DOI: 10.3303/CET23107063 Paper Received: 13 April 2023; Revised: 02 May 2023; Accepted: 12 June 2023 Please cite this article as: Szabó-Szentgróti E., Konczos-Szombathelyi M., Rámháp S., Kézai P.K., 2023, How Consumers Accept Unmanned Smart Stores? – Introducing a Proposed Technology Acceptance Model, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 107, 373-378 DOI:10.3303/CET23107063 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS VOL. 107, 2023 A publication of The Italian Association of Chemical Engineering Online at www.cetjournal.it Guest Editors: Petar S. Varbanov, Bohong Wang, Petro Kapustenko Copyright © 2023, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l. ISBN 979-12-81206-07-6; ISSN 2283-9216 How Consumers Accept Unmanned Smart Stores? – Introducing a Proposed Technology Acceptance Model Eszter Szabó-Szentgróti*, Márta Konczosné Szombathelyi, Szabolcs Rámháp, Petra Kinga Kézai Széchenyi István University Faculty of Economics, Department of Leadership and Marketing, 9024 Győr; Egyetem square 1., Hungary szabo-szentgroti.eszter@ga.sze.hu Digitalization and technological innovation have revolutionized the retail sector. In recent years, a new trend has emerged in the form of unmanned stores, pioneered by Amazon Go. Unmanned solutions using artificial intelligence are beginning to enter the public consciousness and represent a new sustainability perspective (such as lowering paper waste, packaging or using sustainable construction materials) in trade. Although it is not yet widespread and is still a new solution for consumers, the global market dynamics suggest that it will expand in the future. Unmanned shops pose some challenges, but these can be effectively addressed by the appropriate introduction of new technology. To identify or filter out potential shortcomings of this technology on the consumer side, it is also necessary to examine the acceptance of this technology by customers. In this paper, the internationally accepted Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model was modified and used to examine how consumers accept this technology. For data analysis, Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling method was applied. In the proposed model six constructs were examined on how they influence the intention to use. In the performed query, Hungarian university students’ behavioural intention is influenced by performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and hedonic motivation. However social influence, atmosphere, and price sensitivity have no significant influence on use intention. 1. Introduction Due to rapid economic growth and urbanization, various problems appeared in the last decades in metropolitan areas (Ku et al., 2021). The emergence of the global pandemic has resulted in avoiding human contact of paramount importance to customers, so e-commerce and the number of consumers using online shopping considerably increased (Gazzola et al., 2022). Most countries are experiencing a transition to a “cashless” society (Maixé-Altés and Mourelle, 2023). Nowadays in a rapidly changing environment (Bartosova et al. 2021), organizations are rapidly changing their structures, systems, work processes and activities. This changing environment calls for managers to manage and respond to the changes in an appropriate manner (Yacob et al. 2018). The early adopters are the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that see the present emerging economies and disruptive technology as an opportunity to increase their productivity and competitiveness (Kuok and Promentilla, 2021). One recent sustainable innovation is the cashierless concept, which is when a store is completely automated and human interaction is very limited (Schögel and Lienhard, 2020). The concept, which is a combination of artificial intelligence, computer vision, deep learning and edge computing, allows end users to enter the store and exit as quickly and with as little human contact as possible (Falcão et al. 2020). The shopping process is as follows: download an application; register, then, after the registration process, the consumer is free to simply buy products and exit the store without needing to “check out” in the traditional sense (Ponte and Bonazzi, 2021). Amazon, the world-famous online retailer founded