Article

Can Consumers Forgo the Need to Touch Products? An Investigation of Nonhaptic Situational Factors in an Online Context

January 2013
Psychology and Marketing 30(1):46-61

DOI:10.1002/mar.20588

Authors:

Atefeh Yazdanparast

University of Evansville

Nancy Spears

University of North Texas

Touch is an important source of information for consumers, and there is much to learn about its role in an online purchase decision context where the ability to touch products is not (at least currently) possible. The present investigation examines three nonhaptic situation-specific factors that moderate the relationship between haptic motivation and consumer responses. The results indicate that positive mood, price promotions, and level of situation-specific product expertise are influential, yielding greater purchase intentions and product judgment confidence when touch is not available. Additionally, the findings of the investigation suggest that imagining a Web site is comparable to actually viewing a Web site. Several implications for consumer behavior research and online marketers are discussed.

Understanding Millennials Regarding Online Versus In-Store Grocery Shopping Preferences

Article

Jun 2022

Timothy L Schauer

Grocery shopping has changed in significant ways over the last 150 years – all to allow customers to choose their own items (Strasser, 1989). Within the last decade, large U.S. supermarkets, like Kroger, Walmart, and Safeway have rolled out online stores (Perez, 2015). However, in 2017, when the Internet-based giant, Amazon, acquired Whole Foods and developed the Amazon Go concept store, the march toward online-only sales came into question. The purpose of this research is to attempt to understand the preferences associated with Millennials regarding online versus in-store grocery shopping preferences. This paper provides the following contributions. First, it extends research on grocery shopper preferences regarding online and in-store environments. Second, the findings provide a deeper understanding of an individual’s mindset currently utilizing online and in-store purchasing channels. Finally, it provides initial evidence on the relative importance of online and in-store characteristics.

Measuring Online Sensory Consumer Experience: Introducing the Online Sensory Marketing Index (OSMI) as a Structural Modeling Approach

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2022

We present a novel quantitative approach to assessing sensory components on e-commerce websites. The Online Sensory Marketing Index (OSMI) provides a valuable measure of the sensory output exhibited by text, images, and other media. The OSMI enables website creators and marketers to communicate about sensory marketing elements and related components. Accordingly, websites could be designed to achieve better sensory appeal and mitigate weaknesses. Our index allows for the creation of sensory templates for various industries. Utilizing a field study of 16 websites in the tech, automotive, fashion, and food industries, we present sensory measures for websites’ acoustical and visionary elements that are easy to comprehend. Additionally, we introduce a score to quantify haptic, olfactory, and gustatory components to assess the online sensory consumer experience. We conclude and propose weighting offline and online sensory parameters per industry. Accordingly, we study quantitative parameters for online sensory overload and deprivation. Our assessment offers a comfortable determination of websites’ OSMI.

Sensory-Marketing-Evaluation of E-Commerce Websites with Artificial Intelligence

Conference Paper

Jan 2021

Multisensory consumer engagement on e-commerce websites is technically limited to visual, acoustic, and written elements. Consumers communicate, buy, and share products and services via digital environments in which sensory information is limited. To improve consumers' online sensory experience, media types and the content need to be quantitatively assessed and adapted. This project aims to develop a quantitative model, an Online Sensory Marketing Index (OSMI), which assesses ecommerce websites in multisensory communication quality. The OSMI will be supported by an automatic procedure that is based on artificial intelligence. Content of texts, images, and videos is evaluated by natural language processing (NLP), natural language generation (NLG) as well as automatic machine learning (AutoML) procedures. Multiple e-commerce websites from various industries are examined.

Need for touch and online consumer decision making: The moderating role of emotional states

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2021
Int J Retail Distrib Manag

Purpose - With the growth of online shopping, during which consumers are not able to touch products, there is much for researchers and marketers to learn about the underlying role of the need for touch (NFT) in driving online shopping decisions. Consumers’ emotional state prior to purchase is considered a situational variable that affects their attitude and behaviour. This study explores the effects of consumers’ NFT and pre-purchase emotional states on their online decision-making behaviour, examining perceived quality, confidence in product judgment and intention to purchase. Design/methodology/approach - A field experiment was conducted using a scenario presenting buying a sweater as a real purchase opportunity available to participants. Two hundred ninety-eight university students at a university in the southeast of France who voluntarily choose to participate were used in this study. A 2 (NFT: high/low determined by a median split) x 2 (emotional states: high/low level) analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to further examine the interaction of NFT and emotional states in consumer decision making. Findings - The results indicate that autotelic NFT and positive emotional states experienced before shopping have an impact on consumers’ decisions in relation to perceived quality, confidence in product judgment and intention to purchase. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that instrumental vs. autotelic NFT affects consumer decision making, with mixed support found for negative emotional states acting as possible moderators. Originality/value - This study advances the NFT field and leads to insights regarding online consumer purchase decision making by exploring instrumental vs. autotelic NFT and pre-purchase emotional states as antecedents of consumer decisions.

Sensory-Marketing-Evaluation of E-commerce Websites with Artificial Intelligence

Conference Paper

Jun 2021

Multisensory consumer engagement on e-commerce websites is technically limited to visual, acoustic, and written elements. Consumers communicate, buy, and share products and services via digital environments in which sensory information is limited. To improve consumers' online sensory experience, media types and the content need to be quantitatively assessed and adapted. This project aims to develop a quantitative model, an Online Sensory Marketing Index (OSMI), which assesses e-commerce websites in multisensory communication quality. The OSMI will be supported by an automatic procedure that is based on artificial intelligence. Content of texts, images, and videos is evaluated by natural language processing (NLP), natural language generation (NLG) as well as automatic machine learning (AutoML) procedures. Multiple e-commerce websites from various industries are examined.

Product touch in the real and digital world: How do consumers react?

Article

Oct 2019
J BUS RES

This research examines how touching (versus not touching) tactile-functional products—namely those that provide a tactile feedback related to their utilitarian characteristics—affects these products’ expected ease, as well as consumers’ attitudes and intentions toward them. Three experimental studies investigated these effects by focusing on consumer electronics. Study 1 shows that product touch positively affects consumer attitude toward tactile-functional products via an increase of said products’ expected ease of use. Study 2 reveals that such an effect is moderated by consumers’ instrumental need for touch, that is, their propensity to touch products for diagnostic reasons. Study 3 demonstrates that even the mere imagination of product touch (vicarious touch) can boost the expected ease of using tactile-functional products and consumers’ intentions toward them. Thus, traditional and online retailers should be aware of the importance of actual and imagined product touch when striving to effectively market such products.

Does more sense make sense?An empirical test of high and low interactive retail technology

Article

Full-text available

May 2019
J Serv Market

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into whether “more sense makes sense” when attempting to encourage consumers to purchase retail products using technology; that is, does engaging senses in addition to visual and aural senses, such as haptic touch, through interactive retail technology lead to an easier and more enjoyable consumption experience of retail products for consumers, while also enhancing service provider outcomes? To test this assumption (“more sense makes sense”), this study empirically examines whether differences are present in the consumer experience (usefulness, ease of use and customer-perceived value) and service provider outcomes (satisfaction and purchase intentions) across retail technologies with and without haptic touch enabled. Design/methodology/approach The study randomly allocated participants to either the haptic touch (haptic touch, visual and aural senses, n = 135) or no haptic touch (visual and aural senses only, n = 182) interactive retail technology condition. The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance. Findings The data provide support for the use of high-interactive technology achieved through the inclusion of haptic touch by showing it to provide a more visually appealing, easy to use, enjoyable and entertaining experience. However, the results also provide insight into boundaries of where the use of haptic touch does not significantly increase outcomes. Overall, the results suggest high-interactive retail technology using haptic touch provides a more entertaining experience for consumers, which leads to increased satisfaction with service providers, but this does not translate into a significant increase in purchase intentions. Originality/value This study examines the consumer and service provider benefits and limitations of using haptic touch in interactive retail technology. The effects of haptic touch for both the consumer and service provider have not previously been empirically examined thoroughly in a technological setting.

Seeing through touch: a conceptual framework of visual-tactile interplay

Article

Nov 2018

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework of visual-tactile interplay and consumer responses in brand, product and servicescape contexts. Design/methodology/approach This paper performs a literature review of visual-tactile interplay by reviewing prior research in marketing and psychology. Findings The review reveals that visual-tactile interplay provokes various consumer responses depending on whether brands, products or servicescapes are used. The paper develops a comprehensive conceptual framework mapping out visual-tactile interplay and the relationship with consumers’ cognition, emotions and behaviors. Research limitations/implications A conceptual model was developed with a novel view on how visual and tactile cues can together influence consumer responses. Practical implications This paper shows how visual-tactile interplay is successful in brand, product and servicescape contexts and provides practical insight for firms into how to provoke consumers’ cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses. Originality/value This paper contributes to existing literature by developing a conceptual framework and model of visual-tactile interplay and consumer responses by drawing on research in marketing and psychology.

