The role of eWOM and mobile
technologies on the intentions to webroom
MSc. Marketing Management 1st supervisor: J. Berger 2nd supervisor: O.K. Lundahl
Abstract
Webrooming behaviour becomes more important in the multichannel environment. With a changing consumption pattern, consumers try to find a channel which best suits their shopping motivations during their shopping trip. Furthermore, the development of the Internet has contributed to an increased use of mobile technologies and the accessibility of online reviews. The aim of this study is to research the effect of ease of use of mobile technologies and eWOM and the role of different shopping motivations on the intention to webroom. An online questionnaire was created and data from a total of 144 participants was obtained. To test the hypotheses, Partial Least Square (SmartPLS) - Smart Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used. The findings suggest that the shopping motivations ‘convenience orientation’, ‘immediate possession’ and ‘shopping enjoyment orientation’ are important determinants of webrooming intention. The hypothesized effects of ‘price-consciousness orientation’, ‘variety seeking’ and ‘impulse buying orientation’ were rejected, even as the moderating variables ‘ease of use of mobile technologies’ and ‘ease of use of eWOM’. The quantitative setting of the study, small sample size and time- and financial constraints will limit the generalizability of this study. Furthermore, an extensive research in the direction of different kinds of mobile technologies and online reviews will be a source for future research.
Table of Content
Abstract 1 Table of Content 2 1. Introduction 4 2. Theoretical background 7 2.1 Webrooming 7 2.2 Shopping motivation 82.2.1 Utilitarian shopping motives 10
Convenience orientation 10
Price consciousness orientation 11
Immediate possession 12
2.2.2 Hedonic shopping motives 13
Variety seeking 13
Shopping enjoyment orientation 14
Impulse buying orientation 15
2.3 Ease of use of mobile technologies 16
2.4 Ease of use of eWOM 18
3. Methodology 22
3.1 Data collection and sample description 22
3.2 Measurement items 23
3.3 Research design and data analysis 23
4. Results 27
4.1 Sample descriptives 27
4.2 Model analysis 28
4.3 The measurement model 28
4.4 The structural model 30
5. Conclusion 35
5.1 Discussion 35
5.2 Theoretical implications 38
5.3 Managerial implications 39
References 42
Appendix 50
Appendix A: Measurement items 50
Appendix B: Online survey - English version 53
Appendix C: Online survey - Dutch version 58
Appendix D: Descriptive statistics (n=144) 63
Appendix E: PLS-SEM model 64
1. Introduction
With the development of the Internet and mobile devices, the consumption pattern of consumers has changed (Kim, Libaque-Saenz and Park, 2019). Where consumers used one channel in the past, nowadays consumers leverage both online and offline channels to reach a final decision and have an optimal shopping experience. With this changing environment, companies need to take into account the new retail formats, such as mobile and social media to create a seamless experience for the consumer (Verhoef, Kannan and Inman, 2015). For instance, consumers who visit an offline store to search for information and make their final purchase online are showing behaviour which is known as showrooming. On the other hand, consumers can search for information online, but make the final purchase in a physical store. This phenomenon is called: webrooming (Aw, 2019).
motives will differ between the offline and online purchasers, understanding the different stages of the shopping trip will help the brand to retain consumers during their purchasing journey (Flavián, Gurrea and Orús, 2016) and to allocate the advertising budget wisely (Kim et al., 2019). Up till now, a lot of research has focused on the showroom phenomenon (Arora, Singha and Sahney, 2017; Gensler, Neslin and Verhoef 2017), but the role of shopping motivation in relation to webrooming is still insufficiently explored (Arora and Sahney, 2018; Aw, 2019; Flavián et al, 2016; Kim et al., 2019; Santos and Gonçalves, 2019). Therefore, this study will focus on how different shopping motives can lead to the intention to webroom.
‘’What is the impact of different shopping motivations, mobile technologies and eWOM on the intention to webroom?’’
