Vol en libre-service aux caisses automatiques : effets des messages de prévention sur les consommateurs

Details

Supervisors

Poncin, Ingrid

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée
Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

enSelf-checkouts have become widely adopted in large-scale retail as a tool for optimizing the customer journey. However, their increasing use is accompanied by an increase in fraudulent behavior, raising the question of how to deter such acts while preserving the customer experience. The study focuses on an adult audience in French-speaking Belgium, in a simulated purchase context. An exploratory phase was first conducted, combining a multidisciplinary literature review and semi-structured interviews, in order to better understand consumers' perceptions of automated monitoring and prevention messages. On this basis, a quantitative experiment was designed according to a 2 x 2 factorial design, crossing the type of message (factual vs emotional) and its form (text alone vs message accompanied by a visual). The objective is to measure the effect of these combinations on several variables: message credibility, perceived intrusiveness, emotional engagement, perceived utility of technology, commitment to the brand and perceived empowerment of the distributor. The results show that emotional messages are not more effective than factual messages. However, the visually enhanced messages demonstrated superior effectiveness with significance observed at 5%. Relational analysis also confirmed an effect between several variables. Indeed, a relationship is demonstrated between the credibility of the message and emotional engagement, between the intrusiveness and usefulness of technology. Finally, the distributor’s perceived empowerment emerged as a central variable, positively influencing both perceived utility and commitment to the brand. This thesis is part of a theoretical and applied approach, with the ambition to propose concrete approaches to large-scale retailers wishing to strengthen the prevention of theft in automatic checkout while preserving the customer experience.