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In the modern economy organizations are trying to find every means possible to increase productivity and reduce costs. As such many organizations have turned to technology to aid in this. Due to this in recent years there has been a transition from traditional consumer self-service environments to technology assisted self-service environments. Through the use of technology customers are able to create products and services for purchase by with little to no help from the organization providing the products and services. The hotel industry has also seen a rise in the use of technology applications to guests in performing services once only conducted by employees. A specialized form of this type of usage of self-service technology in the hotel industry is known as Guest Empowerment Technology (GET). Specifically, Guest Empowerment Technologies are electronic systems that allow hotel guests to have more personal control over their stay in a hotel as well as systems that provide more convenience for guests without direct intervention from hotel staff. These technologies include systems such as in-room checkout systems, in-room entertainment systems, on demand printing services, lobby kiosks, and online reservation systems. The purpose of this study was to determine and quantify the factors that impact hotel guests' intentions to seek and utilize guest empowerment technologies. This study found that the factors of individual characteristics, technology characteristics, task characteristics, fit, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness have a significant impact on intention to use. The contribution of this research is both academic and practical. First, this study will be among the first to examine and test determinants of guests' intentions to utilize guest empowerment technologies. In addition, this study will expand upon the current body of knowledge in the areas of self-service technology acceptance, perceived ease of use of self-service technology, perceived usefulness of self-service technology, and improve the understanding of the relationships among perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, intentions to use, task characteristics, technology characteristics, individual characteristics, and fit. The third contribution this study will make is through the development and extension of a multidimensional instrument to measure perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, intentions to use, task characteristics, technology characteristics, individual characteristics, and fit. |