2. Theoretical background
This chapter contains information from existing literature and reviews important findings within these researches. Besides, the hypotheses are identified and the conceptual model is provided at the end of the chapter.
2.1 Webrooming
Webrooming is a cross-channel process in which consumers search for product information online that best matches their needs and thereafter visit a physical store to make the final purchase (Flavián et al., 2016, 2019). In the past, consumers searched for product-related information via personal computers and laptops (Konuş et al, 2008; Verhoef et al., 2007). However, due to the extensive use of mobile devices during the search and purchase stage, this relatively new form of shopping behaviour is expected to grow in the near future (Aw, 2019; Kim et al., 2019). Although the consumption pattern has changed (Kim et al., 2019) and companies adapt to these new multichannel environments (Aw, 2019; Verhoef et al., 2015), still a lot of research on webrooming is done in the last few years (Arora and Sahney, 2019; Aw, 2019; Aw, 2020; Flavián et al., 2019; Kim et al., 2019; Orús, Gurrea and Ibáñez-Sánchez, 2019, Santos and Gonçalves, 2019). These researches add new components to the existing and older literature, such as e-distrust, the costs of webrooming or the use of different search platforms.
Sahney, 2019; Aw, 2019; Flavián et al., 2019; Frasquet, Mollá and Ruiz, 2015; Gensler, Verhoef and Böhm, 2012; Konuş et al., 2008; Noble, Griffith and Weinberger, 2005; Verhoef et al., 2007; Wang Lin, Tai and Fan, 2016). Consumers with an economic perspective prefer the Internet as a search channel, because it delivers the highest convenience rate. However, these consumers prefer the physical store over an online store for purchasing due to the service quality and low purchase risk (Arora and Sahney, 2019; Verhoef et al., 2007; Wang et al., 2016).
In another research stream, studies focused on the consumer motivations perspective. Within this research stream, consumers are engaged in webrooming for information processing, such as price comparisons, and uncertainty reduction. According to Kang (2018), consumers are motivated to webroom due to the need for social interaction, assortment seeking and information attainment to gain as much confidence in their judgment as possible (Li, Wei, Tayi and Tan, 2016; Santos and Gonçalves, 2019). This is all facilitated by the use of information in the virtual community and presence of others in the physical store. Besides, Flavián et al. (2016, 2019) found that webrooming can improve the purchase intention and search-process satisfaction of consumers, in which need for touch and online customer reviews play an important role.
2.2 Shopping motivation
al., 2005). Utilitarian motivation starts with a specific task and the acquired benefits (instrumental, functional or cognitive: Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982) are dependent on the efficiency of the process (Babin et al., 1994). Within utilitarian motivation, a distinction can be made between price consciousness orientation (Konuş et al., 2008; Noble et al., 2005), convenience orientation (Noble et al., 2006; Rohm and Swaminathan, 2004) and immediate possession (Aw, 2019; Noble et al., 2005).
On the contrary, consumers with a hedonic shopping motivation are seeking for an intrinsic stimulation, entertainment, fantasy or exploration of benefits, such as consumers’ impulsiveness (Ailawadi, Neslin and Gedenk, 2001; Chandon, Wansink and Laurent, 2000; Davis et al., 2014; Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982). These consumers do not shop to obtain a particular product, but because they enjoy the experiential and emotional motivation of the shopping process, which can lead to a higher level of unplanned shopping behaviour compared to utilitarian motivation (Babin et al., 1994; Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982 Martos-Partal and González-Benito, 2013).
consumer- and channel related motives. However, Kim et al., (2019) make use of a distinction between hedonic and utilitarian shopping motivations in order to research the influence of shopping motivations on the intention to webroom. To build on this research and get a more complete overview, the existing shopping motivations will be extended with more hedonic and utilitarian motives, found in the literature mentioned above. This can be useful, since hedonic consumers will have another focus during their shopping trip in comparison with utilitarian focused consumers and Kim et al., (2019) did not include all these frequently used shopping motivations in their research.
