Webrooming in the Luxury Market: Role of Consumer Traits,Channel-Related Factors and Shopping Motivations

Abstract

This study investigates the role of consumer traits, channel-related factors and shopping motivations on webrooming intentions using online perceived risk and online perceived review as moderators and information processing and uncertainty reduction theory as a theoretical underpinning. We collected 504 survey responses from luxury shoppers who purchased in the past 3 months and analysed the data with structural equation modelling. The results indicated that (a) consumer traits (i.e, need for interaction and touch) had a positive impact on the webrooming intention; (b) while channel-related factors like perceived ease of use and usefulness of online search did not significantly impact webrooming intention; (c) shopping motivation such as efficiency shopping had a negative effect, whereas variety seeking had a positive impact on the webrooming intention and (d) Online perceived risk and reviews significantly moderated the relationship between consumer traits, channel related factors and shopping motivation and webrooming intention. This research adds to the body of knowledge in luxury marketing by analysing webrooming and channel flipping in the post covid era. It emphasises the relevance of customer traits, motivation and touch channel when examining multichannel purchasing behaviour, considering moderating impacts on online risk and reviews on the webrooming buying process.

Keywords

need for touch need for interaction webrooming intention luxury shopper online perceived risk online perceived reviews

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Akram

Lavuri.

. (2024). Understanding the consumer’s luxury webrooming intention: Moderating role of perceived risk and review. Journal Consumer Behavior, 23, 1602–1619. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2295

Arora

Sahney

(2018). Consumer’s webrooming conduct: An explanation using the theory of planned behavior. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 30(4), 1040-1063.

Arora

Parida

R. R.

Sahney

(2020). Understanding consumers’ showrooming behaviour: A stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) perspective. International Journal Retail Distribution & Management, 48(11), 1157–1176.

Arora

Sahney

(2019). Examining consumers’ webrooming behaviour: An integrated approach. Market Intelligence and Planning, 37(3), 339–354.

Arora

Sahney

Pradhan

(2021). Potential benefits and descriptive norms in webrooming: An extended model of goal-directed behaviour. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 50(3), 377–397.

E. C.-X.

(2019). Understanding the web rooming phenomenon: Shopping motivation, channel-related benefits and costs. International Journal Retail Distribution and Management, 47(10), 1074–1092.

E. C. X.

(2020). Understanding consumers’ paths to webrooming: A complexity approach. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 53, Article 101991.

E. C. X.

Basha

N. K.

S. I.

J. A.

(2021). Searching online and buying offline: Understanding the role of channel-, consumer-, and product-related factors in determining webrooming intention. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 58, Article 102328.

Boardman

McCormick

(2018). Shopping channel preference and usage motivations. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: International Journal, 22(2), 270–284.

10.

Butcher

J. N.

Mineka

Hooley

J. M.

(2017). Abnormal Psychology. Pearson Education.

11.

Chen

I. J.

Paulraj

(2004). Towards a theory of supply chain management: the constructs and measurements. Journal of Operations Management, 22(2), 119-150.

12.

Dabholkar

P. A.

(1996). Consumer evaluations of new technology-based self-service options: An investigation of alternative models of service quality. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 13(1), 29–51.

13.

Dhir

Kaur

Rajala

(2020). Continued use of mobile instant messaging apps: A new perspective on theories of consumption, flow, and planned behaviour. Social Science Computer Review, 38(2), 147–169.

14.

Flavián

Gurrea

Orús

(2016). Choice confidence in the webrooming purchase process: The impact of online positive reviews and the motivation to touch. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 15(5), 459–476.

15.

Flavián

Gurrea

Orús

(2019). Feeling confident and smart with webrooming: Understanding the consumer’s path to satisfaction. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 47(1), 1-15.

16.

Flavián

Gurrea

Orús

(2020). Combining channels to make smart purchases: The role of webrooming and showrooming. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 52, Article 101923.

17.

Flavian

Gurrea

Orús

(2021). Mobile word of mouth (m-WOM): Analysing its negative impact on webrooming in omnichannel retailing. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 49(3), 394–420.

18.

Gopi

R. K.

Lavuri

Sudhakar

(2024). Exploring consumer webrooming behaviour in the emerging Fashion market: An integrated approach and Forthcoming research, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 28, 980–996. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-03-2023-0080

19.

