Determinants of the continued use of self-service technology: The case of Internet banking

This study focuses on buyers' continued use of self-service technology (SST). This area is often neglected because most studies focus on buyers' adoption or acceptance of SST. In comparison to new buyer acquisition, continued use is a cost-effective market strategy aimed at retaining buyers. Based on a sample of 1831 Estonian Internet banking customers, we find that continued use of SST is positively affected by buyers' perceived usefulness. We also find that continued use of SST is negatively affected by multichannel satisfaction. As our results show, two important issues are facing developers of SSTs and sellers using SSTs: First, continued use of SST is achieved when the buyer finds the SST useful. Second, SSTs need to be considered in the context of all channels in the buyer-seller interface because the buyer does not separate the service offering of an SST from other channels. The benefits associated with using SSTs will increase if these strategic issues are taken into account. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.