Final answer:
Consumer choices between different service channels are influenced by personal preferences, convenience, technology, market structures, and government regulations. Technological advances and globalization have expanded market competition and accessibility. Personal income, prices, and cultural factors further shape consumer decisions.
Step-by-step explanation:
What drives consumer choices between personal, impersonal, and self-service channels are primarily personal preferences and convenience. These choices are the result of individual or collective preferences, which can be culturally influenced, as seen in the French preference for movies and music, affecting imports from the United States. Furthermore, the availability of technology has greatly expanded the scope of market competition, allowing consumers to access goods and services globally, thereby impacting local retail businesses and changing the way markets are defined.
Government regulations can also play a pivotal role in consumer choices by, for example, limiting foreign media content to protect cultural heritage. Price, income, and factors like the convenience of where consumers live are also key influencers, as determined by economic theories related to consumer choice and allocation of limited income among available goods and services.
Finally, market competition, as part of market structures, affects consumer choices by the range of options provided, and government intervention in monopolies or the free enterprise market can also shape consumer preferences and accessibility to certain channels.