Guo

Zhang

Lynette Wang

(2022). Webrooming or showrooming? The moderating effect of product attributes. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 16(4), 534–550.

20.

Hair

J. F.

Black

W. C.

Babin

B. J.

Anderson

R. E.

Tatham

R. L.

(2015). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Prentice Hall.

21.

Haridasan

A. C.

Fernando

A. G.

Balakrishnan

(2021). Investigation of consumers’ cross-channel switching intentions: A push-pull-mooring approach. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 20(5), 1092–1112.

22.

Harrigan

Feddema

Wang

Harrigan

Diot

(2021). How trust leads to online purchase intention founded in perceived usefulness and peer communication. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 20(5), 1297–1312.

23.

Hayes

A. F.

(2018). Partial, conditional, and moderated mediation: Quantification, inference, and interpretation. Communication Monographs, 85(1), 4–40.

24.

T. I.

Tracogna

(2020). Multichannel customer journeys and their determinants: Evidence from motor insurance. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 54, Article 102022.

25.

Jain

(2019). Exploring relationship between value perception and luxury purchase intention: A case of Indian millennials. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 23(4), 414–439.

26.

Jain

(2020). Assessing the moderating effect of subjective norm on luxury purchase intention: A study of gen Y consumers in India. International Journal Retail and Distribution, 48(5), 517–536.

27.

Jain

(2021). Examining the moderating role of perceived risk and web atmospherics in online luxury purchase intention. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 25, 585–605. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-09-2021-0227

28.

Jain

Mishra

(2020). Luxury fashion consumption in sharing economy: A study of Indian Millennials. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 11(2), 171–189.

29.

Jain

Shankar

(2022). Exploring gen Y luxury consumers’ webrooming behavior: An integrated approach. Australasian Marketing Journal, 30(4), 371–380.

30.

Jebarajakirthy

Yadav

Shankar

(2020). Insights for luxury retailers to reach customers globally. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 38(7), 797–811.

31.

Kang

J. Y. M.

(2018). Showrooming, webrooming, and user-generated content creation in the omnichannel era. Journal of Internet Commerce, 18(2), 145–169.

32.

Kang

J. Y. M.

(2019). What drives omnichannel shopping behaviors? Fashion lifestyle of social-local-mobile consumers. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 23(2), 224-238.

33.

Karimi

Wang

(2017). Online review helpfulness: Impact of reviewer profile image. Decision Support Systems, 96, 39–48.

34.

Kim

Libaque-Saenz

C. F.

Park

M. C.

(2018). Understanding shopping routes of offline purchasers: Selection of search-channels (online vs. offline) and search-platforms (mobile vs. PC) based on product types. Service Business, 13(2), 305–338.

35.

Kim

K. H.

Kim

S. J.

Jiang

(2021). Digital service innovation, customer engagement, and customer equity in AR marketing. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 31(3), 453–466.

36.

Kumar

Srivastava

(2023). Exploring the role of augmented reality in online impulse behaviour. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 50, 1281–1301.

37.

Lavuri

Gopi

R. K.

(2024). Demystifying the product attribute nexus: Illuminating webrooming behavior in emerging fashion industry. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 33, 590–603. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-04-2023-4473

38.

Lavuri

Jindal

Umair

(2022). How Perceived Utilitarian and Hedonic value influence online impulse shopping in India? Moderating role of Perceived Trust and Perceived Risk. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 14, 615–634. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQSS-11-2021-0169

39.

Nan

Yao

(2022). Warmth or competence? The effects of cool and cuteness on the perceived quality of digital products. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 34(9), 1880–1904.

40.

Tayi

G. K.

Cheng

T. C. E.

(2019). Omni-channel retailing: Do offline retailers benefit from online reviews?. International Journal of Production Economics, 21(8), 43–61.

41.

Liu

Shin

Burns

A. C.

(2021). Examining the impact of luxury brand’s social media marketing on customer engagement: Using big data analytics and natural language processing. Journal of Business Research, 125, 815–826.

42.

