Self-service checkouts normalise, excuse supermarket stealing, research shows

The rise of self-service checkouts is prompting more people to steal, research shows, with many using the impersonal nature of the experience to justify their theft.

Research from the United Kingdom found self-service checkouts allowed people to normalise and excuse stealing, even among those who would never consider theft in any other setting.

Professor Larry Neale from Queensland University of Technology's business school told ABC that psychologically self-service checkouts made stealing easier because they distanced customers from the business.