Application potential and acceptance of automated facial recognition in German retail stores

The use of automated facial recognition in retail offers a wide range of potential for increasing efficiency, improving service quality and optimising customer targeting. This article, based on an empirical survey of 101 participants, examines factors that determine the acceptance and use of facial recognition technology among retail customers in Germany. However, the results show a strong negative influence of data protection and security issues on the willingness to adopt facial recognition technology among customers of German retailers. This article broadens the understanding of the acceptance and willingness to use digital technologies in public places going hand in hand with problems regarding privacy and security. The results of our study confirm the TAM model and the correlations it contains between the perceived usefulness, the perceived ease of use and the intention to use. The study also confirms the Technology Acceptance Model formulated by Davis in the special context of German retail business. The TAM model is extended in this paper by two new factors, privacy and security as mediators between privacy concerns and intention to use.