Beyond presence: Creating attractive online retailing stores through the cool AR technology

Augmented reality (AR) is increasingly coming into the spotlight for its potential to improve the consumer experience through the creation of presence. This research aims to explore the theoretical mechanisms through which AR-based product presentation influences online store attractiveness and whether the effects differ in the purchasing contexts of hedonic and utilitarian product types. From the perspective of consumers' bidimensional experience, we find that AR increases online store attractiveness by creating perceived coolness (intrinsic attribute) and spatial presence experience (extrinsic attribute), which would further have a positive impact on consumers' purchase intention. The mediating mechanisms are different in purchasing contexts of various product types: for hedonic products, perceived coolness and spatial presence are parallel mediating factors leading to the improvement of online store attractiveness; while for utilitarian products, only the mediation effect of spatial presence presents. Our findings enrich the literature on AR marketing by proposing an insightful mediating force (i.e., perceived coolness) to complement the effect of presence, and explore the different purchasing contexts. We also provide managerial guidance for e-retailers to differentiate AR interface design for diverse product types to apply AR technology effectively.     

Virtual reality as a promotion tool for small independent stores

Based on flow theory, we examined whether, compared to conventional online stores, 360-degree based virtual reality (VR) videos of a small independent store can enhance customers' store experience and their responses to the store through heightened flow state. Two types of stimuli creating different experiences were used for the experiments. The first stimulus type was a 360-degree VR video experience where respondents experienced the store of a small fashion retailer. The second was a website experience exploring the website of the same store. Results indicate that customers' VR experience (i.e., exploring the physical store in a VR setting), compared to website experience (i.e., exploring the same store's online store), enhanced their flow state, which, in turn, increased interest and visit intention toward the store. The findings suggest that 360-degree VR videos can be an effective customer acquisition tool for small retailers with limited resources because the software and hardware required to operate 360-degree VR videos are inexpensive and less complicated for small companies.     

The influence of human crowding and store messiness on consumer purchase intention– the role of contamination and scarcity perceptions

The current research explores how store environmental cues – human crowding and store messiness influence consumer purchase intention across two product type (ingestible and non-ingestible). Importantly, the research also examines the mediating role of contamination perception on these effects. Specifically, for ingested products (e.g., eggs), crowded and messy store environments signal contamination and lead to decrease in purchase intention. However, for non-ingested products (e.g., dishwashing liquid), contamination inferences are observed for store messiness but not for human crowding. Further, role of perceived scarcity is examined which suggests that in ingestible product category perception of scarcity can mitigate the negative effect of contamination on purchase intention.     

Determinants of purchase luxury counterfeit products in social commerce: The mediating role of compulsive internet use

Research on counterfeit purchase intention has attracted enough attention, and a number of studies have investigated various determinants of luxury counterfeit purchase intention in the offline context. However, less attention has focused on the underlying mechanism of the attitude toward luxury counterfeit purchase intention in the social commerce context. Moreover, extant literature has focused on the influence of compulsive internet use (CIU) on psychological well-being. Based on flow theory, this study examines the mediating role of CIU in the relationship between influencing factors (such as materialism, novelty-seeking behavior, and hedonic benefits) and consumers’ attitudes toward luxury counterfeit products. Additionally, the moderating role of product conspicuousness and positive online reviews also examined the direct effects. Data were collected from active online users of Taobao.com. Results show that materialism and novelty-seeking behavior are significantly related to CIU and subsequently influence the attitude toward luxury counterfeit goods. Furthermore, product conspicuousness and positive online reviews have moderated the direct effect of the conceptual framework. Therefore, the current research contributes to the existing literature by addressing the mediating CIU and moderating (product conspicuousness and positive online reviews) factors that played a significant role in promoting counterfeit purchase intention, comparing the direct effect to promote the counterfeit purchase intention. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in detail.     

Color research in marketing: Theoretical and technical considerations for conducting rigorous and impactful color research

Since the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a surge in interest in color research (and in sensory marketing in general). In addition to discussing emerging color research contained in this special issue, this article also provides a discussion of theoretical frameworks for understanding color and provides technical guidelines for creating color stimuli. These guidelines include a discussion of the three dimensions of color (hue, saturation, and value) and provide researchers with guidance for controlling these dimensions when creating color stimuli. Additionally, this article discusses additive (red, green, blue) versus subtractive (cyan, magenta, yellow, and key) color models, gamut, and other considerations, such as screening participants for colorblindness, that future researchers may find useful for conducting rigorous color research.     