2.2.1 Utilitarian shopping motives
Convenience orientation
The first utilitarian motive is convenience orientation, which is linked to efficiency and an effortless and quick shopping procedure (Schröder and Zaharia, 2008; Wagner and Rudolph, 2010). Consumers try to minimize the costs and maximize the shopping opportunities (Noble et al., 2006), regarding the search phase of the shopping trip until the moment of purchase. Convenience is often perceived as a shopping motive of regular online shoppers (Liu, Burns and Hou, 2013). The Internet provides a service, which does not depend on time or location (Burke, 1997; Heitz-Spahn, 2013). Consumers can gather information about a particular product and make comparisons (Verhoef et al., 2007), which will reduce the purchase risk (Flavián et al., 2016). Besides, the obtained information can be stored or found again for future comparisons (Wolfinbarger and Gilly, 2001).
(Gensler et al.,2012; Konuş et al., 2008; Noble et al., 2005). For both channels, the location, opening hours and store layouts are attributes that have an influence on the convenience level of consumers (Aw, 2019). The expectations about, for example, the opening hours of a particular store can create a barrier for offline shopping, because offline stores will not be open every hour of the day. Therefore, the attractiveness of buying a product offline will decrease (Aw, 2019).
The convenience level of consumers is linked to a single channel and therefore, consumers who use multiple channels, such as webrooming behaviour, do not seek convenience (Kang, 2018). In general, these goal-directed consumers choose channels in which they can save time and effort (Rohm and Swaminathan, 2004). Since time and effort are scarce resources for this group of consumers, and the online channel has no time or location restrictions in comparison to offline channels, these consumers will probably only use the online channel during their shopping trip. Overall, it is hypothesized that:
H1a: Convenience orientation is negatively related to webrooming intention Price consciousness orientation
Online channels can provide easy price comparisons compared to physical stores, which make them better platforms for the search phase of the shopping process (Verhoef et al., 2007). Since the Internet allows consumers to make price- and information comparisons, it became a useful tool to reduce information asymmetry (Grewal, Baker, Levy and Voss, 2003) and to form a reference price (Aw, 2019). Past research has shown that, with a better understanding of the available prices and information online, the offline price evaluations of consumers will be influenced (Bodur, Klein and Arora, 2015) and consumers are motivated to find a better deal in a physical store (Verhoef et al., 2007). However, according to Kang (2018), price is not an important variable for webrooming behaviour. Besides, online product prices are in general more competitive with product prices in an offline store (Gensler et al., 2012). Hence, due to the lower product prices and transaction costs, it is not likely that consumers will switch from the online channel to the offline channel when they want to purchase a product. Overall, it is hypothesized that:
H1b: Price consciousness orientation is negatively related to webrooming intention Immediate possession
Another important aspect of the utilitarian shopping motive is immediate possession. Since consumers with a utilitarian motive try to save time and effort during their shopping trip, it is important to choose the right channel. In this regard, it is about saving time and effort after the purchase took place. Every channel has a different level of product delivery time (Noble et al., 2005) and immediate possession is an important benefit of webrooming behaviour (Aw, 2019; Rohm and Swaminathan, 2004).
compare information (Verhoef et al., 2007) and to reduce the related purchasing risks (Flavián et al., 2016). Therefore, this channel is really helpful in the search phase of the shopping trip (Verhoef et al., 2007). However, a disadvantage of this channel is the delivery time. Most of the time, consumers have to wait a certain period of time before the product arrives. In contrast, physical stores can deliver the product immediately and therefore, this channel has the advantage over online stores for consumers who like immediate possession of a product (Boardman and McCormick, 2018; Rohm and Swaminathan, 2004). Online channels have to come up with faster delivery services, such as one-day delivery or order online and pick up in store, to meet the needs of immediate possession (Arora and Sahney, 2018). Most of the time consumers make informed purchase decisions and despite the fact that convenience- and price consciousness oriented consumers are linked to a single online channel, switching to the offline channel has an advantage for immediate possession. Overall, it is hypothesized that:
H1c: Immediate possession is positively related to webrooming intention 2.2.2 Hedonic shopping motives
Variety seeking
store. These consumers, who are looking for a broad product assortment, are more likely to switch between channels (Konuş et al., 2008) instead of making use of single channel shopping, since this increases the level of shopping enjoyment (Hsiao, Yen and Li, 2012) and lowers the level of potential risk (Aw, 2019). Overall, it is hypothesized that:
H2a: Variety seeking is positively related to webrooming intention Shopping enjoyment orientation
A second hedonic shopping motive is shopping enjoyment orientation. This shopping motive is about feeling pleasure and enjoyment during the shopping trip (Babin et al., 1994). It is about brand consciousness, trying new products, having new experiences and fun during the shopping trip, so consumers gain hedonic value out of it (Baumgartner and Steenkamp, 1996; Forsythe, Liu, Shannon and Gardner, 2006).