DOKUNMA İHTİYACI AÇISINDAN SHOWROOMING ve WEBROOMING DAVRANIŞLARININ ARAŞTIRILMASI

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2020

Hasan sadık Tatlı

Araştırmanın amacı, tüketicilerin dokunma ihtiyacı açısından internet kanalı ve mağaza kanalları arasındaki geçişlerinin ve satın alma profillerinin belirlenmesidir. Araştırmanın örneklemi en az bir kez internet üzerinden satın alma işlemi gerçekleştirmiş tüketicilerden oluşmaktadır. Araştırma sonucunda 3 farklı tüketici profili (çevrimiçi kanal kullanıcıları, mağaza kanalı kullanıcıları ve çoklu kanal kullanıcıları) oluşturulmuştur. Çevrimiçi kanal kullanıcıların dokunma ihtiyaçlarının düşük olduğu, çevrimiçi kanallardan satın almaya olumlu yaklaştıkları, kanallar arasında geçiş yaparak alışverişi tamamlama niyetinde oldukları sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Mağaza kanalı kullanıcıları, dokunma ihtiyacı yüksek olan, mağazada ürün incelemesi yaptıktan sonra internetten satın almayı faydalı görmeyen, ancak internetten bilgi toplamaya olumlu yaklaşan bireylerdir. Çoklu kanal kullanıcıları ise yüksek düzeyde dokunma ihtiyacı olan, mağaza ve internet kanalları arasında geçiş ve internet kanallarından alışverişe olumlu yaklaşımı olan kişilerdir. Araştırma, tüketicileri dokunma ihtiyacı, webrooming ve showrooming davranışlarının profillendirilmesi açısından diğer çalışmalardan farklılaşmaktadır. Anahtar kelimeler: Webrooming, showrooming, dokunma ihtiyacı, çoklu kanal kullanımı.

The Impact of 'Need for Touch' in Online Retailing for Produce: An Abstract

Chapter

Sep 2020

The current research addresses two marketing areas: sensory marketing and online retailing. While online retailing continues to gain importance, online grocery retailing, especially perishable products such as produce, lags behind other product categories. For example, 62% of consumers buy books and 52% buy toys or games online (Statista 2017), yet only 4% of US grocery shoppers rely on online channels (Hartman Group 2018). This study focuses on a psychological explanation grounded in sensory marketing for consumers’ hesitation to purchase produce online: consumers’ innate need for touch (NFT) and thus the absence of haptic diagnosticity in online retailing. Peck and Childers (2003) define NFT as the ‘preference for extraction and utilization of information obtained through the haptic system’ (p. 431).

The touchy issue of produce: Need for touch in online grocery retailing

Article

Sep 2020
J BUS RES

Online grocery retailing lags behind other product categories in e-commerce. This article focuses on consumers’ need for touch (NFT) as a psychological explanation for this issue. In two studies, consumers rate their perception of produce offered in an online shop. Specifically, consumers assess quality concerns, affective response, and willingness to pay (WTP) in offline versus online retail contexts. Results demonstrate that high-NFT consumers express higher quality concerns and lower affective response to online offered produce. This negative influence of NFT is stronger if consumers use indirect compared to direct touch interfaces. Further, NFT influences WTP difference between offline and online offered produce. Online retailers therefore need to carefully manage quality concerns and negative perceptions that high-NFT consumers express during online produce shopping. A third study proposes a solution through online videos as visual design features. Displaying haptic evaluations of high-touch diagnostic produce by other consumers successfully negates NFT’s adverse influences.

Haptic information processing and need for touch in product evaluation

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2019
J Consum Market

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effects of purchase environment, product type and need for touch (NFT) on cognitive response, affective response and overall product evaluation in the USA and India. Design/methodology/approach Two experiments were conducted in two different consumer markets. In Study 1, participants evaluated haptic and non-haptic products and gave responses on cognitive response, affective response and overall product evaluation measures in the US market. In Study 2, the authors replicate Study 1 in a culturally different market of India and extend Study 1 by examining the moderating role of instrumental and autotelic dimensions of NFT on the effect of purchase environment on cognitive and affective responses. Findings Research findings suggest that cognitive and affective responses are the underlying mechanism between the purchase environment and overall response only for haptic product among Indian consumers. In contrast, affective response is the underlying mechanism explaining this relationship among US consumers. Furthermore, the instrumental dimension of NFT moderates the impact of purchase environment on cognitive but the autotelic NFT moderates the effect of purchase environment on affective response only for the haptic product but not for the non-haptic product. Research limitations/implications The study uses a relatively homogenous sample in the Indian market in contrast to the US market. Practical implications Results advance the understanding of the importance of haptic information processing in consumer decision-making across different purchase environments, product types and NFT using psychological distance (proximity) as a theoretical underpinning. With non-haptic shopping environments (i.e. online and mobile) growing rapidly, the results have critical implications for development of marketing strategies in Asian and US markets. Originality/value Empirical research examining the underlying mechanism by which purchase environment influences overall evaluation for haptic product is scarce. Additionally, understanding of the differential roles of instrumental and autotelic dimensions of NFT on cognitive and affective responses is very limited. This research fills this void and provides an understanding of the specific environment in evaluating haptic and non-haptic products in two distinct markets.

A TAPINTÁS IRÁNTI PREFERENCIA MEDIÁLÓ HATÁSA A FOGYASZTÓ NEME, A TERMÉK TÍPUSA ÉS A CSATORNAVÁLASZTÁS KAPCSOLATÁBAN

Preprint

Full-text available

Jan 2019

Irma Agardi

A tapintás a látás után a második legfontosabbnak ítélt érzékszervi tapasztalat a vásárlási döntési folyamat-ban (Schifferstein, 2006). A fogyasztók tapintás útján gyűjtenek információkat a termékek alakjáról, textúrá-járól, súlyáról, vagy akár a hőmérsékletéről (Lederman-Klatzky, 1993). A bolti kiskereskedelemben a termék tapintása többnyire nem jelent problémát, azonban online környezetben a fogyasztó nem tud közvetlen kontaktusba kerülni a termékkel. A tapintási ingerek jelenléte, illetve hiánya befolyásolhatja a fogyasztókat abban, hogy online vagy fizikai üzletben vásárolják meg a terméket (Levy-Weitz, 2007). A tapintással foglalkozó érzékszervi marketing-szak-irodalom elsősorban a terméktulajdonságok megítélésére a vásárlási döntésben (McCabe-Nowlis, 2003) betöltött szerepére koncentrált. Több kutató arra a következtetés-re jutott, hogy a tapintás nem minden fogyasztó számára egyformán fontos, amelyet tapintás iránti preferenciaként definiáltak (Peck-Childers, 2003; Citrin et al., 2003). Egyes kutatók kizárólag a vásárlási döntési folyamathoz kapcsolódó tapintás iránti preferenciákat vizsgálták (Cit-rin et al., 2003; Orth et al., 2013; Flavián et al., 2017). Má-sok különbséget tettek a vásárlási célhoz kötődő, funkci-onális, illetve élménykereső, vagy más néven autotelikus tapintás iránti preferencia között viszont (Peck-Childers, 2003; Grohmann et al., 2007; Rodríguez-Torrico et al., 2017). Meglepő módon az eddigi kutatások nem vizsgál-ták a funkcionális és autotelikus tapintás iránti preferencia közötti összefüggést. Jóllehet feltételezhető, hogy azok a fogyasztók, akik magas értéket érnek el az autotelikus di-menzióban, azok számára nagyobb jelentőségű a tapintás a vásárlás során is. A tapintás iránti preferencia egyéni különbségeit az el-térő kockázatészlelésre (Orth et al., 2013), a megvásárolni kívánt termék típusára (Grohman et al., 2007; Rodrigu-es et al., 2017) és demográfiai jellemzőkre (Citrin et al., 2003) vezeti vissza a szakirodalom. A tapintás fontossága pedig hatással van fogyasztók magatartására. Így példá-ul a termék minőségének megítélésére (Orth et al., 2013; Yazdanparast-Spears, 2013), a vásárlási szándékra (Yaz-danparast-Spars, 2013). Ezenkívül egyre több kutatót foglalkoztat az a kérdés, hogy a tapintás iránti preferen-cia milyen hatást gyakorol az online vásárlási szándékra (Citrin et al., 2003; Rodrigues et al., 2017) és az online és offline csatornák közötti választásra (Liu et al., 2017; Flavián et al., 2017; San-Martín et al., 2017). A fentiekből következik, hogy a tapintás közvetítő szerepet játszik a vá-sárlók demográfiai jellemzői, a terméktípus és a csatorna-választás között. Az eddigi szakirodalom azonban főként a tapintás fontosságának közvetlen hatásaira koncentrált, az indirekt összefüggések elemzése még elhanyagolt ku-tatási területnek számít. Jelen kutatás tehát arra a kérdésre keresi választ, hogy a vásárlási döntés során az autotelikus és funkcionális tapintás iránti igény milyen közvetítő szerepet játszik a fogyasztók neme, a vásárolt termék típusa és a csatorna-választás között. A kutatási eredmények rávilágítanak a tapintás iránti preferencia csatornaválasztásban betöltött szerepére és arra, hogyan használhatják a kiskereskedők sikeresen az online és offline csatornáikat az eltérő tapin-tás iránti preferenciával rendelkező fogyasztók esetén. Ezenkívül a kutatás az autotelikus és a funkcionális ta-pintás közötti kapcsolatot is elemzi, amely hozzájárul az élményszerző (autotelikus) és a vásárláshoz kötődő (funk-cionális) érzékszervi tapasztalatok összefüggésének mé-lyebb megértéséhez. A kutatás arra a kérdésre keresi választ, hogy a vásárlási döntésnél a tapintás iránti preferencia milyen közvetítő szerepet játszik a fogyasztók neme, a vásárolt termék típusa és a csatornaválasztás között. A termék megtapintásának több célja lehet. A funkcionális tapintás lehetővé teszi a vizuálisan nem megfigyelhető termékjellemzők (pl. puhaság, alak, súly) értékelését a konkrét vásárlási döntés meghozatalakor. Másrészt a termékek megérintése konkrét vásárlási cél nélkül is élményt, örömöt jelenthet a fogyasztó számára, amelyet autotelikus tapintásnak nevezünk. A kutatási kérdés megválaszolására egyetemi hallgatók körében került sor az adatgyűjtésre. Az összefüggéseket kova-rianciaalapú, strukturális egyenletek modelljével (SEM) tesztelte a szerző. A kutatási eredmények alapján az autotelikus tapintás fontossága mediálja a fogyasztó nem és a funkcionális tapintás kapcsolatát. A női vásárlók hajlamosabbak konkrét vásárlási cél nélkül, pusztán az érzékszervi élmény miatt megtapintani a terméket, amely erősíti a funkcionális tapintás iránti preferenciájukat is. Ezenkívül az autotelikus tapintás közvetve befo-lyásolja a funkcionális tapintás fontosságának és a csatornaválasztásnak a kapcsolatát. Minél inkább jellemző a fogyasz-tóra az autotelikus tapintás, annál fontosabb lesz számára a vásárláshoz kapcsolódó, funkcionális tapintás, amely viszont csökkenti az online csatorna választásának valószínűségét.

