Investigating senders' switching intention to smart lockers: An extension of push-pull-mooring model

Express companies and users prefer contactless pickup and delivery methods such as smart lockers, particularly during the pandemic. Extant studies have examined the determinants of user intentions in using smart lockers but ignored the analysis of the process of their switching from traditional home pickup or delivery to contactless smart lockers. Moreover, neither the moderating role of user characteristics or senders' perspectives have been investigated. To address these gaps, we developed a push-pull-mooring framework and collected two online questionnaires to investigate senders' switching intentions and compare the differences between senders and receivers. The results of the PLS-SEM analysis identify the push effect of low perceived value of home pickup, pull effect of the attractiveness of smart lockers on switching intention and the mooring effects of inertia. The attractiveness of smart locker fully mediates the relationship between low perceived value and switching intention in sending condition and play a suppressing effect in receiving condition. The inertia of using home pickup negatively affects switching intention and strengthens the positive impact of the low perceived value of home pickup on switching intention. This study sheds new light on users' switching intention to contactless pickup and delivery methods and assists express companies in understanding user intentions and making scientific decisions.