that these consumers are webroomers instead of one channel shoppers (Kim et al., 2019). This is confirmed by Frasquet et al., (2015), who stated that the higher convenience level of online channels does not outweigh the enjoyment offered by offline channels. Overall, it is hypothesized that:
H2b: Shopping enjoyment orientation is positively related to webrooming intention Impulse buying orientation
The last hedonic shopping motive is impulse buying orientation, which says something about the immediate, unintended purchase (Jones, Reynolds, Weun and Beatty, 2003) and the lack of planning (O’Guinn and Faber, 1989). Impulsiveness is a personal trait, which is characterized through spontaneous and unreflective purchases (Park, Kim, Funches and Foxx, 2012; Xiao and Nicholson, 2013). According to Park et al., (2012), online channels are effective for intensive information search, but on the contrary, offline channels are preferred by consumers who like to try and touch the product. Besides, shopping with peers can lead to a higher possibility of impulse buying (Luo, 2005). These consumers gain enjoyment from the experiences while shopping and obtain benefits through unintended purchases (Ailawadi et al., 2001; Zhang, Xu, Zhao and Yu, 2018).
purchases. These investments in time and effort lead to better purchase decisions, which are based on extensive online search, but prevent consumers from making unplanned purchases (Verhoef et al., 2007). Overall, it is hypothesized that:
H2c: Impulse buying orientation is negatively related to webrooming intention 2.3 Ease of use of mobile technologies
and Li, 2012). However, a mobile device is not the most convenient option for consumers who value immediate possession, since they have to wait for the product to arrive (Boardman and McCormick, 2018; Rohm and Swaminathan, 2004). However, they can search for the fastest delivery option every moment in time. Finally, mobile technologies will not have a sufficient influence on impulse buying orientation, since these consumers often stick to one channel (Kim et al., 2019).
The mobile channel can interact with other channels, which make them more suitable for the search phase in comparison with the purchasing phase (Verhoef et al., 2007) and the overall goal is to decrease the uncertainty and increase the control during the shopping trip (Spaid and Flint, 2014). According to Wang, Malthouse and Krishnamurthi (2015), mobile channels have an effect on the shopping behaviour of consumers across different channels and consumers are more willing to search for information on their mobile device than to talk with a salesperson while they are shopping in a physical store (Rippe, Weisfeld-Spolter, Yurova, Dubinsky and Hale, 2017).
