Exoskeletons in the Supermarket: Influences of Comfort, Strain Relief and Task-Technology Fit on Retail Workers’ Post-Trial Intention to Use

Many supermarket employees, such as shelf and warehouse workers, suffer from musculoskeletal disorders. Exoskeletons, that is, physical assistance systems that are worn on the body, could help. The conditions under which workers would be willing to use this new wearable technology, however, remain largely unclear. In this exploratory field study, 58 supermarket employees tested one or more out of five passive exoskeletons during their regular work. Perceived wearing comfort, extent of strain relief, and task-technology fit (i.e., how well the exoskeleton fit their current task requirements) were found to correlate significantly with post-trial intention to use. Soft exoskeletons were rated as preferable to rigid ones. Trying one of the latter also resulted in lower intention to use, which was revealed to be fully mediated by a better task-technology fit being ascribed to soft exoskeletons. Practical relevance of the results, study limitations and future research directions are discussed.