When Do Online Consumers Shop in an Offline Store: The Moderating Effects of Product Characteristics

This study serves as an initial attempt to demonstrate empirically how online consumers react to the offline channel extensions (i.e., opening physical stores) of e-tailers. Specifically, we examine how the attributes of offline channels influence consumer intentions to switch to offline channels and how they also lead to incremental demands on online channels. We investigate how these effects vary across highly complex utilitarian and hedonic products. The results of the study indicate that although store openings encourage online consumers to shop there when purchasing highly complex utilitarian products, the addition of offline stores results counterintuitively in incremental patronage of the online channels when consumers shop for highly complex hedonic products. This study validates the guiding role of product characteristics in designing offline channels for e-tailers and suggests that incorporating product type and complexity into the design is likely to contribute to the development of stores tailored to specific consumer segments.     

Children as Vulnerable Consumers in Online Environments

Children are seen as vulnerable consumers, yet little research has considered why they are more vulnerable than adults in an online context. This conceptual article uses an ecological paradigm to explore the underlying mechanisms that bring about vulnerability for children in general and specifically when interacting with online marketer created material. It does this by using the definition of a vulnerable consumer outlined by Baker, Gentry, and Rittenburg to focus on how marketing influence creates power imbalance, hinders consumption goals, and affects personal and social perceptions of self, leading children to be vulnerable consumers in online contexts. A social ecological conceptual framework is presented that demonstrates the interdependence of children's vulnerability with the social structure of their environments. Finally, in discussing how marketers are ultimately the agents in control of creating a fair marketplace for children online, policy implications are given.     

The multichannel pricing dilemma: Do consumers accept higher offline than online prices?

Whether to unify or discriminate prices in offline and online channels is a controversial topic that can be central to whether offline retailers survive in the marketplace. Field data evidence from a large multichannel retailer reveals a sobering picture. On average, only offline price premiums of approximately 2% seem feasible, and such premiums vary largely by product categories and price levels. High-priced products, which consumers perceive as risky, tend to allow offline price premiums, as do low-priced, takeaway items. However, in between these two extremes, the results show no potential for offline price premiums. Drawing on price fairness theory, we further explore consumer responses to higher offline prices in three experimental studies. In contrast with the assumptions of price fairness theory, the provision of purchase advisory services and communication of the price motive hardly stimulate consumer acceptance of higher offline prices in our context. However, the findings reveal important heterogeneity in consumer responses depending on their market segment, because some market segments indeed respond less negatively to higher offline prices. In addition, consumers accept offline price premiums for unplanned purchases.     

Consumer Risk Perceptions and Marketing Strategy: The Case of Genetically Modified Food

New technologies are hitting the marketplace every day. In trying to make sense of these new technologies, consumers perceive a series of risks and benefits of consumption and use those perceptions to form product judgments. One way for managers to mitigate organizational related risk is to understand how consumers perceive consumption‐related risk. To illustrate this point, the case of genetically modified (GM) food is examined and a series of focus groups is conducted in which participants examined different product labels that either framed the technology as a benefit gained or as a risk avoided. The results indicate that consumers do indeed form very different product evaluations based on how the new technology is framed, but these evaluations vary based on the level of the consumers’ preexisting knowledge. This study provides support for the contention that a better understanding of consumer risk perceptions is an important first step in developing marketing strategies for new technology‐oriented products.     

Consuming counterfeit: A study of consumer moralism in China

The consumption of counterfeits is a central theme in understanding consumer moralism. While some studies on marketing have highlighted the consumption motives and socio‐economic factors behind this seemingly unethical phenomenon, research on the subjective experiences of consumers and the cultural concerns about the consumption of counterfeits is lacking. The aim of this article is to gain a better understanding of how consumers construct and negotiate their moralistic identities through engaging in counterfeit consumption. We also examine how consumers utilize counterfeit goods as symbolic resources to echo, or even reproduce, the entrenched Chinese social relationships and marketplace ideological conditions. Our findings suggested that the research participants attempted to make sense of their counterfeit consumption behaviour by infusing the moralistic meanings drawn from the Chinese socio‐cultural value orientation. The study concludes that the moral identity work and counterfeit consumption practices are interwoven in a web of multiple discourses and resources available in the contemporary marketplace under the overarching consumer moralism framework.     