they switch to the offline channel for the real purchase. This changing shopping behaviour is due to the fact that the mobile devices include features to enhance the shopping trip, which will lead to higher in-store purchase intentions in the future (Kim and Hahn, 2015; Rippé et al., 2017). Overall, it is hypothesized that:
H3: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a positive effect on the direct relation between shopping motivation and webrooming intention
H3a: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a positive effect on the direct relation between convenience orientation and webrooming intention
H3b: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a positive effect on the direct relation between price-consciousness orientation and webrooming intention H3c: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a negative effect on the direct relation between immediate possession and webrooming intention
H3d: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a positive effect on the direct relation between variety seeking and webrooming intention
H3e: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a positive effect on the direct relation between shopping enjoyment orientation and webrooming intention H3f: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a negative effect on the direct relation between impulse buying and webrooming intention
2.4 Ease of use of eWOM
Gremler, 2004; Kozinets, de Valck, Wojnicki and Wilner, 2010; Senecal and Nantel, 2004). eWOM, commonly referred to as online reviews (Cui, Lui and Guo, 2012), can be defined as ‘’any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about a product or company, which is made available to a multitude of people and institutions via the Internet’’ (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004). It is established in an impersonal way, but can have a huge impact on the purchase behaviour of others (Gupta and Harris, 2010; Park and Kim, 2008). Reviews which are posted by actual product users are the most effective and can avoid consumers from making the wrong product decisions (Park and Lee, 2009; Zhang et al., 2018). According to Koo (2015, 2016), reviews from friends and family are more influential in terms of purchase intention and message credibility than reviews from strangers. Besides, companies can post online product reviews, which are an effective marketing channel for firms with low costs, while it can have a huge impact on the firms’ product sales (Chevalier and Mayzlin, 2006). However, it is stated in literature that the reliability and satisfaction will be higher for consumer reviews in comparison with company reviews, since companies always have a commercial interest in it (Senecal and Nantel, 2004; Park and Kim, 2008; Schindler and Bickart, 2012).
this additional product information, uncertainty in purchase situations will decrease (Chen and Xie, 2008; Chevalier and Mayzlin, 2006; Flavián et al., 2016; Park and Kim, 2008). However, if the review is too positive, consumers will question the truth of the statements and some negative information can help the consumer in the decision process (Schindler and Bickart, 2012).
Since the uncertainty in decision-making will decrease by making use of the online reviews, the experience and decision for a specific product is more stable (Flavián et al., 2016, 2019). However, this increase in choice confidence and purchase intention does not outweigh the risks that are still associated with online purchases. Therefore, it is likely that consumers will switch to the offline store (Chiu, Hsieh, Roan, Tseng and Hsieh, 2011; Chou, Shen, Chiu and Chou, 2016) where they make a purchase decision, based on the knowledge received from online reviews. This switching behaviour is even stronger when consumers’ motivation to touch a product is high (Flavián et al., 2016). Since the online channel is not convenient for immediate possession (Boardman and McCormick, 2018; Rohm and Swaminathan, 2004) and consumers who show impulse buying behaviour often stick to one channel (Kim et al., 2019), the use of eWOM will not have a significant influence. Overall, it is hypothesized that:
H4: The ease of use of eWOM will have a positive effect on the direct relation between shopping motivation and webrooming intention
H4a: The ease of use of eWOM will have a positive effect on the direct relation between convenience orientation and webrooming intention
H4b: The ease of use of eWOM will have a positive effect on the direct relation between price-consciousness orientation and webrooming intention
H4d: The ease of use of eWOM will have a positive effect on the direct relation between variety seeking and webrooming intention
H4e: The ease of use of eWOM will have a positive effect on the direct relation between shopping enjoyment orientation and webrooming intention
H4f: The ease of use of eWOM will have a negative effect on the direct relation between impulse buying and webrooming intention
3. Methodology
The methodology chapter starts with the data collection and sample description, followed by the measurement items and an explanation of the research design. Furthermore, the statistical method that will be used for obtaining the results will be described in the data analysis paragraph.
3.1 Data collection and sample description
To obtain primary data and measure the different constructs, a web-based questionnaire was created and distributed via social media and mobile apps, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Whatsapp. This research has used nonprobability sampling methods, specifically convenience and snowball sampling. Convenience sampling is a form of sampling in which ease, speed and availability are the most important identifiers of potential participants for the study (Maxwell, 2008). This has been applied in this research, since a lot of the participants were approached by the researcher (e.g. friends and family), because of their ease of access. Besides, with snowball sampling, participants in the study were kindly asked to help recruit new participants by sharing the link of the web-based questionnaire. This form of sampling is effective when time and resources are limited (Maxwell, 2008).
sending a reminder if participants haven’t filled in the questionnaire yet (Armstrong and Overton, 1977).