非交易类虚拟社区中涉入、共创价值和行为意向的关系研究

在非交易类虚拟社区背景下,本文运用文献研究和焦点小组访谈定性研究提出共创价值的维度,包括实用价值、享乐价值和用户资产等三个维度。根据服务主导逻辑理念和流体验理论,本文构建涉入、共创价值、流体验及行为意向之间影响关系模型并提出相应假设。研究结果表明,涉入对实用价值、享乐价值和用户资产均产生显著的正向影响,感知愉悦对口碑和重复使用意向具有显著的正向影响,感知愉悦在共创价值和行为意向的关系中具有部分中介效应作用。     

Online consumer behaviour and its relationship to website atmospheric induced flow: Insights into online travel agencies in China

Although the study of flow has recently received a lot attention, little is published about what factors controllable by firms influence its formation. Furthermore, there is a lack of knowledge between the relationship of website atmospheric cues and flow experience. Using a stimulus–organism–response framework (S–O–R framework) as the theoretical basis, this study examines the impact of consumer perceptions of website atmospheric cues (informativeness, effectiveness and entertainment) on the development of flow and its subsequent impact on purchase intention and satisfaction. A self-administered online survey was used for data collection through an internet market research firm which randomly selected individuals from its online panel. Our results support the validity of the S–O–R framework in the context of online tourism and indicate that flow fully mediates the three site atmospheric cues with regards to purchase intention and satisfaction with the travel website. This study enhances our understanding on the determinants of online purchase intention and satisfaction as well as on how a proper web atmospheric design alters consumer shopping experience which entices favourable purchase intention and generates satisfaction.     

The roles of perceived risk,attractiveness of the online store and familiarity with AR in the influence of AR on patronage intention

Augmented reality has raised considerable interest over the last few years. But the questions of its benefits for online retailer is still pending. Research has shown that AR has a positive influence on patronage and purchase behavior intention via hedonic and utilitarian evaluation. The goal of this research is to extend previous works by integrating the mediating roles of perceived risk of buying a product on the online store and of attractiveness of the online store. It is also to study the moderating role of familiarity with AR. Two experiments confirm the crucial role of perceived risk in the influence of AR on patronage intention. Moreover, the more people are familiar with AR, the more AR decreases perceived risk and increases patronage intention.     

What drives consumers to customize products? The mediating role of brand experience

Brands are increasingly seeking ways to engage consumers in deep and meaningful brand experiences. As technological advances have developed, brands have an increasing arsenal to draw on in creating brand experience. One increasingly common tactic is product customization, whereby consumers are provided the ability to create their own products from a set of options. With this study, we seek to understand the mediating role of brand experience in consumer decisions to customize products. Specifically, we investigate the interplay of non-brand drivers (those intrinsic to the consumer) and brand drivers (those extrinsic to the consumer) in the context of customization. In doing so, we develop an understanding of consumers' intention to use a customization toolkit and their subsequent intention to purchase customized products. We find brand experience drives intention to use a customization toolkit, mediating the relationship between individual factors and usage intentions. A customer's prior experience and their intention to use a customization toolkit are also direct drivers of customized product purchase intention.     

Additive omnichannel atmospheric cues: The mediating effects of cognitive and affective responses on purchase intention

In today's channel-centric retail ecosystem the right mix and orchestration of online and offline stimulus is paramount towards providing an optimal store atmosphere and shopping experience. Applying the S-O-R framework, this research explores additive omnichannel atmospheric cues stimuli, in order to discover their impact on affective (i.e., pleasure, arousal and dominance) and cognitive (i.e., store environmental quality perception) states and their consequential effect on consumer responses in the form of purchase intention. Employing a four-condition repeated measures experimental design in a physical store, utilizing mobile, IoT and social media channels (Study 1), as well as a between-subjects online lab experiment (Study 2), this research sheds light into the affective and cognition-mediated causal mechanisms that influence shopping outcomes. This work reveals that combining stimulus from all retail channels within the physical store (i.e., omnichannel atmospheric cues) increases consumers' pleasure, arousal and the quality of the environment as a whole, which in turn positively influences purchase intention. However, the impact of dominance is only prominent at the more controlled, laboratory setting, in which purchase intention increases while dominance attenuates.     

