Self-service technologies within retail enable customers to scan, bag and pay for their items independent from staff involvement. The use of self-service, due to its nature of reducing social interaction between customers and staff, has been implicated in creating opportunities for thefts to occur. However, the perception of social presence, such as induced by surveillance, induces customers to show more prosocial behavior. As security personnel are at the forefront to deal with dishonest customers, we conducted semi-structured interviews with security guards in two major supermarkets in the UK to assess factors surrounding theft, with a view to identify operational or technological opportunities to address theft. Our findings show that the perceived motivational and situational factors contributing to theft are complex. We conclude that surveillance in its current form does not appear to provide a sufficient social presence to prevent potential theft at Self-Checkouts (SCO). Future research could focus on additional surveillance measures to induce social presence, such as technological implementations in the SCO itself.

Retail self-service checkouts (SCOs) can benefit consumers and retailers, providing control and autonomy to shoppers independent from staff. Recent research indicates that the lack of presence of staff may provide the opportunity for consumers to behave dishonestly. This study examined whether a social presence in the form of visual, humanlike SCO interface agents had an effect on dishonest user behaviour. Using a simulated SCO scenario, participants experienced various dilemmas in which they could financially benefit themselves undeservedly. We hypothesized that a humanlike social presence integrated within the checkout screen would receive more attention and result in fewer instances of dishonesty compared to a less humanlike agent. Our hypotheses were partially supported by the results. We conclude that companies adopting self-service technology may consider the implementation of social presence to support ethical consumer behaviour, but that more research is required to explore the mixed findings in the current study. Research Highlights A method by Vohs and Schooler (2008) was adapted for investigating dishonesty. Social presence is proposed as a mediator for dishonest behaviour. There is scope for social presence to influence user behaviour in a world that increasingly relies on self-service transactions. The effectiveness of measures of dishonesty needs to be researched further.

Self-service checkouts (SCOs) in retail can benefit consumers and retailers, providing control and autonomy to shoppers independent from staff, together with reduced queuing times. Recent research indicates that the absence of staff may provide the opportunity for consumers to behave dishonestly, consistent with a perceived lack of social presence. This study examined whether a social presence in the form of various instantiations of embodied, visual, humanlike SCO interface agents had an effect on opportunistic user behaviour, i.e. an individual taking unwarranted advantages. Using a simulated SCO scenario, participants experienced various dilemmas in which they could financially benefit themselves undeservedly. We hypothesised that a humanlike social presence integrated within the checkout screen would receive more attention and result in fewer instances of dishonesty compared to a less humanlike agent. This was partially supported by the results. The findings contribute to the theoretical framework in social presence research. We concluded that companies adopting self-service technology may consider the implementation of social presence in technology applications to support ethical consumer behaviour, but that more research is required to explore the mixed findings in the current study.