The target sample that is selected is based on shoppers in the Netherlands who use the online channel for the search phase and make their final purchase in an offline store. Furthermore, the participant must be at least 18 years old. This minimum age is required, because of the financial and purchase concerns of minors. To meet this requirement, a screening question was asked. Only those who answered ‘yes’ to this question (at least 18 years or older) were included in the analyses part of this study.
3.2 Measurement items
The measurement items (Table 1, Appendix A) for all the constructs were derived from past literature, namely webrooming intention (Arora and Sahney, 2018), convenience orientation (Noble et al., 2006), price-consciousness orientation (Noble et al., 2005), immediate possession (Noble et al., 2005), variety seeking (Noble et al., 2005), shopping enjoyment orientation (Noble et al., 2005), impulse buying orientation (Martos-Partal and González-Benito, 2013), ease of use of mobile technologies (Agarwal and Prasad, 1998; Goldsmith and Hofacker, 1991) and ease of use of eWOM (Arora and Sahney, 2019). All these items were measured on a seven-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7).
3.3 Research design and data analysis
(English or Dutch). Backward translation is used for the creation of this questionnaire, to ensure the linguistic validity (Van Hell and De Groot, 2008). Besides the English version, a Dutch version is offered, since it is expected that a lot of the participants will be Dutch, especially due to convenience sampling. By offering both languages, the test results will not be influenced by the language proficiency of the participants.
In the first section of the questionnaire, demographic information about each participant was collected, such as age and gender. This demographic information is used to display the differences between the consumer groups. Thereafter, a short description and question about durable products was added to make participants aware of the kind of products they need to have in mind by filling in this questionnaire. Webrooming behaviour is shown more often for products with a higher involvement level, such as an electronic item (Arora and Sahney, 2018; Flavián et al., 2019; Frasquet et al., 2015). People don’t make such a purchase very often and therefore, a time period of 6 months is stated in the question. After this question, participants can continue with the third part, which focuses on questions about the shopping motivations (independent variable), webrooming intention (dependent variable) and ease of use of mobile technologies and eWOM (moderators).
motivations and the dependent variable, webrooming intention. The ease of use of the two moderating variables should account for heterogeneity; the relationship will not be the same for each consumer, since it depends on the level of ease of use.
In this research, Partial Least Squares (PLS) is used in combination with a variance-based Structural Equation Model (SEM). SEM integrates features of factor analysis and regression analysis, which allow to test expected theoretical relationships and determine the contribution of each dimension by representing the reliability of the construct and the outcome variables (Malhotra, 2009). Next, PLS can be used in a situation with multiple independent variables. It can measure two types of constructs - reflective and formative (Hair, Sarstedt, Hopkins and Kuppelwieser, 2014) and two models - the measurement model (outer model), which indicates the relationship between the observed indicators and the construct and the structural model (inner model), which indicates the relationship between the different constructs. Both models are linear equations which form the path model in PLS.
4. Results
In this chapter, the research sample will be described. Thereafter, the PLS-SEM model is specified and measurement- and structural model are analyzed. Finally, an overview of the findings will be given.
4.1 Sample descriptives
Firstly, to start with the analysis of the data, the collected data of 167 respondents was checked for missing values and outliers, and these responses were deleted from the dataset. In total 23 questionnaires were incomplete and therefore deleted from the dataset. None of the participants were younger than 18 years, which was one of the screening questions. This led to a final dataset of 144 (n=144) respondents. Secondly, the items IP4 and MT3 were recoded, since these were reversed questions.
4.2 Model analysis
A PLS-SEM analysis uses a two-step process, in which the measurement model and structural model are specified (Hair et al., 2014). The first step of this two-step process is the assessment of the measurement model (outer model). This model displays the relationship between the indicators (survey items) and variables (survey constructs) and measures the reliability and validity of the constructs with a factor analysis (Hair, Hult, Ringle & Sarstedt, 2016). If the measurement model is sufficient, the second step can take place. The structural model (inner model) resembles the conceptual model of this study and consists of a path model, in which the causal relationship between the different constructs is measured (Hair et al., 2016).