A tapintás iránti preferencia mediáló hatása a fogyasztó neme, a termék típusa és a csatornaválasztás kapcsolatában

Article

Jan 2019

Irma Agardi

A kutatás arra a kérdésre keresi választ, hogy a vásárlási döntésnél a tapintás iránti preferencia milyen közvetítő szerepet játszik a fogyasztók neme, a vásárolt termék típusa és a csatornaválasztás között. A termék megtapintásának több célja lehet. A funkcionális tapintás lehetővé teszi a vizuálisan nem megfigyelhető termékjellemzők (pl. puhaság, alak, súly) értékelését a konkrét vásárlási döntés meghozatalakor. Másrészt a termékek megérintése konkrét vásárlási cél nélkül is élményt, örömöt jelenthet a fogyasztó számára, amelyet autotelikus tapintásnak nevezünk. A kutatási kérdés megválaszolására egyetemi hallgatók körében került sor az adatgyűjtésre. Az összefüggéseket kovarianciaalapú, strukturális egyenletek modelljével (SEM) tesztelte a szerző. A kutatási eredmények alapján az autotelikus tapintás fontossága mediálja a fogyasztó nem és a funkcionális tapintás kapcsolatát. A női vásárlók hajlamosabbak konkrét vásárlási cél nélkül, pusztán az érzékszervi élmény miatt megtapintani a terméket, amely erősíti a funkcionális tapintás iránti preferenciájukat is. Ezenkívül az autotelikus tapintás közvetve befolyásolja a funkcionális tapintás fontosságának és a csatornaválasztásnak a kapcsolatát. Minél inkább jellemző a fogyasztóra az autotelikus tapintás, annál fontosabb lesz számára a vásárláshoz kapcsolódó, funkcionális tapintás, amely viszont csökkenti az online csatorna választásának valószínűségét.

Autotelic and instrumental NFT

Chapter

Jul 2018

To what extent does need for touch affect online perceived quality?

Article

Aug 2017
Int J Retail Distrib Manag

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the potential impact of need for touch (NFT) on perceived product quality and the possible roles of purchasers’ social (subjective norms), personal (buying impulsiveness) and epistemic (e-commerce orientation) factors, as well as the likely interaction effect of the shopping channel. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study is based on 540 observations, analysed in a partial least squares structural equation model. Findings The link between the NFT and perceived quality tends to be negative, especially for online purchases. E-commerce orientation reduces the need to touch products, but subjective norms and buying impulsiveness have no significant effects. Research limitations/implications The NFT scale might be improved by adding more items. Some of the structural model coefficients indicate a low effect size. Finally, the results are limited to Spanish purchasers of the focal product. Practical implications Firms should appeal to purchasers’ e-commerce orientation to reduce the negative implications of a need to touch products among consumers shopping online. Originality/value The need to touch a product may be an obstacle to online purchases, yet few studies deal with its impact in online, relative to offline, contexts to evaluate product quality. This study also integrates personal, social and epistemic factors.

Need for Touch and Multichannel Search and Purchase

Chapter

Full-text available

Dec 2016

This paper firstly analyses the relationship between the consumer’s need for touch and the channels used during search and purchase stages. The focus will be the fashion industry, characterised by offering highly hedonic products, where great importance is placed on the sense of touch. Secondly, the moderating effects produced by the type of touch (autotelic / instrumental) and by the types of shopping task (goal-oriented / experiential-oriented) are also analysed. Results show that autotelic NFT becomes delimited by, and subordinated to, the instrumental one, as in the configuration of the overall NFT, high levels always involve a high instrumental dimension without which they do not occur. The instrumental NFT dimension defines both the online purchase, with its lowest values, and the use of physical channels, as it has values as high as those related to the autotelic one. The instrumental NFT dimension prevails over the autotelic one, both for goal-oriented and experiential consumers. Regarding multichannel shopping, those consumers who search or buy on the Internet show a lower level of NFT, both overall and in its two dimensions, compared to those consumers who choose physical channels. This is particularly noticeable in relation to the purchase phase.

Touch Matters: The Impact of Physical Contact on Haptic Product Perception in Virtual Reality

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2023

Nowadays, the presentation of products through virtual reality and other online media coexists with traditional means. However, while some products may be perceived correctly in digital media, others may need physical contact. In this scenario, this work analyses how presenting a product highlighted for its haptic properties and the presence or absence of physical contact during the presentation can influence the perception of its attributes and stimulate purchase intention. To this end, an experiment was designed in which each participant viewed and interacted with a chair presented in five different means that elicited a greater or lesser sense of presence. Participants evaluated the product’s attributes on a semantic scale with bipolar pairs. No relation was found between the presentation means and users’ purchase intention. However, results showed significant differences in the evaluation of some physical characteristics depending on the presentation means, and the product was generally more liked when presented in means in which it could be touched. We conclude that choosing means that allow a product to be touched and elicit a greater sense of presence may impact more positively on evaluations of haptic features when presenting a product with high haptic importance.

The effect of product touch information and sale proneness on consumers' responses to price discounts

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2022
PSYCHOL MARKET

Since price discounts are costly and can negatively affect consumers' perceptions of quality, it is crucial to identify the factors that make them effective in stimulating purchase behavior. Drawing on cue utilization theory, we examine price discount effectiveness in affecting consumers' reliance on the sale cue based on the provided product touch information as an intrinsic cue and individual consumer differences in sale proneness. Two experimental studies indicate that price discount information, product touch information, and sale proneness interact to determine consumers' responses. Perceived quality is the underlying mechanism behind the observed effects. For nonsale‐prone consumers, product touch information favorably influences responses to large price discounts by addressing product quality concerns and enhancing purchase confidence, but has no effect for regularly priced or low discounted products. For sale‐prone consumers, product touch information is not effective in increasing their responses regardless of the discount size. A qualitative study provides support for these results and highlights the role of perceived quality and purchase confidence. The research contributes to behavioral pricing, cue utilization theory, and sensory marketing and suggests that marketing managers should provide consumers with product touch information when implementing high discounts for products for which prepurchase touch is important.

Nonlinear Tactile Estimation Model Based on Perceptibility of Mechanoreceptors Improves Quantitative Tactile Sensing

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2022
SENSORS-BASEL

Tactile sensing has attracted significant attention as a tactile quantitative evaluation method because the tactile sensation is an important factor while evaluating consumer products. Although the human tactile perception mechanism has nonlinearity, previous studies have often developed linear regression models. In contrast, this study proposes a nonlinear tactile estimation model that can estimate sensory evaluation scores from physical measurements. We extracted features from the vibration data obtained by a tactile sensor based on the perceptibility of mechanoreceptors. In parallel, a sensory evaluation test was conducted using 10 evaluation words. Then, the relationship between the extracted features and the tactile evaluation results was modeled using linear/nonlinear regressions. The best model was concluded by comparing the mean squared error between the model predictions and the actual values. The results imply that there are multiple evaluation words suitable for adopting nonlinear regression models, and the average error was 43.8% smaller than that of building only linear regression models.

Preparing for the next pandemic: adopt, adapt or improve?

Article

Aug 2022

Simon Priest

This article offers the risky proposition of forecasting the future. The often paraphrased quote of Peter Drucker, famous European management guru, applies here. He was fond of pointing out how predicting the future can be likened to driving backwards down a dark and isolated country road at night with no lights, while looking out the back window via the rear view mirror. Instead, his wisdom suggested inventing the very future we want. We had best start now. Despite COVID-19 persisting in many countries, this article shares tactics from several strategic approaches to preparing for the next pandemic: accept the current practices (adopt), modify to suit new conditions (adapt), or find a different and better way (improve). The author favours improve.

User experience design approaches for accommodating high “need for touch” consumers in ecommerce

Article

Dec 2021

Inability to touch physical products when shopping online may be an issue for consumers with a high “need for touch” (NFT), defined as preference for the extraction and use of haptic information. This study explores the inclusion of congruent auditory and visual haptic information in online product presentation videos as a user experience (UX)–design approach to compensate for the lack of touch in e-commerce. A between-subjects online experiment was conducted where participants (N = 183) evaluated variants in two product categories—kitchen knives and sweaters—in three conditions: static images, videos containing natural audio from the product interaction, and the same videos with a musical background. Product presentation was found to significantly affect perceived haptic properties (weight for the knives, softness for sweaters), perceived overall quality, perceptual discrimination and experienced task difficulty. Importantly, interactions between NFT and product category were identified: specifically, natural auditory haptic information improved the user experience of high NFT consumers in one product category (knives), but not the other (sweaters). Practical applications Overall, the present study demonstrates that auditory haptic information congruent with visual haptic information can improve the user experience of high NFT consumers in an online shopping context. However, the effectiveness of this UX-design approach may be dependent on the product characteristics, in particular the salience of the instrumental (vs. autotelic) dimension of touch.