Illusion of safety: How consumers underestimate manipulation and deception in online (vs. offline) shopping contexts

Online commerce changes how consumers shop for products and services—while also giving firms more control over consumers' shopping experience, more access to their information, and leading more firms to use these platforms to their financial advantage. In this research, I examine consumer perceptions of firms when they shop for products and services online (vs. offline), to determine whether consumers feel firms might use certain kinds of manipulative and deceptive tactics against consumers. Results show consumers believe firms are less likely to use manipulative and deceptive practices to increase consumer spending, when they shop online (vs. offline) for products and services. These findings remain consistent despite key individual differences (in ethnicity, gender, age, and time spent online). This research also demonstrates how certain cues can make consumers more (vs. less) suspicious of firms when they shop online and discusses the implications these findings have for consumer financial welfare.     

Consumer responses to offline and online low price signals: The role of cognitive elaboration

Low price signals (LPS), pricing tools where retailers promise to match or beat competitors' prices, have been increasingly popular in offline and online markets. We compare consumer evaluation of offline and online LPS as a function of how deeply they process the signals. Results of an experiment indicate that regardless of retail media consumers accept an LPS as an indicator of low price when they do not elaborate sufficiently on the signal. However, at high levels of elaboration, consumers challenge the assumptions underlying their acceptance of the signal at lower levels of elaboration whereby they become more skeptical of an online signal than an offline signal resulting in lower efficacy of the former. Implications of these findings for consumer vulnerability to false low price signaling are discussed along with other theoretical and managerial implications. Additionally, directions for future research are provided.     

Why is Price Dispersion Higher Online than Offline? The Impact of Retailer Type and Shopping Risk on Price Dispersion

When physically similar products, of similar quality, are offered by retailers both online and offline, we often observe that the dispersion in prices of these products online is greater than the price dispersion offline. This observation runs counter to early theories that suggested price dispersion online would be smaller than that offline due to the ease of search and information availability online. This paper investigates and provides an explanation for this puzzling phenomenon by examining the impact of two important drivers of price dispersion: retailer type and consumers’ shopping risk. Retailer type refers to whether a retailer is a pure offline, pure online, or dual channel retailer. Shopping risk is defined as the product of consumers’ perceived risk of shopping and the transaction uncertainty related to shopping at different types of retailers.A game-theoretic approach is adopted to model consumers’ price search and product purchase, as well as price competition within and across retailer types in online and offline markets. Equilibrium pricing strategies are derived for different retailer types competing for different consumer segments with different levels of perceived shopping risk. The impact of retailer type and shopping risk on online versus offline price dispersion are quantified, and conditions when price dispersion is greater online than offline are identified.Results indicate that price dispersion is greater online when the number of pure online retailers is sufficiently large and is increasing in the number of pure online retailers. In addition, a reduction in online shopping risk may actually increase online price dispersion. Results further suggest that even without any online sales, dual channel retailers should maintain their online presence for the purpose of information dissemination, which justifies the importance for pure offline retailer to incorporate webrooming strategies, where consumers can search for prices online but purchase offline.     

Online word of mouth and consumer purchase intentions

Previous researchers have explained how offline word of mouth (WOM) influences consumer behaviour. Increasingly, however, consumers are turning to online WOM, especially online forums. In an online context, the research discussed in this article replicates the approaches taken to studying offline WOM. Grounded in social comparison theory, social network analysis and the theory of reasoned action, a mall intercept survey of consumers in Hong Kong showed that both similarity between a user’s interests and a forum’s topic and user attitudes towards the forum strongly predict purchase intentions as well as having an indirect effect through helping determine the forum’s persuasiveness. Theoretical implications are discussed as well as practical implications for marketers and recommendations for further research.     