4.3 The measurement model
The sufficiency of the measurement model is tested by the convergent and discriminant validity. Where the convergent validity measures to which extent the indicators that belong to the same variable have a proportion of variance in common, the discriminant validity measures to which degree a construct is different from other constructs (Hair, Ringle and Sarstedt, 2011).
Besides, only deleting WR3 and both items IP2 and IP3 will lead to a significant increase in the AVE. Therefore, it is decided to retain the three indicators.
As a next step, the construct reliability of the model will be researched. Where Cronbach’s alpha is used in most of the researches, the Composite reliability will be used in the PLS-SEM method, since it leads to higher estimates of the actual reliability (Hair et al., 2011). As can be seen in Table 1 below, all the constructs show a value > 0.7, which means that all the constructs are internally consistent. Furthermore, the AVE of each construct is > 0.5.
Cronbach’s
Alpha rho_A Composite reliability Average Variance Explained Convenience Orientation 0.917 0.918 0.947 0.857 Price-consciousness orientation 0.831 1.062 0.916 0.845 Immediate possession 0.746 0.984 0.822 0.546 Variety seeking 0.795 0.966 0.901 0.821 Shopping-enjoyment orientation 0.803 0.849 0.880 0.710
Impulse buying orientation 0.847 0.903 0.906 0.763
Ease of use of mobile technologies
0.868 1.039 0.906 0.763
Ease of use of eWOM 0.882 0.931 0.912 0.722
Webrooming intention 0.606 0.688 0.790 0.565
Table 1: Internal consistency and reliability of the constructs
square root of the AVE can be found on the diagonal and it can be concluded that the Fornell and Larcker (1981) requirement is met. Since the constructs are measured by effective indicators, it can be concluded that the measurement model is sufficiently strong and it is appropriate to continue with the second step: the structural model.
CO PO IP VS SEO IBO MT OR WR CO 0.926 PO 0.097 0.919 IP 0.088 -0.128 0.739 VS -0.032 0.320 0.019 0.906 SEO -0.386 0.050 0.181 0.130 0.843 IBO -0.058 -0.016 0.180 0.130 0.428 0.874 MT 0.128 -0.045 0.076 0.052 -0.037 0.044 0.873 OR 0.127 0.125 -0.011 0.190 0.039 0.085 0.051 0.849 WR -0.246 -0.161 0.301 0.118 0.279 0.057 0.128 -0.024 0.753 Table 2: Discriminant validity of the constructs
4.4 The structural model
Webrooming intention Convenience Orientation 1.393 Price-consciousness orientation 1.437 Immediate possession 1.153 Variety seeking 1.469 Shopping-enjoyment orientation 1.692
Impulse buying orientation 1.575
Ease of use of mobile technologies 1.126
Ease of use of eWOM 1.321
Table 3: Inner Variance Inflation Factors (VIF) of the constructs
Secondly, bootstrapping was used to calculate the path coefficients. The bootstrapping method creates subsamples with randomly drawn observations from the original dataset (Hair et al., 2014). The number of subsamples need to be large (5000 were created) to ensure stability of the results. Before the bootstrapping analysis can be performed, several interaction effects need to be created to test for the hypothesized moderating effects. With the product indicator approach, all the possible item combinations are used and the combinations subsequently serve as a new indicator for the interaction effect (SmartPLS, 2015).