A Model for Estimating Tactile Sensation by Machine Learning Based on Vibration Information Obtained while Touching an Object

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2021
SENSORS-BASEL

The tactile sensation is an important indicator of the added value of a product, and it is thus important to be able to evaluate this sensation quantitatively. Sensory evaluation is generally used to quantitatively evaluate the tactile sensation of an object. However, statistical evaluation of the tactile sensation requires many participants and is, thus, time-consuming and costly. Therefore, tactile sensing technology, as opposed to sensory evaluation, is attracting attention. In establishing tactile sensing technology, it is necessary to estimate the tactile sensation of an object from information obtained by a tactile sensor. In this research, we developed a tactile sensor made of two-layer silicone rubber with two strain gauges in each layer and obtained vibration information as the sensor traced an object. We then extracted features from the vibration information using deep autoencoders, following the nature of feature extraction by neural firing due to vibrations perceived within human fingers. We also conducted sensory evaluation to obtain tactile scores for different words from participants. We finally developed a tactile sensation estimation model for each of the seven samples and evaluated the accuracy of estimating the tactile sensation of unknown samples. We demonstrated that the developed model can properly estimate the tactile sensation for at least four of the seven samples.

Thanks COVID-19, I’ll Reconsider My Purchase: Can Fear Appeal Reduce Online Shopping Cart Abandonment?

Article

Nov 2021
J Retailing Consum Serv

Despite the widespread prevalence of online shopping cart abandonment (OSCA) and allusions to this behavior in popular press, scholars have yet to examine the key determinants of OSCA. This study used the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model to explore the factors influencing consumers’ OSCA and decision to buy from a land-based retailer. Two studies were carried out to test the proposed hypotheses among Mainland China’s Generation Y consumers. Data was collected based on two product categories (i.e., apparel and electrical appliances) at two different time scenarios (i.e., pre- and post-pandemic). The findings reveal that hesitation at checkout increases OSCA, while consumers' decision to buy from a land-based retailer is influenced by their emotional ambivalence and OSCA. Furthermore, fear appeals appear to weaken the relationship between OSCA and the decision to buy from a land-based retailer. This study has implications for researchers and practitioners who seek to effectively reduce the rate of OSCA.

Can Augmented Reality Satisfy Consumers’ Need for Touch?

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2022
PSYCHOL MARKET

Consumers with a high autotelic need for touch tend to experience deprivation because they cannot touch products while shopping online. Augmented reality (AR) in retail allows consumers to explore products virtually as if they were present in the physical environment, except the fact that they are not touchable. This research investigates whether AR can compensate for this lack of touch or whether, on the contrary, these consumers are skeptical because they crave even more real haptic input. The results of four studies consistently show that consumers' autotelic need for touch is associated with benefits that positively impact various managerially relevant outcomes such as store and product attitudes or purchase intentions. However, the results also point to differences between expected and experienced hedonic and utilitarian benefits along the customer journey. Hedonic benefits prevail when consumers with a high need for touch actually experience AR, while they instead expect utilitarian benefits. The findings contribute to the AR marketing and online retailing literature by demonstrating that AR features can mimic touchable features of products. They also highlight the practical benefits of AR as a powerful tool in digital marketing.

Hand movement speed in advertising elicits gender stereotypes and consumer responses

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2022
PSYCHOL MARKET

Merely observing the hand movement speed with an advertised product can affect consumer perception. Five studies show that hand movement speed when observed (e.g., watching or even reading the description of slow vs. fast hand interaction with a product) elicits distinct associations in the consumer's mind and affects their responses. We suggest that people implicitly associate speedy movements with a more masculine (than feminine) behavior and use hand movement speed as an input to form evaluations of a touched product. Additionally, we demonstrate that consumers elicit higher product preference when their associations from observed hand movement speed match their own social identity. Thus, female (than male) consumers would prefer an advertised product that is depicted with a gentle (instead of speedy) hand movement-as such observed movement makes, both, the product, and the action-performer be perceived as more feminine. We find support for these effects across different product and advertising contexts. Our findings provide novel evidence on the effect of observed and described hand movements as a signal of gender identity and have significant implications for advertising.

New insights into ‘technologies of touch’: Information processing in product evaluation and purchase intention

Article

Sep 2021
TECHNOL FORECAST SOC

Technology forecasting is a preliminary step in understanding social change. The response to COVID-19 will affect retailers and customers for years to come, forcing changes to interactions between individuals and technology. Innovative technologies that interrelate social and technological factors merit a re-examination, to explain the impact on consumer behavior where ‘physical’ and ‘digital’ are brought together. This paper explores the use of haptic rendering stimulation for pre-purchase decision-making. The objective is to identify how touching an interface can influence product evaluation and purchase intention. Drawing from an exploratory experimental design, the findings show the importance of interface touch for inferring product information or pleasure to interact with the product, confirming the relationship between knowledge and mental representation, body sensory-motor actions and online shopping contexts.

The Gratifications of Ephemeral Marketing Content, the Use of Snapchat by the Millennial Generation and Their Impact on Purchase Motivation

Article

Apr 2021
Global Bus Rev

Ephemeral content has become a vital marketing resource for companies, but its effects have rarely been addressed in academic literature. Through the theory of uses and gratifications (U&G), we explore ephemeral content, the impact of Snapchat use, and their impact on millennials’ purchase motivation. Through an electronic survey of 454 millennial-generation participants, analysed through SMART-PLS, theoretical contributions are presented in identifying modality-based gratifications and interactivity-based gratifications as two additional sources of gratification that generate the modality of Snapchat’s ephemeral content. The study theoretically reflects how much interaction and identification with the medium generates a positive involvement in the audience’s needs, thus explaining its reasons for use.

Touching to Feel: Brain Activity During In-Store Consumer Experience

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2021

To gain a deeper understanding of consumers' brain responses during a real-time in-store exploration could help retailers to get much closer to costumers' experience. To our knowledge, this is the first time the specific role of touch has been investigated by means of a neuroscientific approach during consumer in-store experience within the field of sensory marketing. This study explores the presence of distinct cortical brain oscillations in consumers' brain while navigating a store that provides a high level of sensory arousal and being allowed or not to touch products. A 16-channel wireless electroencephalogram (EEG) was applied to 23 healthy participants (mean age = 24.57 years, SD = 3.54), with interest in cosmetics but naive about the store explored. Subjects were assigned to two experimental conditions based on the chance of touching or not touching the products. Cortical oscillations were explored by means of power spectral analysis of the following frequency bands: delta, theta, alpha, and beta. Results highlighted the presence of delta, theta, and beta bands within the frontal brain regions during both sensory conditions. The absence of touch was experienced as a lack of perception that needs cognitive control, as reflected by Delta and Theta band left activation, whereas a right increase of Beta band for touch condition was associated with sustained awareness on the sensory experience. Overall, EEG cortical oscillations' functional meaning could help highlight the neurophysiological implicit responses to tactile conditions and the importance of touch integration in consumers' experience.

Perception is reality… How digital retail environments influence brand perceptions through presence

Article

Feb 2021
J BUS RES

How and when should retailers use 360-virtual reality (VR) versus other media? What role does haptic sensory information play in VR and can consumers actually imagine touch? The aim of this research is to answer these questions by evaluating how presence induced by media (360-VR versus video) leads to heightened attitudes and purchase intentions and how this effect depends on consumer’s knowledge of the product category as well as haptic information. Specifically, 360-VR (versus low presence media) elicits more favorable evaluations (study 1). Yet, in-store, 360-VR results in less favorable responses (study 2). We show that when consumers have high product knowledge, 360-VR decreases consumer responses toward the brand. Alternatively, when consumers have low product knowledge 360-VR enhances consumer responses toward the brand (study 3). Introduction of haptic instructions attenuates the unilateral negative effect of product knowledge (study 4). Importantly, mental imagery underpins these relationships (studies 3 and 4).

Online shopping cart abandonment: a consumer mindset perspective

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2020
J Consum Market

Purpose While the popularity of online shopping has increased in recent years, surprisingly little research has examined the factors affecting consumers’ behavior in this context. Furthermore, though a widespread problem for companies, the phenomenon of online shopping cart abandonment has garnered even less attention. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of consumers’ mindsets in online shopping cart abandonment. Design/methodology/approach Three experimental studies were conducted to examine the effect of consumer mindsets (i.e. abstract vs concrete) on purchase intentions. Findings Results indicate that consumers who have an abstract (as opposed to concrete) mindset when shopping online rate the products they include in their shopping carts to be more important, and consequently are more likely to purchase them, reducing shopping cart abandonment. Practical implications The findings suggest that online retailers can reduce shopping cart abandonment by implementing strategies that allow consumers to think abstractly. Originality/value This research contributes to the literature by identifying an important underlying mechanism affecting online shopping cart abandonment.

Multi-Item Scale Development for Online Consumption Emotion Construct And Psychometric Evaluation for Relationship Marketing

Article

Apr 2021

The present study aims to develop a multi-item scale to measure the online consumption emotion (OCE) to facilitate understanding of relationship marketing. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were employed, and psychometric procedures were followed for the scale development. The initial pool of scale items was tested using EFA with SPSS (v. 21.0), and CFA with AMOS (v. 18.0) to confirm the dimensionality of OCE scale. The EFA results revealed that OCE is a five-dimensional construct which consisted of 39 items. The scale includes excitement, comfort, ecstasy, annoyance and romance. The adequacy of employing a categorical approach to assess online shoppers’ emotional experiences in terms of positive/negative responses is required for online relationship marketing orientation. The online consumption emotion scale can be used to understand individual’s online shopping behavior. The findings can help online marketers to envisage relationship marketing strategies to increase their retail customer base, retain customers, improve positive word-of-mouth, and to improve relationship marketing for long-term profitability.