Local consumer well-being in a multicultural marketplace: From conflict to engagement

This study offers a nuanced understanding of how local consumers experience, interpret and acculturate to expatriates' practices within a multicultural marketplace. We adopt Demangeot et al. bridge framework and its marketplace domains (security, visibility, opportunity, utility, intercultural competence and cultural navigability) to unpack locals' consumption patterns and experiences that produce multicultural tensions or multicultural engagement that contributes to locals' well-being. Data were collected via 2 focus groups and 20 in-depth interviews with local consumers in Qatar. The findings offer several theoretical and managerial insights that could enrich the scant literature on acculturation of local minorities within multicultural non-homogenous societies and enhance our understanding of how local consumers engage with culturally different experiences.     

Consumer consumption intentions of smaller packaged snack variants

Smaller snack package variants are ubiquitous in the food marketplace. Although it is assumed that consumers intend to consume less because snacks are placed into smaller packages, consumer intentions are never measured. This research examines dietary‐restrained consumers' consumption intentions of smaller snack package variants found in the marketplace described by snack type (i.e. less healthy, more healthy – as per Guiding Stars® food labelling system) and front‐of‐package calorie labelling (99 calories, 100 calories). We conducted an online experiment wherein 203 participants were exposed to the aforementioned snack package variants and their consumption intentions were subsequently measured. A regression analysis revealed that consumers who are highly dietary restrained intend to consume more when (a) the snack is relatively healthier and (b) it includes 99‐calorie front‐of‐package labelling. We discuss the idea that dietary‐restrained consumers are not likely to view smaller packaged snacks as portion control devices, but rather, as a means to eat more of a healthier food.     

Why Consumers Hesitate to Shop Online: Perceived Risk and Product Involvement on Taobao.com

Heralded as one of the fastest-growing regions in e-commerce sales, Asia has received increasing attention from online retailers as a promising e-commerce market. Therefore, to provide better insight into Asian online marketplaces, this study focuses on Taobao.com (hereafter referred to as “Taobao”), a major Chinese online marketplace, and attempts to shed light on consumers’ perceptions of Taobao. More specifically, this study examines (a) what consumers in China think about Taobao as an online marketplace when purchasing high- or low-involvement products; (b) what types of risk are associated with each product; and (c) how online consumers’ risk perceptions consequently influence both their trust toward Taobao and their purchase intention. Multidimensional perceived risks (financial, privacy, product, security, social/psychological, time) were considered in the research. Participants were 217 Chinese university students. The results indicate that product risk and social/psychological risk were negatively associated with consumers’ trust and purchase intention, regardless of their degree of product involvement. Interestingly, financial risk was positively related to trust and purchase intention. Findings are discussed with managerial implications, followed by limitations and future studies.     

Does the digitalization of retailing disrupt consumers’ attachment to retail places?

This study breaks new ground in the marketing domain by extending the concept of place attachment to the study of the online retail environment. We provide empirical evidence that consumers can establish strong attachments not only with traditional offline places but also with online retail stores. Moreover, we assessed how distinct dimensions of the place affect the formation of consumers’ attachment and their behavioral loyalty. Our findings show that while consumers who feel a strong sense of attachment toward the place engage in spreading positive word-of-mouth regardless of the environment, their attachment to the store does not prevent them from switching to another provider, especially in the online environment.     

Staying in “the works of living”: How older adults employ marketplace resources to age successfully

Despite being a large and rapidly growing consumer population, limited marketing research examines how older adult consumers pursue marketplace well-being in the face of the challenges posed by aging. Using depth interviews and drawing on literatures from both marketing and gerontology, we develop a model that bridges disparate perspectives of older adults in the marketing literature, exploring how older consumers navigate the tensions between successful aging and vulnerability as they seek to maximize their quality of life in the marketplace. From this analysis, we present a more nuanced portrait of how older adults pursue well-being across consumption domains to fulfill their aspirations and maintain their independence, as well as identify ways that marketers and public policymakers can assist in those pursuits.     

