Comparing Shopping Behaviors across Environments: An Abstract

Consumers shopping behaviors have transformed and changed with evolving digital elements across channels such as websites and mobile applications. Prior studies have started to substantiate the specific nature of in-store shopping, online shopping and, to a lesser extent, mobile app shopping. Thus, in-store shopping and its distinctive characteristic, namely the ability of consumers to experience an offer on a multisensory level (Childers et al. 2001) contrasts with the limited sensory exploration (e.g., touch and scent) in online and app shopping. Contrary, online shopping is viewed as differing in terms of production information available to consumers, allowing them to compare offers on multi-attributes (e.g., Park and Kim 2003; Scarpi 2011). A few studies have assessed shopping on mobile apps (e.g., Wang et al. 2015) and have identified habitual shopping as the primary reason to utilize apps. Much of the current understanding of the different retail environments draws from research assessing each context individually or comparing consumer behaviors across two contexts (Liu et al. 2019; Newman et al. 2018; Rohm and Swaminathan 2004) rather than multiple environments. The current research contributions hinge on the comparison of shopping behaviors and experiences across store, online, and app environments from a holistic perspective. Previous research primarily assesses each retail environment individually, yet the current research provides a comparison of consumer behavior and shopping experience across three main shopping environments: store, online, and mobile applications.

Study 1 (N = 232) focused on providing initial evidence for the proposed differences in shopping behaviors across store, online, and app environments. Study 2 (N = 594) examined how shopping environments shape overall consumer experiences by assessing commonly studied outcome variables in this area: utilitarian and hedonic value, satisfaction, word-of-mouth, repatronage intention, and flow (Babin et al. 1994; Jones et al. 2006; Maxham and Netemeyer 2002; Wang et al. 2007).

Current findings reveal diverging shopping behaviors driven by shopping environments. For example, online and app shopping is mainly done weekly by most consumers, who spend the most amount of money when shopping online. In addition, shopping experiences elicit varying consumer responses such as higher levels of hedonic value in store versus online and app contexts.

Overall, managers need to consider these differences when creating comprehensive shopping experiences as part of a comprehensive customer journey. In creating a seamless omni-channel customer journey, companies need to carefully consider and adjust strategic approaches to offer positive experiences throughout various touchpoints. Clearly, distinctive consumer behavioral trends emerged across shopping environments.