Consumer behavior towards automated technologies in commerce and services

The purpose of this thesis is the study of technologies applied to the commerce and services sector. In particular it wants to place the attention on the behavior of the consumers towards the automated technologies in the commerce and the services, deepening which are the technological characteristics that carry the consumers to use them or not to use them. The motivations that have led me to this choice have a twofold nature. The first is related to my personal interest in technologies and how they have become an integral part of our lives. The second is related to my passion for retail, a sector that today is evolving rapidly through the introduction of technological tools, and for the interest I have in the study of consumer behavior. The objective of this thesis is to provide an overview of how the introduction of technology in the retail and service sector is changing the way people behave, but above all to investigate what are the factors and characteristics of these technological tools that influence the propensity to use these technologies. This thesis is divided into three chapters: the first provides a description of the evolution of the store from the early 1900s to the present day and concludes by focusing on automated technologies in retail, the main advantages and disadvantages. The second, presents a review of the scientific literature on the subject, also reporting the main models that over the years have distinguished themselves by their relevance in the study of consumer behavior. The scientific literature then highlights the factors that, in my opinion, influence the propensity to use technologies, finally follows the theoretical framework and hypotheses. The third and final chapter consists of the study, method and statistical analysis of the results of the questionnaire. Therefore, an online survey was conducted, to which a total of 158 individuals of Italian nationality between the ages of 18 and 61 responded. With regard to the analysis of the results, first of all, basic statistics were used to allow a better understanding of the data. Secondly, the reliability of the items included in the questionnaire was verified through Cronbach's Alpha. Finally, the study was concluded with different types of regressions, simple and multiple, to better understand the relationship between the variables. The statistical analysis was carried out through SPSS software. Finally, the conclusions and limitations of the research are presented.