Offline and Online Search in Used Durables Markets

This study examines how different information sources are used by consumers prior to their purchase of used durable goods, specifically used cars. We examine how online and offline search are related. Categories of online sources are dealer websites and resale websites, and of offline sources are print media and dealer visits. Prior research on new car purchases finds that online sources substitute for traditional, offline sources such as dealer visits. We examine whether this theory extends to used-car purchases and distinguish between dealer websites and resale websites (a distinction relevant to used-goods markets) by collecting data from a sample of used-car buyers. Because search in different sources can be interrelated, and due to data censoring, we build and estimate a simultaneous equations Tobit model. In contrast to existing research, we find that online search on dealer websites is complementary to and not a substitute for dealer visits. This complementary effect highlights the importance of dealers’ web presence in used markets.     

Linking online niche sales to offline brand conditions

With the dramatic growth in the online marketplace, online retailers are keen to understand and leverage the interplay between offline environment and online sales. This study examines the influence of offline brand conditions on online sales of niche brands. Specifically, we investigate the proximity to the leading brand's headquarters, city of origin, and the extent of its offline distribution, offline brand availability. We also examine the moderating effect of offline affinity for niche attributes, offline niche affinity. Using sales data of niche brands, we find that brand share is higher in regions closer to the city of origin and where brand availability is limited. The category sales benefit from proximity to the city of origin and increased offline brand availability. This positive impact of favorable offline brand conditions on category sales is more prominent in regions with lower niche affinity. Finally we offer managerial insights for marketing practice.     

Consumer heterogeneity and online vs. offline retail spatial competition

This paper develops a game-theoretic spatial model featuring consumer heterogeneity in online vs. offline retailers’ spatial competition. We find that consumers’ browse-and-switch behavior intensifies the competition because both offline and online retailers’ price and profit decline when the behavior occurs, but it is not necessarily a threat to offline retailers especially when the product relates more closely to experience. We consider six equilibrium scenarios for different combinations of consumer behaviors when considering a hybrid retailer. The analysis taking consumer heterogeneity into consideration shows that the hybrid retailer operating both online and offline is not always the winner. Particularly, the business opportunity for the offline retailer lies in consumers’ willingness to pay in store, and whether the retailer launches an online store depends on the type of products and services provided.     

The combined influence of time pressure and time orientation on consumers’ multichannel choice: evidence from China

This article deals with the influence of time pressure and time orientation on consumers’ multichannel shopping behaviour. Previous studies have documented the role of time pressure on customers’ channel choice in developed countries, without examining the moderating effects of time orientation on the relationship between perceived time pressure and consumers’ attitudes towards online/offline channels. To fill this gap, this article aims to investigate the combined influences of time pressure and time orientation on consumers’ attitude towards both online and offline shopping. The results show that time pressure helps consumers form more favourable attitudes towards online shopping than towards offline shopping. Further, the effect of time pressure on consumers’ channel attitudes depends on one's time orientations. The implications for marketing channel strategies and market segmentation in Asian emerging markets are discussed.     

Determinants of consumers' repeat online buying of groceries

Abstract

This study developed and empirically tested a model for understanding what factors determine repeat buying behaviour of already experienced online grocery consumers. Data were collected from 198 consumers who currently buy groceries via the Internet. The obtained Lisrel results suggest that consumers' attitude towards online grocery buying is positively affected by perceived offline physical effort and negatively affected by offline shopping enjoyment. Multi group analysis shows that the strength of these relations differed across several consumer characteristics. Also, it was found that a perceived high Internet grocery risk does not form an action barrier for consumers who already have a positive attitude towards online grocery buying. The results also indicate that consumers may hesitate from repeat online buying if they are faced with high online complexity. Implications and future research directions are discussed.