Opposites attract: Impact of background color on effectiveness of emotional charity appeals

The present work utilizes research on context effects and color psychology to investigate how background color can enhance the effectiveness of positive and negative charity appeals. Five experiments measuring both actual donations and donation intention examine the hypothesis that a negative charity appeal against an orange (vs. blue) background and a positive charity appeal against a blue (vs. orange) background will increase donations. We propose that this is because blue and orange colors are incongruous with positive and negative charity appeals, respectively, due to the affective valences of the appeals and the perceptions of warmth and coldness cued by the background colors. This incongruity enhances the attention people pay to the charity appeals, thereby strengthening their emotional response to the appeals, which increases charitable donations. When attention is manipulated, people who pay a high (vs. low) level of attention to the charity appeal are more likely to donate regardless of the color and valence of the appeal, suggesting attention is an important antecedent to the intensity of the emotional response and subsequent donation behavior. We also identify affect diagnosticity as a boundary condition for the effect – when people are informed that color affects their emotions, the contextual effect of color disappears.     

The experiential aspects of online search information for new customers to a website

An experiential construct was developed and applied to an online information search context involving new customers of a commercial website. The construct reflects daydreaming, enjoyment, and immersion. Our results show: (a) the online consumption experience has significant influence on attitude toward the website and intention to revisit, (b) enduring involvement and rational engagement have positive effects on daydreaming and enjoyment, (c) Internet search skill has no association with enjoyment or immersion. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of customer experience on consumer purchase intention in cross-border E-commerce——Taking network structural embeddedness as mediator variable

This study investigates the mediator effect of network structural embeddedness between customer experience and consumer purchase intention in the context of cross-border e-commerce. 321 copies of online questionnaires unfold cross-border online shopping experience. The structural equation model is built to analyze the mediator effect of network structural embeddedness. Network density, Network centrality separately plays a mediating role between website ease of use, website relationship service and consumer purchase intention. In contrast, both of them play a mediating role between customer cost and consumer purchase intention. The research suggests developing the relationship between consumers and e-commerce websites for cross-border e-commerce platforms from a network standpoint, but not only marketing.     

Examining the effect of flow experience on online purchase: A novel approach to the flow theory based on hedonic and utilitarian value

The literature indicate that when flow is approached as unidimensional, its effects on online purchase intention are always positively significant, however the results of the studies where the flow is approached as a multidimensional level, is far from indicating a general tendency. The inconsistent results appeared in the literature are regarded as a result of overlooking both the utilitarian and hedonic significance of research context and the hedonic and utilitarian characteristics of the flow's sub-dimensions. In this direction, the effects of flow on online purchase intention are examined upon consideration of those two factors. Research's data were gathered via e-mail survey from an online shopping website's database. A total of 490 samples obtained in this study were analyzed with structural equation modeling. The results indicates that the flow's most valuable antecedent is feedback in the context of online purchase. The dimensions of “enjoyment”, “perceived control” and “merging of action and awareness” has positive and time distortion has negative significant effects on online purchase intention. However, no significant effects of the concentration and curiosity on online purchase intention were determined.     

The Impact of Pleasure‐Evoking Colors on the Effectiveness of Threat (Fear) Appeals

Research has established that colors can influence a person's attitude toward an ad. In this article the knowledge about the effects of colors on the perception of ads is linked to a specific type of ads, namely threat appeals. The objective of this study is to examine whether the color used in the background of such a threat appeal can influence its effectiveness. More specifically, the aim is to investigate whether the usage of less or more pleasure‐evoking colors affects threat and efficacy appraisals, evoked fear, and the behavioral intention. Moreover, it is tested whether the impact of the background color on the effectiveness of threat appeals is moderated by the threat level presented in the threat appeal. The findings confirm that the background color does indeed have an impact on its effectiveness. The more pleasing blue color was found to have a more positive impact on the respondents’ feelings of severity and susceptibility than the less appealing yellow. An analysis of the processing patterns subsequently showed that perceived severity has a positive effect on the behavioral intention. This intention is also influenced by the evoked feelings of fear, which are also induced by the respondents’ perceived severity. An interaction effect with threat level indicates that the more appealing background color only increased vulnerability in case of a low threat. Color thus seems to be used more as a peripheral cue to process less involving (low‐threat) messages. In case of a more involving high‐threat message, the processing seems to occur more centrally and less through the color cue. These findings illustrate the importance of color in the design of threat appeals.     