by American Jeff Bezos, invented the concept to eliminate queuing in stores (Gross, 2019). On the 22nd of January 2018 after 5 y of development, Amazon opened the first self-service Amazon Go store with the so-called “Just Walk Out” technology (Türegün, 2019). Since then, several startups have developed similar technology, e.g., AIFI, Trigo, Bingobox, and Cloudpick (Szabó-Szentgróti et al., 2023). Although this technology has been available globally and sporadically 373 for a few years, it is not yet widespread. It is important to examine how consumers react to such an innovative technology. The main purpose of this study is to analyse how university students accept this sustainable innovation concept of cashierless stores in Hungary. In this study, we use the terminology of cashierless store and unmanned store as synonyms. The rest of the paper is structured as follows: Section 2 – Methodology; Section 3 – Model assessment and hypothesis results; Section 4 – Conclusion and future works. 2. Methodology 2.1 Data collection and measures The research is based on an online survey of 246 Hungarian university students. The questionnaire was designed to reveal the technology acceptance of unmanned stores using validated scales (Appendix A). Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Model (UTAUT2) ensured the basis of our proposed model. The original UTAUT2 (Venkatesh et al., 2012) model had to be adapted to the objectives of this research. Concerning the model development Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, Hedonic Motivation constructs were applied from Venkatesh et al. (2012). A new construct was created called Atmosphere, where the goal was to find out whether Behavioural Intention is influenced by the special indoor atmosphere of these shops. Technology penetration does not yet allow respondents to judge value for money, thus Price Value construct has been replaced by Price Sensitivity. Furthermore, Hungarian consumers are mostly price sensitive (Garai-Fodor et al., 2022) and these shops represent high price levels. Concerning Behavioural Intention construct statements, a few drafting corrections were needed to make them meaningful for the analysed technology. Use Behaviour variable was excluded from our model, because there is no everyday use for such shops in Hungary. For each of the 8 constructs, respondents rated 29 statements on a Likert scale of 1 to 7, where 1 was ‘strongly disagree’ and 7 was ‘strongly agree’. Answers were collected to measure more expectations rather than experience-based opinions, due to the limited availability of these shops. The survey was conducted from February to May 2023 to collect as many answers as possible. In order to avoid misunderstanding, the questionnaire started with the definition of unmanned stores. Participants were informed about the anonymity and voluntarity of the survey, and they could stop giving answers without giving a reason. From 269 respondents 23 were excluded from the analysed database due to inconsistent answers, thus the final sample size was 246. Our respondents’ ages ranged from 18 to 39 y including full-time and part- time university students. The sample’s distribution between male and female respondents was 69.1 % and 30.9 %; 6.9 % live in the capital city, 43.1 % are residents of a county rank town while 22.8 % live in other towns, and 27.2 % live in villages. The results were analysed with SmartPLS version 4.0.9.3. 2.2 PLS-SEM This study utilized the PLS-SEM (partial least squares-structural equation modeling) method, a widely used statistical tool by researchers in many scientific fields (Lowry and Gaskin, 2014). According to Hair et al. (2011) PLS-SEM consists of a measurement model and a structural model at the same time, where the measurement (outer) model describes the indirect relationships between the observed (indicator) and latent variables. The structural (inner) model shows the relationships (paths) between the latent constructs. PLS-SEM method can deal with both reflective and formative indicators simultaneously. Hypothesis formulation (Table 1 and Figure 1) was adapted to the structure of the model of how the examined latent variables influence Behavioural Intention. Table 1: Model Hypothesises for cashierless intelligent stores Hypothesises H1: Performance Expectancy (PE) directly and positively influences Behavioural Intention (BI). H2: Effort Expectancy (EE) directly and positively influences Behavioural Intention (BI). H3: Social Influence (SI) directly and positively influences Behavioural Intention (BI). H4: Facilitating Conditions (FC) directly and positively influences Behavioural Intention (BI). H5: Hedonic Motivation (HM) directly and positively influences Behavioural Intention (BI). H6: Atmosphere (AT) directly and positively influences Behavioural Intention (BI). H7: Price Sensitivity (PS) directly and negatively influences Behavioural Intention (BI). 