Summary
What is/are the purpose(s) of this research?
To compare how Chinese and American consumers are willing to use new self-service technology in their retail transactions. The author of this article intends to show how consumers in different countries are willing to use new technology in their retail transactions by comparing their behaviors. The article also analyses several factors that limit the use of new technology in the two countries such as culture and attitude.
Why the research question is important/ interesting?
The research question used in this study is very important since it helps to assess the willingness of the consumers in the two countries to use self-service technology in their retail transactions. The research question explores how likely the consumers in the two countries will use new technology in their self-service transactions. Answering this question enables the researcher to obtain the expected results.
Hypotheses
Several hypotheses are used to compare consumer willingness in the two countries; these include, American consumers will show more optimism and innovativeness compared to Chinese consumers. Alternative hypotheses include, Chinese consumers will exhibit discomfort and insecurity when using new technology compared to American consumers. Another hypothesis is that American consumers will be more willing to use self-service technology compared to Chinese consumers.
Sample
A questionnaire with 41 questions was developed and sent to university students. 237 Chinese university students were selected and 231 American university students were selected. The sample of the university student has selected on the basis that the students are very informed and could therefore answer all the questions as expected.
Basic Method
Questionnaires were used to get qualitative data from consumers in both countries where the respondents were intended to measure their level of willingness to use new technology in their transactions. This method of data collection would assist to get direct information from the consumers about their attitude towards the use of new technology. The use of many hypothesis questions in the research also helped to come up with a valid and reliable conclusion.
Research Results & Conclusions
The results of this study show that Chinese consumers have a low willingness to use new technology in their self-service retail transactions compared to American consumers. Low innovativeness and optimism are observed among Chinese consumers. The results obtained show that the level of consumer willingness in the two countries is different. These results give a conclusion that is reliable and valid.
Critical Review
Applications to business practices & what you have learned from this article
The authors in this article analyze how consumers in the two countries are willing to use new technology in their retail transactions. The use of the technology readiness index helps to compare the behavior of consumers in the two countries. By use of questionnaires, the authors have compared the attitude of the consumers towards new technology. From the findings, American consumers seem to be more willing to use new technology compared to Chinese consumers.
The level of discomfort and insecurity is high among Chinese consumers compared to the American consumers and this can be supported by the fact that American businesses have a long history of adopting new technology compared to the Chinese businesses. This may have made American consumers get used to new technology thus reducing the level of insecurity and discomfort.
Briefly critique what could be done better to improve this research article
The article has some limitations that may affect the validity of the results to some extent. First, research data is collected from college students in both countries to represent general consumers. This choice of respondents may not be very appropriate since the views of college students may not represent all the consumers. A mixed sample would give results that are more valid. Secondly, it is not easy to predict the likelihood of how people are going to use new technology as it is done in this research and other appropriate methods to measure the willingness of the consumer may give different results