The role of customer online brand experience in customers' intention to forward online company-generated content: The case of the Islamic online banking sector in Palestine

The purpose of this study is twofold: Firstly, to assess the impact of customer online brand experience (COBE) with online banking on customer's intention to forward online company-generated content (CGC). Secondly, to explore the role of online brand community engagement (OBCE) and the perceived trust of brand community page (BCP) as mediating variables between COBE and the intention to forward online CGC. This research conducted an online survey among various Islamic bank customers in Palestine who were members of online brand communities (fan pages) on Facebook. 375 valid responses were collected and results revealed that COBE exerts a dual influence on intention to forward CGC. This study is a pioneering empirical research on the role of OBCE in customers' intention to forward online CGC within the fast-growing Islamic banking industry. This study contributes to fill this research gap by assessing the effect of COBE on OBCE and intention to forward online CGC within the context of the Islamic online banking sector in Palestine. In this sense, this study is a first-of-its-kind research on the role of experience on customer engagement with regard to online brand communities of Islamic banks.     

Effects of the in-store crowd and employee perceptions on intentions to revisit and word-of-mouth via transactional satisfaction: A SOR approach

This study investigates the relationship between in-store social atmospherics (crowd and employees), satisfaction, and intention to revisit the store and word-of-mouth. We propose a conceptual framework based on the SOR model, considering crowd and employees as the stimuli, satisfaction as the internal response, and intention to revisit and word-of-mouth as the response. We conducted a quantitative study and surveyed 422 Abercrombie & Fitch store customers, and we used a regression method. The results show that social atmospherics positively impacts satisfaction, relational variables and satisfaction mediating effects. Our contribution is to confirm the relevance of the SOR, the positive relationships between store employees and crowd on satisfaction, and between satisfaction and intention to revisit, word-of-mouth, and the mediating role of satisfaction.     

Antecedents of flow in retail store shopping

“Flow” has been established as a critical determinant of an online shopping experience. Online consumers with flow experience tend to be less price-sensitive and to have favorable attitudes and high re-patronage intention. As retail stores account for 90% of retail sales, it is important to advance our knowledge of flow theory in physical retail stores. However, the antecedents (navigational challenge, web skill) derived from the extant online flow literature are not applicable to in-store shopping. To fill the void, the two objectives here are (1) to provide a theoretical foundation to develop the antecedents (challenges and skills) associated with in-store shopping, and (2) to examine their impacts on consumer flow experience (concentration, control, and enjoyment) and subsequent future shopping intentions. The results will advance the literature of flow and offer helpful suggestions to retail marketing.     

Linking atmospherics to shopping outcomes: The role of the desire to stay

This study relies on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S–O-R) paradigm to explore the mediating role of the desire to stay at the shopping mall in the relationship between shopper positive attitudes towards three atmospheric cues (color schemes, lighting, and music) and the shopping outcomes of shopper satisfaction, positive Word-of-Mouth (WOM) and patronage intentions. Moreover, the study elaborates on the path from the desire to stay to positive WOM and patronage intentions by considering the mediating role of shopper satisfaction. A survey-based study comprising a sample size of 451 mall shoppers has been developed to test the proposed research model. The results indicate that the desire to stay mediates the relationship between shoppers’ positive attitudes towards color schemes and music, on one hand, and shopper satisfaction and positive WOM, on the other hand. Although the desire to stay has a direct effect on positive WOM, it does not directly impact patronage intention. However, the latter path becomes significant when considering the mediating role of shopper satisfaction, indicating that satisfying mall stays enhance desirable outcomes. Based on these findings, implications for theory and retailers are discussed.     

Hurry up! The effect of pop-up stores’ ephemerality on consumers’ intention to visit

Retail has responded to the continuing shift in consumer preferences toward ephemerality and immediacy with pop-up stores: temporary, experiential store formats. Considering pop-ups’ widespread application, it is important to identify which store characteristics attract visitors. Research has pinpointed the pop-up experience as affecting consumer behavior. However, experience does not exclusively define pop-ups but applies to all experiential stores. Our work suggests that pop-ups’ distinguishing feature – ephemerality – leads consumers to anticipate limited product assortments, thus driving intention to visit. Considering pop-ups’ target group – consumers with a high need for uniqueness (NFU) – an exclusive, limited product assortment has a stronger effect on intention to visit for consumers with a high NFU.