3. Results and discussion 3.1 Measurement model Reflective measurement model was analysed in regard to its reliability using outer loading values, average variance extracted (AVE), Cronbach’s alpha (α Value), and composite reliability (CR). Due to poor construct reliability, some statements and Facilitating Conditions (FC) were excluded from the final model (excluded 374 variables see Appendix Table A1). It is shown in Table 2 that outer loadings are all greater than 0.7 and AVE values of the latent constructs are all above the limit value of 0.5 (Hair et al., 2010). Cronbach’s alpha is another measure of internal consistency reliability with a threshold >0.7. Only Atmosphere has an α value of 0.610, but concerning the view of Boudreau et al. (2001), Cronbach’s alpha is a less precise measure of reliability, and Griethuijsen et al. (2014) allows a 0.6 threshold value. As other measures are appropriate in the case of the Atmosphere latent variable, no exclusion was necessary. According to Hair et al. (2011), CR values of 0.60 to 0.70 in exploratory research and values from 0.70 to 0.90 in more advanced stages of research are considered to be satisfactory. All CR values in Table 2 are above that threshold. Variables that did not meet the thresholds were excluded (Appendix A) from the final model. Table 2: Construct reliability, convergent validity and VIF values, own data generated by PLS-SEM analysis Constructs Items Outer loadings P values AVE α Value CR VIF Performance Expectancy PE2 0.877 0.000 0.739 0.824 0.895 2.024 PE3 0.840 0.000 1.758 PE4 0.862 0.000 1.848 Effort Expectancy EE1 0.782 0.000 0.657 0.832 0.884 1.965 EE2 0.855 0.000 1.957 EE3 0.854 0.000 1.774 EE4 0.746 0.000 1.857 Social Influence SI1 0.872 0.000 0.784 0.862 0.916 2.013 SI2 0.886 0.000 2.390 SI3 0.898 0.000 2.302 Hedonic Motivation HM1 0.911 0.000 0.840 0.905 0.940 2.987 HM2 0.918 0.000 2.704 HM3 0.920 0.000 3.120 Atmosphere AT1 0.859 0.000 0.719 0.610 0.837 1.239 AT3 0.837 0.000 1.239 Price Sensitivity PS2 0.885 0.000 0.759 0.841 0.904 2.198 PS3 0.894 0.000 2.516 PS4 0.834 0.000 1.720 Behavioural Intention BI1 0.891 0.000 0.770 0.851 0.909 2.285 BI2 0.819 0.000 1.807 BI3 0.921 0.000 2.784 Discriminant validity shows that constructs used in the model are distinct from one another (Hair et al., 2017) where Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT) and Fornell-Larker criteria are widely used in research to confirm that. Henseler et al. (2015) pointed out that Fornell-Larker criteria perform poorly and HTMT is recommended instead. In the present study, all HTMT values are below 0.9 (Table 3) confirming discriminant validity of our model. Table 3: Discriminant Validity (HTMT criteria), own data generated by PLS-SEM analysis AT BI EE HM PE PS SI AT BI 0.666 EE 0.812 0.673 HM 0.710 0.823 0.614 PE 0.622 0.897 0.640 0.736 PS 0.117 0.409 0.160 0.344 0.386 SI 0.231 0.552 0.357 0.491 0.538 0.474 A multicollinearity test was carried out before estimating the structural model, for which VIF (Variance Inflation Factor) values were tested. VIF values above 5.0 indicate multicollinearity, according to Hair et al. (2011); therefore, VIF values in Table 2 show no multicollinearity between latent constructs. 3.2 Structural model and hypothesis testing The structural model assessment was performed by 5000 bootstrap calculations, during which the statistical significance of the path coefficient was carried out, allowing hypotheses to be tested. To examine model fitness Standardized Root Mean Square (SRMR) was used and must be less than 0.08 according to Henseler et al. (2016). This model shows an adequate level of model fitness with an SRMR value of 0.073, which indicates a good fit. The final proposed model is seen in Figure 1. 