The gratifications in the experience of the use of social media and its impact on the purchase and repurchase of products and services

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2020
Eur Bus Rev

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of social media and its impact on information search, communication with a company, and purchase and re-purchases of products and services. Using use and gratification theory as a starting point, it also examines the impact of satisfaction of use of social media in the process of purchasing and re-purchasing products and services. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted with 444 participants, and the data were analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling technique to observe the effects between the variables of social media use, search information, communication with the company, purchase, re-purchase and satisfaction of use of social media. Findings The results reflect how the use of social media generates significant rewards that significantly impact the search for information and the communication with the company. The data also show how communication with the company has an impact on the purchase and re-purchase of products and services. Finally, it was empirically confirmed that the gratification received by users through social media use impacts satisfaction with social media use. Originality/value The results contribute to how social media impacts alternative evaluations through the gratification of user needs, resulting in motives and behaviors leading to the purchase of goods and services, as established by Use and Gratification Theory. In its contributions to the Academy, Use and Gratification Theory (U&G) explains why individuals use and share information using social media. First, it justifies the purchase and re-purchase of products and services due to user satisfaction according to users’ experience using social media. Second, it presents a vision of how the use of social media is a significantly important result in the gratification of consumer needs.

Determinants of shopping mall patronage frequency in a developing economy: Evidence from Nigerian mall shoppers

Article

Apr 2019
J Retailing Consum Serv

Nigeria started witnessing entry and exponential expansion of shopping malls a decade ago. Despite this obviously unprecedented growth and transformation in the retailing domain which has dramatically redefined shopping concept across socio-demographics, there is little understanding about the dynamics operating in the emerging segment. It still represents the "black box" in the shopping behaviour literature in Nigeria given its embryonic status. This paper examines factors that determine mall-patronage frequency in Nigeria and used those factors to develop a theory. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 1537 actual mall shoppers, aged 18 years and over in six major malls using mall intercept approach. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique was employed to assess the hypothesized causal relationships by using SmartPLS 2.0 software. Convergent and discriminant validity including composite reliability were checked. Eight mall-patronage frequency determinants emerged; shoppers' ethnic background and age have interaction effect. The study develops a theory that reflects drivers of mall-patronage frequency among Nigerian shoppers, extending the mall-shopping research by providing contemporary insights into the requirements of shoppers in a fast-changing retail landscape. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings were discussed.

In virtuo: How user-driven interactivity in virtual tours leads to attitude change

Article

Jul 2018
J BUS RES

Virtual tours are distinct from videos and other online communication tools in various ways. First, they require consumer-controlled interactions and input (e.g. clicking a mouse), rather than passive viewing. Second, virtual tours offer users a unique perspective – the consumer experiences the product in a quasi-realistic sense. Third, virtual tours may allow for an immersive state, or telepresence. This research examines how in virtual tours, user-driven interaction results in telepresence, leading to augmented attitudes towards the object. Studies 1 and 2 show that the relationship between online virtual tours and attitudes towards the objects are mediated by telepresence with user-driven interactivity as an antecedent. Study 3 finds cognitive load to be a moderator of the sequential mediation. This research provides insights into the process mechanisms that occur in virtual tours, contributing to research on online interactivity and the influence of consumer-driven online interactions on consumer perceptions and behavior.

Examining digital advertising using an affect transfer hypothesis

Article

Full-text available

May 2018

Purpose This paper aims to develop a framework for understanding consumers’ response to digital advertising using the affect transfer hypotheses and incorporating search behaviors. The paper also offers future research suggestions. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach is used in this paper by conducting survey research on a research panel. Structural equation model with multi-group comparisons is conducted. The research is conducted using a general US population sample. Findings Findings demonstrate that the affect transfer hypothesis is sufficient to enhance extant understanding of consumers’ response to digital advertising, but the incorporation of search intentions into the model improves the explanatory power. Originality/value To date, little research in digital marketing has studied search intentions and less has done so in the context of digital video advertising. Interestingly, theory from a more traditional domain can lends support for the authors hypotheses.

Tactile Estimation of Molded Plastic Plates Based on the Estimated Impulse Responses of Mechanoreceptive Units

Article

Full-text available

May 2018
SENSORS-BASEL

This study proposes a tactile estimation method of molded plastic plates based on human tactile perception characteristics. Plastic plates are often used in consumer products. The tactile evaluation plays an important role in product development. However, physical quantities not taking into account human tactile perception have been employed in previous tactile estimation procedures. Hence, in this study, we adopted the vibrational thresholds of the mechanoreceptive units—FA I, FA II, SA I and SA II—for stimuli detection and developed a tactile estimation method for plastic plates that clarified the mechanoreceptive units related to tactile sensation. The developed tactile sensor consists of a base and a silicone rubber pad that contains strain gauges in it. We detected vibration during touch by the sensor and calculated the estimation of the firing values of the cutaneous mechanoreceptors, which are the essential data obtained by humans during tactile perception, in comparison to the amplitude spectrum of the vibration with the threshold amplitude of each mechanoreceptive unit. Simultaneously, we calculated the relationship between the normal and tangential forces recorded while the sensor ran over the samples. As a result of stepwise linear regression analysis using these values as explanatory variables, the evaluation scores for Soft were successfully estimated using the firing value of FA II and the relationship between normal/tangential forces, and the evaluation scores for Rough were estimated using the SA I firing value.

Need for touch and two-way communication in e-commerce

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2017

Purpose The inability to touch products online is the top reason consumers list for preferring to shop in traditional brick and mortar versus e-commerce stores (Havas Worldwide, 2013). Need for touch (NFT) comprises autotelic and instrumental motives, which, respectively, relate to enjoyment and utility. This study aimed to examine how consumers’ NFT motives affect loyalty intentions toward e-commerce websites, both directly and as mediated by consumers’ level of technology acceptance (ease of use, enjoyment and perceived usefulness [PU]). The moderating effect of synchronous versus asynchronous two-way communication with sellers on the relationships among consumers’ NFT, acceptance of technology and loyalty intention was also examined. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted among consumers who had shopped from popular e-commerce websites chosen by this study within the 12 months prior to data collection. Findings Both types of NFT motives affected loyalty and technology acceptance. Specifically, autotelic NFT positively impacted perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived enjoyment (PE), whereas instrumental NFT negatively impacted PEOU, PE and loyalty intentions. Among the technology acceptance variables, PU had the strongest effect on loyalty intention. Tests of moderation revealed that high-quality, text-based synchronous communication (i.e. live chatting) with sellers can compensate for both autotelic and instrumental NFT. Originality/value This research shows how the inherent inability of e-commerce to meet consumers’ NFT stymies consumers’ e-commerce acceptance and affects their loyalty toward online retailers and examines strategies that e-commerce sites can use to compensate for this need.

Touching the void: Exploring consumer perspectives on touch-enabling technologies in online retailing

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2017
Int J Retail Distrib Manag

Purpose A major factor hampering the continuing and explosive rise of e-commerce, particularly for experience goods, is the lack of tactile information that could help to reduce uncertainty in consumer purchase decision making online. The purpose of this paper is to identify the specific touch-related properties worthwhile to enable in online retailing and the type of customer value that can be provided, as well as the drivers and barriers for consumer acceptance toward touch-enabling technologies for online shopping. Design/methodology/approach By means of consumer focus groups, the authors address the research questions regarding touch-related properties, their value to consumers, and the drivers and barriers for consumer acceptance by taking into consideration two specific touch-enabling technologies. Findings The study reveals that touch-enabling technologies can provide utilitarian and hedonic value to consumers, mainly at the pre-purchase stages in the path-to-purchase. Valuable applications conceived by consumers primarily pertain to offering information on material and geometric product properties. A hurdle for consumer adoption seems to be the necessity of a dedicated output device, such as a glove. Research limitations/implications Due to the early development stage of the new technologies under investigation, this study is exploratory in nature. The findings should be validated in the future, once these technologies actually get introduced for online marketing purposes. Practical implications This study aims to raise awareness among online retailers about marketing opportunities comprised of touch-enabling technology. Originality/value The authors provide a first outlook with regard to future consumer acceptance of touch-enabling technologies in online shopping and how and when such technologies can provide consumer value.

Analyse sensorischer E-Commerce-Elemente mittels Big-Data-Methoden und Künstlicher Intelligenz ~ ifid Schriftenreihe Beiträge zu IT-Management & Digitalisierung

Book

Mar 2023

Kundinnen und Kunden kommunizieren, kaufen und teilen Produkte und Dienstleistungen über digitale Plattformen, in denen technische Möglichkeiten zur Präsentation sensorischer Elemente im Normalfall auf visuelle, akustische und schriftliche Elemente begrenzt sind. Um das sensorische Online-Erlebnis zu verbessern, ist es erforderlich, Medientypen und Inhalte quantitativ zu bewerten und sensorisch zu optimieren. Basierend auf dem Online Sensory Marketing Index (OSMI), einem Schema zur sensorischen Bewertung von E-Commerce-Webseiten, präsentieren wir hiermit Ansätze und Ergebnisse zur Entwicklung von alternativen Verfahren zur automatischen Erfassung und Bewertung sensorischer Elemente wie Texte und Bilder. In diesem Beitrag werden zu diesem Zweck moderne Big-Data- und Künstliche-Intelligenz-Ansätze aus dem Bereich der Verarbeitung natürlicher Sprache, „Natural Language Processing“ und „Natural Language Understanding“, eingesetzt. Dazu setzen wir Worteinbettungstechniken mit GloVe und Word2Vec sowie Transformer-Technologien wie den BERT-Algorithmus zur Untersuchung von über 200 Webseiten ein. Unsere Ergebnisse demonstrieren einen funktionalen und skalierbaren KI-Ansatz zur Bestimmung von Elementen aus dem Themenfeld des sensorischen Marketings für E-Commerce- Plattformen und Social Media von verschiedenen Branchen und Unternehmen. Darüber hinaus sind die neuen KI-Auswahl- und Bewertungsverfahren deutlich effizienter und mit nur geringen Leistungseinbußen im Vergleich zu einer manuellen Bewertung verbunden.

