Self-Service Technology and Customer Satisfaction in Smart Restaurants: The Mediating Role of Customer Engagement in an S-O-R Framework

This study examines how perceived self-service technology experience influences customer satisfaction in a smart restaurant setting, with customer engagement positioned as a mediating mechanism within the Stimulus–Organism–Response framework. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed, and data were collected from customers of Haidilao Indonesia who had used at least one self-service technology feature. The data was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The results indicate that a favorable self-service technology experience strengthens customer engagement and directly improves customer satisfaction. Customer engagement also contributes positively to satisfaction and significantly mediates the relationship between self-service technology experience and customer satisfaction. The mediating effect suggests that technology creates greater value when it encourages customers to become attentive, involved, and participative during the service encounter. These findings extend the application of the Stimulus–Organism–Response framework in smart restaurant services by identifying customer engagement as the psychological mechanism linking technology-enabled service experiences with satisfaction. The study also supports a hybrid service design in which digital technology improves efficiency and customer control while employees remain available to preserve responsive and personalized hospitality.