375 Figure 1: Proposed model of cashierless store technology acceptance. Source: own data generated by PLS- SEM analysis R2 was evaluated where the final model has 0.695 adjusted R2 value, which suggests that a 69.5% variance in Behavioural Intention of cashierless stores can be explained by the analysed six latent variables. Accordingly, the structural model was considered to be moderate (0.5 < r < 0.75) (Hair et al., 2011) and 0.695 value means a sufficient explanatory power. Predictive relevance of the model was established by Q2 predict value of 0.683 that indicates good predictive accuracy. Relationships of the research model were analysed to test six hypothesises (due to poor construct reliability Facilitating Conditions [FC] was excluded [H4] from hypothesis testing). Results show in Table 4 that Performance Expectancy (ß=0.383, p=0.000), Effort Expectancy (ß=0.148, p=0.000) and Hedonic Motivation (ß=0.319, p=0.000) significantly influenced Behavioural Intention (BI), while Social Influence (ß=0.070, p=0.118), Atmosphere (ß=0.059, p=0.243) and Price Sensitivity (ß=0.079, p=0.066) have no significant effect on the BI variable. Table 4: Bootstrap results and hypothesis results. Source: own data generated by PLS-SEM analysis Original sample Sample mean Standard deviation T statistics P values Hypothesis validation PE -> BI (H1) 0.383 0.386 0.060 6.395 0.000* supported EE -> BI (H2) 0.148 0.148 0.048 3.078 0.002* supported SI -> BI (H3) 0.070 0.071 0.045 1.564 0.118 not supported HM -> BI (H5) 0.319 0.317 0.059 5.433 0.000* supported AT -> BI (H6) 0.059 0.059 0.051 1.167 0.243 not supported PS -> BI (H7) 0.079 0.078 0.043 1.839 0.066 not supported 4. Conclusions The purpose of this study was to assess which factors influence Behavioural Intention in the case of cashierless stores among Hungarian university students. Research in this area is still scarce in Hungary and there has been less research on it internationally, as well. The proposed model was based on the UTAUT2 method, combining validated scales that have been adapted to the research. There are several conclusions that can be drawn from the result. Performance Expectancy significantly influences Behavioural Intention (H1), which means that according to the respondents shopping in cashierless stores it would help them to be more productive and finish shopping more quickly. As some technological skills and smartphone usage are required to shop at unmanned stores, H2 results show that respondents can easily cope with using this new technology. Social Influence has no significant effect on Behavioural Intention (H3), which indicates that respondents are not influenced by other people’s opinions to do their shopping in such stores. Unmanned stores provide a different shopping experience for consumers and our results show that respondents would find cashierless shopping fun, enjoyable and entertaining (H5). The Atmosphere variable was created to measure how current minimalist interior space of these shops influences Behavioural Intention (H6), but no significant effect was experienced, which means respondents would not require a minimalist interior. In the current phase of this technology, products have higher prices than in traditional brick-and-mortar shops. According to our results, Price Sensitivity has no significant effect on Behavioural Intention among Hungarian 376 university students (H7), which is a surprising result in that a significant proportion of Hungarian consumers are considered price sensitive (Garai-Fodor et al., 2022). In summary this paper investigated which factors affect the intention to use cashierless stores among Hungarian university students. Three factors were identified which determine Behavioural Intention. From a practical perspective, results support retailers in their market entry strategic decisions because university students could be an important target group of cashierless stores. Limitations and future research possibilities should be outlined. Results show the current opinion of the respondents; moreover, as only one cashierless store is available in Hungary, results will probably vary, as this technology will spread. The results cannot be generalized to the whole population in