Combining gain-loss frame and background color to increase the effectiveness of online oral health messages: Differences among decision stages

Article

Oct 2022
INT J MED INFORM

Background Gain-loss framing is one of the most popular verbal techniques for increasing message persuasiveness. Color is believed to be a compelling visual cue for persuasion purposes. The verbal and visual elements of online health messages are often studied and applied independently of each other, although they may be mutually supportive in a communication process. Objective Drawing on the protection motivation theory, this study aims to examine the effects of the gain-loss frame and background color of online messages as well as their combination on users’ threat appraisal and coping appraisal in the context of oral health. The health action process approach, a theoretical model of behavior change, is further introduced to test whether the decision stage moderates the effects of message design on readers’ protection motivation. Methods An online experiment involving 258 participants, including 119 non-intenders, 47 intenders, and 92 actors, was conducted based on a 2×2 between-subject design. Each participant was instructed to read an online oral health message that was communicated with either gain- or loss-framing and displayed on a either red or blue background. The change in an one’s protection motivation was elicited with the reading task and measured with the differences between the ratings in the pretest and posttest. Results While there was no significant main effect of gain-loss frame on the participants’ oral health protection motivation, the red background was more effective in increasing the participants’ coping appraisal than the blue background. In particular, displaying the loss-framed message on a red background was effective in increasing the non-intenders’ coping appraisal, but not effective for intenders or actors. Conclusions Humans’ automous and rapid responses to visual elements (e.g., background color) of messages can be enhanced with the combination of verbal elements and harnessed to achieve message effectiveness. It is also necessary to tailor message visual/verbal design to suit individual decision stage.

The Role of Brand Equity in mitigating Need for touch (NFT) in online purchasing

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2020

Cite this paper: Rizwan, M., & Zaheer, N. (2020). The role of brand equity in mitigating need for touch (NFT) in online purchasing. Paradigms, SI(1), 52-56. A significant facet hindering the explosive growth of e-commerce is the absence of tactile information about the products. The absence of tactile information may lead to uncertainty in consumer purchase decisions, particularly in online settings. It has been observed that while buying products, online consumers may feel a lack of physical contact with the product that may result reducing motivation to buy the product. This study aims at addressing the influence of Need for touch (NFT) in online purchasing. The study argues that the NFT in online buying can be mitigated by the brand equity. The brands having greater brand equity may help reducing the NFT. Since buyers may stress different features of the product differently; therefore, NFT may very across the product categories. This study proposed quantitative methods to investigate the NFT mitigation in online environment. A valid sample of 210 was used for data analysis. SPSS and AMOS were used for SEM technique. Based on results, it was concluded that Brand Awareness and NFT has a negative relation, Brand Association and NFT has a negative relation, while both perceived quality and uniqueness has a positive relation with NFT which is unexpected as well. Lastly, it is found that NFT has a negative relation with online purchase intention.

Nonlinear Tactile Estimation Model based on Perceptibility of Mechanoreceptors improves Quantitative Tactile Sensing

Preprint

Full-text available

Dec 2021

Tactile sensing has attracted significant attention as a tactile quantitative evaluation method because the tactile sensation is an important factor while evaluating consumer products. While the human tactile perception mechanism has nonlinearity, previous studies have often developed linear regression models. In contrast, this study proposes a nonlinear tactile estimation model that can estimate sensory evaluation scores from physical measurements. We extracted features from the vibration data obtained by a tactile sensor based on the perceptibility of mechanoreceptors. In parallel, a sensory evaluation test was conducted using 10 evaluation words. Then, the relationship between the extracted features and the tactile evaluation results was modeled using linear/nonlinear regressions. The best model was concluded by comparing the mean squared error between the model predictions and the actual values. The result implies that there are multiple evaluation words suitable for adopting nonlinear regression models, and the average error was 43.8% smaller than that of building only linear regression models.

Product Touch in the Real and Digital World: How Do Consumers React?

Conference Paper

Jun 2019

Online shopping environments and consumer’s Need for Touch

Article

Nov 2019

Purpose Online shopping has become a commonplace thing nowadays as people can buy products from the comfort of their home. But such environments do not offer a complete sensory interaction as consumers are unable to touch products which is quite important for certain categories of products such as apparels. Therefore, in order to find whether every individual seeks touch equally, the purpose of this paper is to deal with the differences in an individual’s preferences for touch. The study also evaluates customer responses towards the introduction of touch-enabling technology which can, to some extent, compensate for the lack of touch. Lastly, the study includes customers’ views regarding showrooming and webrooming. Design/methodology/approach A total of 203 responses were received through online and offline questionnaires. The data were analysed using ANOVA, correlation and regression analysis through SPSS version 23. Findings The results revealed that gender influenced the Need for Touch (NFT) with women having higher NFT. The people who were high in NFT preferred to buy in-store, whereas their low NFT counterparts were comfortable with both online and in-store options. Lastly, it was found that there was a significant impact of NFT on online buying behaviour. The new technology when used by online retailers would break the barriers that exist between real touch and virtual touch. Originality/value Although previous authors have given several options like mental representations, verbal details and brand image as alternatives to touch but the use of touch-enabling technology can revolutionise the way online products are perceived. The study adds value by relating NFT with online preferences, showrooming and webrooming.

Searching online and buying offline: Understanding the role of channel-, consumer-, and product-related factors in determining webrooming intention

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2021
J Retailing Consum Serv

In recent times, the increasing accessibility of mobile technology has led to changes in consumers' purchasing behavior. Despite the gloom and doom hearsay about how electronic commerce is threatening the existence of brick-and-mortar stores, by some indications, however, webrooming (i.e., the practice of researching items online, and then buying them offline) may be an even more common practice among shoppers. Against this background, this study proposes and empirically validates a comprehensive research model which incorporates consumer traits (i.e., need for touch, need for interaction, and price-comparison orientation), channel-related factors (i.e., online search convenience, perceived usefulness of online reviews, perceived helpfulness of in-store salespeople, and perceived risk of buying online), and smart shopping perception as antecedents of webrooming intention. Moreover, this study examines the moderating role of product category in predicting webrooming intention. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted. A total of 280 useable responses was collected and data was analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling. The findings revealed significant direct and/or indirect effects (through smart shopping perception) of consumer traits and channel-related factors on webrooming intention. In addition, product category was found to moderate the relationship between price-comparison orientation, online search convenience, perceived risk, and webrooming intention. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Sense Hardness: Effect of Haptic perception on Consumer Attitudes Towards Brand Extension

Article

Jun 2021
J Consum Behav

Established brands endeavor to extend their products into new categories to grab market share and benefit from the positive spillover effect. The “fit” between extension products and their parent brands is a critical challenge companies face when launching a new product in a new product category, which is very different from the category served by the parent brand. A potential clue influencing consumers' perceived fit and attitudes towards extension products is the nondiagnostic haptic cues in touch environments. Thus, this study predicts that soft perception elicits more favorable attitudes towards extension product through attitude certainty and perceived fit than hard haptic perception. It develops a conceptual framework to anticipate that not all extension product judgements are equally affected by nondiagnostic haptic cues. Consumers' attitudes are less affected by nondiagnostic haptic cues when the extension product is from a close brand extension. The study examined the conceptual framework of four studies. Results of this work have many implications for package and offline stores design while contributing to the research in brand extension, cognition, and embodiment.

The Neuro-Consumer: Adapting Marketing and Communication Strategies for the Subconscious, Instinctive and Irrational Consumer’s Brain

Book

Apr 2020

Introduction to the World of Haptic Sensations

Chapter

Jan 2020

This chapter aims to position the sense of touch within the consumption context. The authors first define the sense of touch from cultural, sociological, psychological, and marketing perspectives. The authors provide an overview of the academic research of “what is touching” and explain its characteristics—i.e. “how do we touch”. Then the authors show the explicit and implicit influence the sense of touch has on our perceptual system and mind—i.e. information processing. At the end of the chapter, the authors expose how it influences consumers’ direct experience of product in store environments.

Cross-cultural evaluation of consumer’s dynamic multisensory and emotional experience: A case of tea products

Article

Nov 2018
Asia Pac J Market Logist

Purpose The acceleration of globalization is causing global trade transactions to become increasingly frequent, which leads to the internationalized design of consumer products. However, due to cultural differences, the user experience in different parts of the world with the same product may be different. In addition, the user experience is not static, but changes over the different usage stages for a product since the role of our senses may vary and different emotions may be elicited. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore how the interaction between the user and the product influences cross-cultural sensory modalities and emotional responses to products. Design/methodology/approach Due to the fact that drinking tea can provide dynamic feedback of users’ sensory experiences including all five senses, two kinds of tea products from two considerably different cultures (China and the Netherlands) were chosen for the study. The experiment was conducted in five stages corresponding to different levels of interaction with two tea products. Measurements for both Chinese and Dutch participants were conducted by means of collecting subjective data for sensory modalities and emotions related to product experiences throughout the five stages. Findings Results showed that tea experience tends to be dynamic between the two different countries over different usage periods, including sensory modalities and the emotional responses. Practical implications The findings and design & market implications can be applied to optimize the design or market of international tea products or consumer products in other categories. They will be helpful for the international marketing of tea, especially for those who are interested in breaking into the Chinese tea market and those who are interested in promoting Chinese tea in new markets. In addition, the authors’ methods to evaluate the dynamics of the importance of sensory modalities and emotions could be used to test the user experience in the product lifecycle to help develop a successful international product. Originality/value The findings and the linked design implications could be important not only for a theoretical understanding of cross-cultural sensory and emotional feedback from a product experience, but also for the optimization of product design for the international market.

