Impact of Hedonic Evaluation of Technological Innovations on Revisit Intention in a Store Digitalization Context

The objective of this research is to investigate how hedonic evaluation of technological innovation affects directly store revisit intention and indirectly through the mediation of customer satisfaction and shopping experience. 257 real customers assessed the introduction of four innovative tools (automatic check-out, Internet kiosk, Smartphone and self-scanning) in supermarkets. Structural equation modeling results show that customer hedonic evaluation of technological innovation affects positively store revisit intention. However, while technology pleasantness influences it significantly technology interactivity does not. Furthermore, the authors establish significant mediation effects of customer overall satisfaction and shopping experience on the relationship investigated. FIMIX-PLS segmentation identifies two specific groups (low versus high hedonic technology seekers). This research stresses retail companies to focus on hedonic aspects of innovative technologies and to invest in personnel and accompanying measures that enable a smooth use of technological innovations.