McKinsey and Company. (2018). Apparel, fashion and luxury group: The age of digital darwinism. Retrieved January 31, 2020. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/retail/our%20insights/luxury%20in%20the%20age%20of%20digital%20darwinism/the-age-of-digital-darwinism.ashxmckinsey/articleshow/69040395.cms?from=mdr

43.

Mehra

Kumar

Raju

J. S.

(2018). Competitive strategies for brick-and-mortar stores to counter showrooming. Managing Science, 64(7), 3076–3090.

44.

Orús

Gurrea

Ibáñez-Sánchez

(2019). The impact of consumers’ positive online recommendations on the omnichannel webrooming experience. Spanish Journal of Marketing-ESIC, 23(3), 397–414.

45.

Rather

R. A.

Parrey

S. H.

Gulzar

Rehman

S. U.

(2023). Does gamification effect customer brand engagement and co-creation during pandemic? A moderated-mediation analysis. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 33(2), 285–311.

46.

Roy

Sharma

Choudhary

(2022). I “showroom” but “webroom” too: Investigating cross-shopping behaviour in a developing nation. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 50(12), 1475–1493.

47.

Sahu

A. K.

Padhy

R. K.

Dhir

(2020). Envisioning the future of behavioural decision-making: A systematic literature review of behavioural reasoning theory. Australasian Marketing Journal, 28(4), 145–159.

48.

Santos

Gonçalves

H. M.

(2019). Multichannel consumer behaviors in the mobile environment: Using fsQCA and discriminant analysis to understand webrooming motivations. Journal of Business Research, 101, 757–766.

49.

Schiessl

Korelo

Dias

H. B. A.

(2023). How online shopping experiences shape consumer webrooming behavior. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 41(1), 16–30.

50.

Shamim

Islam

(2022). Digital influencer marketing: How message credibility and media credibility affect trust and impulsive buying. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 32(4), 601–626.

51.

Shankar

Jain

(2021). Factors affecting luxury consumers’ webrooming intention: A moderated-mediation approach. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 58, Article 102306.

52.

Shankar

Jain

(2023). Investigating webrooming behavior: A case of Indian luxury consumers. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 27, 241–261.

53.

Shankar

Jebarajakirthy

(2019). The influence of e-banking service quality on customer loyalty. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 37(5), 1119–1142.

54.

Shankar

Kumari

(2019). A study of factors affecting mobile governance (mGov) adoption intention in India using an extension of the technology acceptance model (TAM). South Asian Journal of Management, 26(4), 71–94.

55.

Shankar

Rishi

(2020). Convenience matter in mobile banking adoption intention? Australasian Marketing Journal, 28(4), 273–285.

56.

Shankar

Yadav

Gupta

Jebarajakirthy

(2021). How does online engagement drive consumers’ webrooming intention? A moderated-mediation approach. Journal of Global Information Management, 29(6), 1–25.

57.

Sheikh

Ghaffar

Islam

Sheikh

A. A.

(2023). Consumers’ acceptance of social commerce during COVID-19 lockdown. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 33(2), 210–230.

58.

Son

Lee

(2021). Does online shopping make people feel better? The therapeutic effect of online shopping on Korean female consumers’ mood, self-esteem, and self-efficacy: Based on the context of fashion product shopping. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 31(4), 580–597.

59.

Srivastava

Thaichon

(2023). What motivates consumers to be in line with online shopping? A systematic literature review and discussion of future research perspectives. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 35, 687–725. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-10-2021-0777

60.

Thaichon

Quach

Barari

Nguyen

(2023). Exploring the role of omnichannel retailing technologies: Future research directions. Australasian Marketing Journal, 32, 162–177.

61.

Thaichon

Quach

Ngo

L. V.

(2022). Emerging research trends in marketing: A review of Australasian marketing journal. Australasian Marketing Journal, 30(3), 214–227.

62.

Vollero

Sardanelli

Siano

(2023). Exploring the role of the Amazon effect on customer expectations: An analysis of user-generated content in consumer electronics retailing. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 22, 1062–1073. doi.org/10.1002/cb.1969.

63.

Wagner

Rudolph

(2010). Towards a hierarchical theory of shopping motivation. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 17(5), 415–429.

64.

E. C. X.

Chuah

S. H. W.

(2023). Webrooming as the new retail experience: A smart-shopping perspective. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 51(6), 736–754.