Does Touch Matter? Insights from Haptic Research in Marketing

Chapter

Full-text available

Jan 2010

Joann Peck

Haptic Exploration in the Presence of Vision

Article

Full-text available

Aug 1993

Two experiments addressed initiation of haptic exploration to encode object properties when vision is present. Ss compared pairs of objects on designated properties, using only vision or with touch permitted. Touch initiation, reach, contact, and visual responses were timed. With difficult material judgments, touch occurred frequently and was initiated faster than the time to respond by vision alone. With geometric judgments, touch was rarely used and then was initiated at the typical time for a visual response. Imposing a visual preview before allowing touch did not reduce the incidence of touch but did speed its initiation. Results support a model in which preliminary visual processing quickly initiates haptic exploration for material judgments that are visually or semantically difficult.

Promotion Has a Negative Effect on Brand Evaluations: Or Does It? Additional Disconfirming Evidence

Article

Full-text available

Feb 1992

Early research on the effect of promotion suggested that a brand using that element of the marketing mix would be evaluated lower and therefore have a reduced repurchase probability. Though that hypothesis refers to a change in brand evaluation at the individual level, tests of it typically have been performed with repurchase probabilities at the aggregate level. Recent work by Neslin and Shoemaker shows that it is possible to observe a decrease in aggregate repurchase probability due to promotion even if individual-level repurchase probabilities are unchanged. Though their evidence does not directly test the hypothesis of a negative effect for promotion, it does provide an alternative explanation for observed results. The authors expand their work by directly testing the hypothesis of a negative effect for promotion and by performing that test on the underlying construct, brand evaluation. After initial measurement of shoppers' evaluations, brands in test categories were promoted for three months. At the end of the promotion manipulation period, brand evaluations were remeasured. The hypothesis that overall evaluation of promoted brands would decrease is rejected.

Sensory Factors and Consumer Behavior

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2008

To Have and To Hold: The Influence of Haptic Information on Product Judgments

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2003
J MARKETING

Haptic information, or information attained through touch by the hands, is important for the evaluation of products that vary in terms of material properties related to texture, hardness, temperature, and weight. The authors develop and propose a conceptual framework to illustrate that salience of haptic information differs significantly across products, consumers, and situations. The authors use two experiments to assess how these factors interact to impair or enhance the acquisition and use of haptic information. Barriers to touch, such as a retail display case, can inhibit the use of haptic information and consequently decrease confidence in product evaluations and increase the frustration level of consumers who are more motivated to touch products. In addition, written descriptions and visual depictions of products can partially enhance acquisition of certain types of touch information. The authors synthesize the results of these studies and discuss implications for the effect of haptic information for Internet and other nonstore retailing as well as for traditional retailers.

Price Perceptions and Consumer Shopping Behavior: A Field Study

Article

Full-text available

May 1993

Used 7 price-related constructs, 5 consistent with a perception of price in its "negative role" and 2 consistent with a perception of price in its "positive role," as independent variables to predict marketplace responses/behaviors in 5 domains: price search, generic product purchases, price recall, sale responsiveness, and coupon redemption. The price-related constructs explained a significant amount of variance in all 5 domains, providing evidence of predictive validity. Results of a higher order factor analysis are also reported, which provide some support for the positive-negative perception of price taxonomy.

No Pain, No Gain: A Critical Review of the Literature on Signaling Unobservable Product Quality

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2000
J MARKETING

Recent research in information economics has focused on signals as mechanisms to solve problems that arise under asymmetric information. A firm or individual credibly communicates the level of some unobservable element in a transaction by providing an observable signal. When applied to conveying product quality information, this issue is of particular interest to the discipline of marketing. In this article, the authors focus on the ways a firm may signal the unobservable quality of its products through several marketing-mix variables. The authors develop a typoloqy that classifies signals and discuss the available empirical evidence on the signaling properties of several marketing variables. They consider managerial implications of signaling and outline an agenda for future empirical research.

Mood and persuasion: A cognitive response analysis

Article

Full-text available

Feb 1990

The impact of happy and sad moods on the processing of persuasive communications is explored. In Experiment 1, sad subjects were influenced by a counter attitudinal message only if the arguments presented were strong, not if they were weak Happy subjects, however, were equally persuaded by strong and weak arguments, unless explicitly instructed to pay attention to the content of the message. Subjects' cognitive responses revealed a parallel pattern, suggesting that the findings reflect the impact of mood on cognitive elaboration of the message. In Experiment 2, working on a distractor task during message exposure eliminated the advantage of strong over weak arguments under bad-mood conditions. Good-mood subjects were not affected by a distracting task, suggesting that they did not engage in message elaboration to begin with. It is concluded that subjects in a good mood are less likely to engage in message elaboration than subjects in a bad mood.

It Just Feels Good: Customers' Affective Response to Touch and Its Influence on Persuasion

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2006
J MARKETING

Prior research has assumed that touch has a persuasive effect only if it provides attribute or structural information about a product. Under this view, the role of touch as a persuasive tool is limited. The main purpose of this research is to investigate the persuasive influence of touch as an affective tool in the absence of useful product-related information. The authors find that for people who are motivated to touch because it is fun or interesting, a communication that incorporates touch leads to increased affective response and increased persuasion, particularly when the touch provides neutral or positive sensory feedback. People who are not motivated to touch for fun will also be persuaded by a communication that incorporates touch when they are able to make sense of how the touch is related to the message. The authors explore the effectiveness of different types of touch in generating an affective response, and they replicate the effects on attitudes and behavior in a real-world setting. This research suggests that the marketing implications of touch are more substantial than previously believed. The authors present research implications for direct marketing, product packaging, point-of-purchase displays, and print advertising.

Promotion Signal: Proxy for a Price Cut?

Article

Full-text available

Jun 1990
J CONSUM RES

Evidence suggests that some consumers react to promotion signals without considering relative price information. We adopt Petty and Cacioppo's Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) to explain this behavior in terms of the ELM's peripheral route to pursuasion in which the promotion signal is taken as a cue for a price cut. Experimental results show that low need for cognition individuals react to the simple presence of a promotion signal whether or not the price of the promoted brand is reduced, but that high need for cognition individuals react to a promotion signal only when it is accompanied by a substantive price reduction. Copyright 1990 by the University of Chicago.

Measuring Attitude Toward the Brand and Purchase Intentions

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2004

Attitude toward the brand (Ab) and purchase intentions (PI) are two pivotal and popular constructs that have been routinely used by advertising scholars and practitioners. Despite their popularity, standard scales, with known psychometric properties, for measuring Ab and PI are not available. Furthermore, these two constructs might not be empirically distinguishable. On the basis of scales reported in prior studies, the authors develop measures of Ab and PI and assess their psychometric validity within a well-established, attitude toward the ad (Aad) theoretical framework. Implications of their findings are discussed.

Mood, Misattribution, and Judgments of Well-Being: Informative and Directive Functions of Affective States

Article

Full-text available

Sep 1983

Investigated, in 2 experiments, whether judgments of happiness and satisfaction with one's life are influenced by mood at the time of judgment. In Exp I, moods were induced by asking 61 undergraduates for vivid descriptions of a recent happy or sad event in their lives. In Exp II, moods were induced by interviewing 84 participants on sunny or rainy days. In both experiments, Ss reported more happiness and satisfaction with their life as a whole when in a good mood than when in a bad mood. However, the negative impact of bad moods was eliminated when Ss were induced to attribute their present feelings to transient external sources irrelevant to the evaluation of their lives; but Ss who were in a good mood were not affected by misattribution manipulations. The data suggest that (a) people use their momentary affective states in making judgments of how happy and satisfied they are with their lives in general and (b) people in unpleasant affective states are more likely to search for and use information to explain their state than are people in pleasant affective states. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

The dictionary of psychology

Article

Full-text available

May 2001
APPL COGNITIVE PSYCH

Andrew M. Colman

Autotelic Need for Touch, Haptics, and Persuasion: The Role of Involvement

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2011
PSYCHOL MARKET

Previous research has shown that a touch or haptic element attached to a persuasive appeal can increase persuasion, particularly for individuals who have a clear preference for touch to enjoy its sensory feedback (high autotelics). This research extends previous work by including involvement in the context of an appeal by a nonprofit. We find, in an experiment where we manipulate involvement, that when a haptic element is present, high autotelics are more persuaded regardless of their involvement with the message. However, for low autotelics, a haptic element increases persuasion under conditions of low versus high involvement with the message. A second experiment measures involvement and finds that again, under low involvement conditions, both high and low autotelics are persuaded by a touch element. Finally, a field study with a local symphony orchestra is conducted in which involvement with the message is low but involvement with the company is high. In this case, a touch element is only persuasive for high autotelics. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Effect of Mere Touch on Perceived Ownership

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2009

This research finds that merely touching an object results in an increase in perceived ownership of that object. For nonowners, or buyers, perceived ownership can be increased with either mere touch or with imagery encouraging touch. Perceived ownership can also be increased through touch for legal owners, or sellers of an object. We also explore valuation of an object and conclude that it is jointly influenced by both perceived ownership and by the valence of the touch experience. We discuss the implications of this research for online and traditional retailers as well as for touch research and endowment effect research.

A Retailer Promotion Policy Model Considering Promotion Signal Sensitivity

Article

Full-text available

Nov 1993

Recent research suggests that the signal (e.g., sign or marker) with a point of purchase promotion will stimulate a significant sales increase, regardless of whether or not that signal is accompanied by a price cut. This paper develops a model of retailer profitability that incorporates this “promotion signal sensitivity.” In a field test, the profitability of the promotion policy prescribed by this model is compared to the profitability of two other promotion policy-setting paradigms: a model-based policy that does not consider promotion signal sensitivity and one prescribed by industry experts. The test results support the proposed model. Its policy generates 11% more category profit per unit than the model-based policy and 12% more than the industry experts. Implications for retailers and future research are discussed.

