The measurement of attribution of blame in the self-service technology context

It is argued that attribution of blame (AoB) will differ in the Self-Service Technology (SST) context versus the interpersonal services context, due to the inherent elements of the SST environment, thereby making it a construct worthy of further research in the SST setting. This paper presents a first step in this pursuit by validating a multiple-item instrument of AoB in the SST context, which, to the researchers’ knowledge, has not been done previously. The paper comments on the surprising lack of valid, unidimensional instruments to measure each of the dimensions of AoB (locus, controllability and stability), even in the interpersonal services context. Preliminary results of a pre-test and pilot study support a three-dimensional measurement model of attribution of blame, in the SST setting.