Booming or Baffled : Investigating Baby Boomers’ Attitudes Toward Self-Service Technology and Personal Service Encounters in the Hotel Industry

Abstract: The hospitality industry is increasingly incorporating self-service technology, suchas online booking systems, automated check-in and check-out, and in-roomtechnology, to enhance the customer experience and streamline operations. However,there is limited research on the adoption and usage of self-service technology bybaby boomers (BB) in this industry. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring theadoption and usage patterns of self-service technology (SST) among BBs in thehospitality industry.The paper follows a deductive approach drawing upon the extensive literature on thetopic. With a proposed qualitative viewpoint, the purpose of the study is to identifythe BBs’ attitude when using SSTs in hotels, and furthermore, to understand in whatinstances consumers prefer human interactions over technological encounters. Theempirical data was obtained through interviews that were conducted among 10Swedish BBs. The findings then were analyzed through thematic analysis, towithdraw patterns, similarities and differences.The conclusion of this thesis shows BBs have different preferences when it comes toadopting SSTs. The attitudes ranged from enthusiasm, to avoidance and hesitation.However, the common theme that emerged among all three types of attitudes, wasthe fact that they all prefer to use SSTs as a complementary step to what the hotelstaff will provide. It was also proposed in order to encourage the SST hesitant orSST avoidant group, the service design should be straightforward and theinstructions must be clear.