If I touch it I have to have it: Individual and environmental influences on impulse purchasing

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2006
J BUS RES

This research examines the influence of touch on impulse-purchasing behavior. We first replicate the Rook and Fisher [Rook DW, Fisher RJ. Normative influences on impulsive buying behavior. J Consum Res 1995;22:305–13.] studies about the moderating effect of the normative evaluation of impulse purchase on impulse-purchasing behavior. Extending the impulse-purchasing literature, we examine individual differences in touch and how they affect impulsive-buying behavior. Results from a field experiment suggest that both individual and environmental touch-related factors increase impulse purchasing.

Individual Differences in Haptic Information Processing: The “Need for Touch” Scale

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2003

This research details the development of the "Need for Touch" (NFT) scale designed to measure individual differences in preference for haptic (touch) information. The 12-item NFT scale consists of autotelic and instrumental dimensions. Results are reported that support the scale's hypothesized internal structure as well as its reliability, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. Individual differences in chronic accessibility to haptic information across groups varying in NFT were also found in two experiments. Additionally, NFT moderated the relationship between direct experience and confidence in judgment. Copyright 2003 by the University of Chicago.

Tactile Stimulation and Consumer Response

Article

Full-text available

Feb 1992

Jacob Hornik

Tactile behavior is a basic communication form as well as an expression of interpersonal involvement. This article presents three studies offering evidence for the positive role of casual interpersonal touch on consumer behavior. More specifically, it provides initial support for the view that tactile stimulation in various consumer behavior situations enhances the positive feeling for and evaluation of both the external stimuli and the touching source. Further, customers touched by a requester tend to comply more than customers in no-touch conditions. Implications for consumer behavior theory and research are discussed. Copyright 1992 by the University of Chicago.

Price Perceptions and Consumer Shopping Behavior: A Field Study

Article

May 1993

Seven price-related constructs—five consistent with a perception of price in its “negative role” and two consistent with a perception of price in its “positive role”— are used as independent variables to predict marketplace responses/behaviors in five domains: price search, generic product purchases, price recall, sale responsiveness, and coupon redemption. The price-related constructs explain a significant amount of variance in all five domains, providing evidence of predictive validity. Results of a higher order factor analysis are also reported, which provide some support for the positive-negative perception of price taxonomy.

Promotion Has a Negative Effect on Brand Evaluations—Or Does It? Additional Disconfirming Evidence

Article

Feb 1992

Early research on the effect of promotion suggested that a brand using that element of the marketing mix would be evaluated lower and therefore have a reduced repurchase probability. Though that hypothesis refers to a change in brand evaluation at the individual level, tests of it typically have been performed with repurchase probabilities at the aggregate level. Recent work by Neslin and Shoemaker shows that it is possible to observe a decrease in aggregate repurchase probability due to promotion even if individual-level repurchase probabilities are unchanged. Though their evidence does not directly test the hypothesis of a negative effect for promotion, it does provide an alternative explanation for observed results. The authors expand their work by directly testing the hypothesis of a negative effect for promotion and by performing that test on the underlying construct, brand evaluation. After initial measurement of shoppers’ evaluations, brands in test categories were promoted for three months. At the end of the promotion manipulation period, brand evaluations were remeasured. The hypothesis that overall evaluation of promoted brands would decrease is rejected.

The 3M Model of Motivation and Personality

Book

Jan 2000

John C. Mowen

The Dimensions of Consumer Expertise: A Scale Development

Article

Jan 1994

The effect of product expertise on decision making and search for written and sensory information

Article

Jan 1999
Adv Consum Res

The Excitement of Getting a Bargain: Some Hypotheses Concerning the Origins and Effects of Smart-Shopper Feelings

Article

Jan 1989
Adv Consum Res

Robert M. Schindler

Couponing Behaviors of the Market Maven: Profile of a Super Couponer

Article

Jan 1988
Adv Consum Res

Experience and expertise in complex decision making

Article

Jan 1986
Adv Consum Res

Play as a Consumption Experience: The Roles of Emotions, Performance, and Personality in the Enjoyment of Games

Article

Sep 1984

Consumer researchers have recently begun to focus on the experiential aspects of consumption in general and on intrinsically motivated hedonic enjoyment in particular. Within this broad class of consumer behavior, play (as in sports, games, and other leisure activities) constitutes a particularly familiar and important type of consumption experience. This study investigates some phenomena involved in playful consumption. The results suggest that performance, perceived complexity, and personality-game congruity determine emotional responses and that performance itself depends both on previous performance and on various ability-related individual characteristics. Though still tentative, such findings indicate an important role for the competence motive in the enjoyment of games.

The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations

Article

Jun 1959
AM J PSYCHOL

Does Involvement Matter in Online Shopping Satisfaction and Trust?

Article

Feb 2011
PSYCHOL MARKET

Consumer involvement in online shopping can play a moderating role when explaining Web site effect on satisfaction and trust. This study proposes a set of hypotheses based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of persuasion, a conceptual model that explains the formation of individual attitudes that are prompted by central and peripheral cues. The model proposes the use of central signals when the buyer is highly involved and peripheral signals when the buyer is less involved. Nevertheless, the results of this study would suggest that these relationships are not so clearly defined in the case of online buying, which implies that certain assumptions associated with the ELM need to be revised to take the particularities of the online context into account. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Need for Touch and Information Processing Strategies: An Empirical Examination

Article

Sep 2012
J Consum Behav

Drawing from literatures on haptic modality and information processing, direct measures of information processing strategy are developed and applied to investigate whether touch search is a form of analytical processing. Applying two distinct approaches in the two studies, evidence of the processing style of those high in need for touch, compared with those low in need for touch, is gathered and tested in an online context where touch is not available. Cumulatively, the findings indicate that high-need-for-touch consumers follow an analytical, feature-by-feature processing strategy, whereas those low in need for touch rely more on a relational processing strategy. Theoretical and managerial implications are provided.

Consumer need for tactile input

Article

Nov 2003
J BUS RES

A shortcoming of Internet-based retailing efforts is consumers' inability to touch products during their purchase decision-making processes. This research is a preliminary effort to examine the construct of need for tactile input by consumers and its impact on the likelihood to purchase products over the Internet. Initial measurement of the construct is developed through a survey of 272 respondents. This consumer characteristic is then shown to impact negatively the purchase of products on the Internet, particularly those requiring more tactile cues for their evaluation. Further, women showed a higher need for tactile input compared to men in making product evaluations. Strategic implications of the importance of considering consumers' need for tactile input for Internet retailers are provided.

Positive Mood and Susceptibility to False Advertising

Article

Sep 2009

This paper examines the impact of mood on consumers' implicit and explicit responses to false advertising. In our first experiment, we find that those consumers in a positive (versus a negative or neutral) mood state are more likely to notice the false information in the advertising, but paradoxically, are also likely to develop positive feelings toward the brand. In that experiment, we used both a hedonic brand (Disney) and a hedonic/emotional ad (autobiographical). In our second experiment, we extend the ad stimulus context beyond Disney to Wendy's to more readily facilitate autobiographical versus informational manipulations. We find that, indeed, the hedonic advertising execution (autobiographical vis-à-vis informational) is associated with more elaborate processing (but only for those in a positive mood). The observed positive affect transfer continued, however, despite the greater detection of the false information in the positive mood condition. We propose that the negative feelings toward the ad associated with detecting the false information are momentary and are replaced by positive feelings toward the brand that are engendered by positive mood and the advertising, as suggested by the synapse model of memory. Our third experiment varies the timing of our measures to investigate this proposition and finds that timing does matter. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the findings for research on mood, deceptive advertising, and implicit versus explicit effects of advertising response.

Fashion Consumer Groups, Gender, and Need for Touch

Article

Apr 2010

Jane Workman

Within the context of consumer motivation theory, the purpose of this research was to investigate how fashion consumer groups and gender are related to need for touch. Differences between individuals high and low in need for touch are consistent with differences between fashion change agents and fashion followers. Participants (101 females; 70 males) from 54 different majors completed demographic information, the Need For Touch (NFT) scale, and the Measure of Fashion Innovativeness and Opinion Leadership. Fashion change agents and females had a greater NFT—total, autotelic and instrumental—than fashion followers and males. Fashion change agents and females scored equally high on autotelic and instrumental dimensions of NFT but fashion followers and males scored higher on the instrumental than the autotelic dimension. Using a diverse sample that included male and female college students from a variety of majors countered limitations of earlier research and provided new insights into the role of need for touch in consumer behavior.

The Effect of Examining Actual Products or Product Descriptions on Consumer Preference

Article

Dec 2003

Many consumers purchase products in stores, where they can physically examine and touch the items. In addition, consumers shop for products online or through direct mail, where they cannot physically examine and touch the merchandise. Building on an analysis of perceptual mechanisms involved in the sense of touch, we find that products with primarily material properties, such as clothing or carpeting, are more likely to be preferred in shopping environments that allow physical inspection than in those environments that do not. We also find that there is no difference in preference across the two environments for products with primarily geometric properties, such as packaged goods, for which vision is highly diagnostic. Furthermore, when the touch properties of a material product are verbally described, this reduces the difference in preference between the two environments.

Coupon redemption: A motivational perspective

Article

Dec 1988
J Consum Market

This study examined three attitudinal dimensions of coupon usage. A review of the literature suggested that price consciousness, time value, and satisfaction/pride are three major motivational factors that determine coupon usage by consumers. Measurement of these three variables, using Likert-type items, revealed acceptable levels of reliability. The three factors were found to relate to coupon usage as hypothesized. Further, significant differences were found in the predicted direction between coupon users and nonusers. Managerial implications and recommendations are provided.

Psychology Interpersonal Relations Pod

Article

Jan 1958

F. Heider

Non-Functional Motives for Online Shoppers: Why We Click

Can Consumers Forgo the Need to Touch Products? An Investigation of Nonhaptic Situational Factors in an Online Context

Abstract

No full-text available