Hungary; the results are valid only for Hungarian university respondents. Thus, in the future, a wider Hungarian sample needs to be analysed, which is already in progress. An international perspective is also planned to examine where more countries will be involved to ensure international comparisons. Appendix A Table A1: Research statements Code CONSTRUCTS AND STATEMENTS PE1 I would find automated smart stores useful in my daily life (Venkatesh et al., 2012); deleted PE2 Using automated smart stores would increase my flexibility daily (Kapser and Abdelrahman, 2020) PE3 Using automated smart stores would help me accomplish things more quickly (Venkatesh et al., 2012) PE4 Using automated smart stores would increase my productivity (Venkatesh et al., 2012) EE1 Learning how to shop in automated smart stores would be easy for me (Venkatesh et al., 2012) EE2 My interaction with automated smart stores would be clear and understandable (Venkatesh et al., 2012) EE3 I would find automated smart stores easy to use (Venkatesh et al., 2012) EE4 It would be easy for me to become skilful at shopping in automated smart stores. (Venkatesh et al., 2012) SI1 People who are important to me expect me to shop at automated smart stores (Venkatesh et al., 2012) SI2 People who influence my behaviour expect me to shop at automated smart stores (Venkatesh et al., 2012) SI3 People whose opinions I value would prefer that I shop at automated smart stores (Venkatesh et al., 2012) FC1 I have the resources necessary to shop at automated smart stores (Venkatesh et al., 2012); deleted FC2 I have the knowledge necessary to shop at automated smart stores (Venkatesh et al., 2012); deleted FC3 Automated smart stores are compatible with other technologies I use (Venkatesh et al., 2012); deleted FC4 I can get help from others when shopping at automated smart stores (Venkatesh et al., 2012); deleted HM1 Shopping at automated smart stores would be fun (Venkatesh et al., 2012) HM2 Shopping at automated smart stores would be enjoyable (Venkatesh et al., 2012) HM3 Shopping at automated smart stores would be very entertaining (Venkatesh et al., 2012) AT1 I would prefer automated smart stores to be less crowded with customers (own statement) AT2 I would prefer automated smart stores to have smaller selection of products (own statement; deleted) AT3 I would prefer automated smart stores to have clean and simple interior (own statement) AT4 I would find products easier in automated smart stores (own statement; deleted) PS1 Automated smart stores would offer me better value for money (Indrawati and Putri, 2018); deleted PS2 I would not mind paying more to try automated smart stores (Kapser and Abdelrahman, 2020) PS3 I would not mind spending more to get my shopping done in automated smart stores. (Kapser and Abdelrahman, 2020) PS4 If I knew that automated smart stores were likely to be more expensive than conventional shopping options that would not matter to me. (Kapser and Abdelrahman, 2020) BI1 I intend to shop at automated smart stores in the future. (Venkatesh et al., 2012) BI2 I would always try to shop at automated smart stores in my daily life. (Venkatesh et al., 2012) BI3 I plan to shop at automated smart stores frequently when available in the future. (Kapser and Abdelrahman, 2020) References Bartosova T., Taraba P., Peterek K., 2021, Approach to the Risk Management Process in Logistics Companies, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 86, 403-408, DOI: 10.3303/CET2186068. Boudreau M.-C., Gefen D., Straub D.W., 2001, Validation in information systems research: A state-of-the-art assessment, MIS Quart., 25, 1–16, DOI: 10.2307/3250956. Falcão J., Ruiz C., Pan S., Noh H.Y., Zhang P., 2020, FAIM: vision and weight sensing fusion framework for autonomous inventory monitoring in convenience stores, Frontiers in Built Environment, 6, 568372, DOI: 10.3389/fbuil.2020.568372. 