitation of this particular service, future research may possibly extend to other SSTs,
such as intelligent help desk and personalized recommendation. In addition, our study employed

numerous samples of young people. If we extend to multiple segments of populations, then these

factors may have different influences on the consumer’s intention to use this particular service.
Following our findings on the need for human interaction, future studies should employ additional

socialized factors and new measurements to demonstrate the consumer’s intention to adopt SSTs.

Appendix A. Measurement scales

Intention to use (Meuter et al., 2005; Chen et al., 2011)
1) Have you successfully completed a delivery request using the picking up service?
2) I will choose picking up service in the future.
3) I will recommend picking up service to my friends or others.
4) I will say positive things about picking up service to others.
Location convenience (Collier et al., 2015)
 1) Having a picking up point in a location that easily allows me to initiate a delivery service is
important to me
2) A convenient location makes me feel more comfortable using a picking up service
3) The ability to easily access the location of the influences my decision to use a picking up service
Perceived time pressure (Strombeck and Wakefield, 2008; Collier et al., 2015)
1) In a hurry-in no rush
2) Short on time-plenty of time
Innovativeness in New Technology(Crespo and Bosque, 2008; Lu et al., 2011)

1）If I heard about a new information technology, I would look for ways to experiment with it.
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2）Among my peers, I am usually the first to try out new information technology.

3）I like to experiment with new information technology.

Need for human interaction(Lee and Lyu, 2016)

1) Human contact in providing services makes the process enjoyable for the customer
2) I like interacting with the person who provides the service
Optimism (Parasuraman, 2000; Lu et al., 2011)

1）Technology gives people more control over their daily lives

2）Products and services that use the newest technologies are much more convenient to use

3）You like the idea of doing business via computers because you are not limited to regular business

hours.

Acknowledgements
This research is supported by the Humanity and Social Science Foundation of the Ministry of
Education of China under Grand No. 15YJA630005 and the National Natural Science Foundation of
China under Grant No. 71472163.

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Biographies

Yuangao Chen is an Associate Profess of Electronic Commerce at Zhejiang University of Finance and
Economics in China. His current research focuses on online customer behavior, E-supply chain
management, and service operations management. His research has been published in Information
Science, Information Technology and Management, International Journal of Networking and Virtual
Organisations, Journal of Applied Research and Technology and several other refereed journals.

Jing Yu is a graduate student at the School of Information Management and Engineering, Zhejiang
University of Finance and Economics. His research focuses on e-commerce, technology adoption and
supply chain management.

Shuiqing Yang is an Associate Professor of Electronic Commerce at Zhejiang University of Finance

and Economics in China. His research focuses on electronic and mobile business, and technology
adoption. His research has been published in Decision Support Systems, Information & management,
Computers in Human Behavior, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Journal of Business &
Industrial Marketing, Behaviour & Information Technology, International Journal of Human–
Computer Interaction and several other journals.

June Wei is a Professor of Management Information System at the School of Business, University of
West Florida. Her research interest covers human behavior on Internet commerce, enterprise e-value
chain management on e-business and human information processing for cognitive tasks analysis. She
has more than 100 publications in referral journals such as Electronic Commerce Research, Industrial
 Management and Data Systems, Behavior and Information Technology, and Journal of Computer
Information Systems among others.
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