From human–human to human–machine interaction: how self-service technologies change the service encounter script

Self-service technologies (SSTs) are increasingly replacing frontline service employees (FLEs). This research investigates, through three studies, whether, how, and why automation changes the service encounter script, and how the script change impacts consumer evaluation. Study 1a compares manned (FLE-provided) and unmanned (SST-provided) scripts and confirms script differences, notably in communication style: implicit in the manned and explicit in the unmanned service encounter. Study 1b utilises interviews of systems engineers developing SST interfaces (unmanned encounter scripts) to understand why these differences occur. While systems engineers deliberately adapted some actions for self-service, we found the communication style change to be unintentional and its impact underestimated. Study 2 compares consumer evaluation of manned and unmanned scripts with different communication styles, demonstrating that SSTs’ explicit communication negatively affected consumer evaluation during service failures. Theoretically, we identify script change as a barrier to consumer acceptance of SSTs, extend script theory to technologically infused service encounters, and highlight the cognitive burdens that script change imposes on consumers. The findings are expected to guide SST developers and service managers in understanding consumer needs, developing user-friendly SSTs, and helping consumers acquire the human–machine interaction script.