377 Garai-Fodor M., Popovics A., Csiszárik-Kocsir Á., 2022, The perception of Hungarian food by consumer segments according to food purchasing preferences based on primary research results, Plos one 17(8), e0273023, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273023. Gazzola P., Grechi D., Martinelli I., Pezzetti R., 2022, The Innovation of the Cashierless Store: A Preliminary Analysis in Italy, Sustainability, 14(4), 2034, DOI: 10.3390/su14042034. Griethuijsen R.A.L.F., Eijck M.W., Haste H., Brok P.J., Skinner N.C., Mansour N., Gencer A.S., BouJaoude S., 2014, Global patterns in students’ views of science and interest in science, Research in Science Education, 45(4), 581–603, DOI: 10.1007/s11165-014-9438-6. Gross R., 2019, How the Amazon Go Store's AI Works, Medium Towards Data Science accessed 21/10/2023. Hair J.F., Anderson R.E., Babin B.J., Black W.C., 2010, Multivariate Data Analysis: A Global Perspective, Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River NJ, United States. Hair J.F., Ringle C,M., Sarstedt M., 2011, PLS-SEM: Indeed a silver bullet, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 19(2), 139-152, DOI: 10.2753/MTP1069-6679190202. Hair J.F., Sarstedt M., Ringle C., Gudergan S.P., 2017, Advanced Issues in Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, United States, ISBN 9781483377384. Henseler J., Ringle C.M., Sarstedt M., 2015, A New Criterion for Assessing Discriminant Validity in Variance- Based Structural Equation Modelling, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43, 115–135, DOI: 10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8. Henseler J., Hubona G., Ray P.A., 2016, Using PLS Path Modelling in New Technology Research: Updated Guidelines, Industrial Management & Data Systems, 116, 2–20, DOI: 10.1108/IMDS-09-2015-0382. Indrawati D., Putri A., 2018, Analyzing Factors Influencing Continuance Intention of E-Payment Adoption Using Modified UTAUT 2 Model, 6th International Conference on Information and Communication Technology (ICoICT), Bandung, Indonesia, 167-173, DOI: 10.1109/ICoICT.2018.8528748. Kapser S., Abdelrahman M., 2020, Acceptance of autonomous delivery vehicles for last-mile delivery in Germany–Extending UTAUT2 with risk perceptions, Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 111, 210-225, DOI: 10.1016/j.trc.2019.12.016. Ku D., Kim J., Yu Y., Kim S., Lee S., Lee S., 2021, Assessment of Eco-Friendly Effects on Green Transportation Demand Management, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 89, 121-126, DOI: 10.3303/CET2189021. Kuok F., Promentilla M.A.B., 2021, Problem Analysis on Public-Private Partnership for Small and Medium Enterprises: A Case Study in Cambodia, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 88, 841-846, DOI: 10.3303/CET2188140. Lowry P.B., Gaskin J., 2014, Partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling (SEM) for building and testing behavioral causal theory: When to choose it and how to use it, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 57(2), 123-146, DOI: 10.1109/TPC.2014.2312452. Maixé-Altés J.C., Mourelle E., 2023, Toward a Cashless Society, Cash and Non-Cash Payments in Spain, 1989- 2014. Panoeconomicus, 70(3), 455-487, DOI: 10.2298/PAN180213004M. Ponte D., Bonazzi S., 2023, Physical supermarkets and digital integration: acceptance of the cashierless concept, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 35(9), 1178-1190. DOI: 10.1080/09537325.2021.1994942. Schögel M., Lienhard S.D., 2020, Cashierless Stores-The New Way to the Customer? Marketing Review St. Gallen: St. Gallen, Switzerland. , accessed 21/10/2023. Szabó-Szentgróti E., Rámháp S., Kézai P.K., 2023, Cashier-less technologies – “just walk out” stores – are revolutionizing commerce, (in Hungarian) Magyar Tudomány, 184 (8): 1030–1039, DOI: 10.1556/2065.184.2023.8.8. Türegün N., 2019, Impact of technology in financial reporting: The case of Amazon Go, Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance, 30(3), 90-95, DOI: 10.1002/jcaf.22394. Venkatesh V., Thong J.Y.L., Xu X., 2012, Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, MIS Quarterly, 157-178, DOI: 10.2307/41410412. Yacob P., Maludin N., Aziz N.S., Nodesan S., Mohd Zin A.W., Keong L.E., 2018, Acceptability of Sustainable Green Practices: Perception of Electrical and Electronics Manufacturing SMEs, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 63, 319-324, DOI: 10.3303/CET1863054. 378 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273023 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-014-9438-6 https://towardsdatascience.com/howthe-amazon-go-store-works-a-deep-dive-3fde9d9939e9 https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2014.2312452