H2c: IBO → WR -0.097 -0.050 0.101 0.961 0.337 H3: MT → WR 0.052 0.066 0.093 0.559 0.576 H4: OR → WR 0.027 0.021 0.104 0.263 0.793 Moderating effect: CO_MT → WR 0.064 0.075 0.130 0.490 0.624 Moderating effect: PO_MT → WR -0.139 -0.111 0.100 1.391 0.164 Moderating effect: IP_MT → WR 0.101 0.048 0.157 0.645 0.519 Moderating effect: VS_MT → WR 0.061 0.062 0.105 0.582 0.561 Moderating effect: SEO_MT → WR -0.127 0.021 0.161 0.791 0.429 Moderating effect: IBO_MT → WR -0.069 -0.082 0.107 0.644 0.520 Moderating effect: CO_OR→ WR 0.011 -0.016 0.132 0.082 0.935 Moderating effect: PO_OR→ WR -0.023 -0.026 0.127 0.180 0.857 Moderating effect: IP_OR → WR 0.130 0.105 0.142 0.918 0.359 Moderating effect: VS_OR → WR -0.044 0.004 0.101 0.439 0.661 Moderating effect: SEO_OR → WR -0.094 -0.109 0.125 0.752 0.452 Moderating effect: IBO_OR → WR 0.031 0.030 0.121 0.254 0.799
Table 4: Path coefficients Note: *** p<0.01, **p<0.05, *p<0.1
and H2b (shopping enjoyment orientation on webrooming intention). Furthermore, the effect of immediate possession on webrooming intention (H1c) is significant at a 95% significance level. Finally, it can be concluded that no significant effects were found for the moderating variables and interaction effects. The hypotheses and corresponding findings can be found in Table 5 below.
Hypothesis
Findings H1a: Convenience orientation is negatively related to webrooming intention Confirmed H1b: Price consciousness orientation is negatively related to webrooming
intention
Rejected
H1c: Immediate possession is positively related to webrooming intention Confirmed H2a: Variety seeking is positively related to webrooming intention Rejected H2b: Shopping enjoyment orientation is positively related to webrooming
intention
Confirmed
H2c: Impulse buying orientation is negatively related to webrooming intention Rejected H3: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a positive effect on the
direct relation between shopping motivation and webrooming intention
Rejected
H3a: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a positive effect on the direct relation between convenience orientation and webrooming intention
Rejected
H3b: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a positive effect on the direct relation between price-consciousness orientation and webrooming intention
Rejected
H3c: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a negative effect on the direct relation between immediate possession and webrooming intention
Rejected
H3d: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a positive effect on the direct relation between variety seeking and webrooming intention
Rejected
H3e: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a positive effect on the direct relation between shopping enjoyment orientation and webrooming intention
Rejected
H3f: The ease of use of mobile technologies will have a negative effect on the
H4: The ease of use of eWOM will have a positive effect on the direct relation
between shopping motivation and webrooming intention Rejected H4a: The ease of use of eWOM will have a positive effect on the direct relation
between convenience orientation and webrooming intention Rejected H4b: The ease of use of eWOM will have a positive effect on the direct relation
between price-consciousness orientation and webrooming intention Rejected H4c: The ease of use of eWOM will have a negative effect on the direct relation
between immediate possession and webrooming intention
Rejected
H4d: The ease of use of eWOM will have a positive effect on the direct relation between variety seeking and webrooming intention
Rejected
H4e: The ease of use of eWOM will have a positive effect on the direct relation between shopping enjoyment orientation and webrooming intention
Rejected
H4f: The ease of use of eWOM will have a negative effect on the direct relation between impulse buying orientation and webrooming intention
5. Conclusion
5.1 Discussion
The aim of this study was to expand the literature on webrooming behaviour and to get a better understanding on how the different shopping motivations (convenience orientation, price-consciousness orientation, immediate possession, variety seeking, shopping enjoyment orientation and impulse buying orientation) and the influence of mobile technologies and eWOM affect this intention to webroom. With the PLS-SEM method, the hypotheses were tested.
First, regarding the results, convenience orientation showed a significant effect on webrooming intention. Therefore, hypothesis 1a will be confirmed. This negative effect is in line with earlier findings on this phenomenon (Aw, 2019; Heitz-Spahn, 2013; Kim et al., 2019). Consumers who are looking for efficiency and an effortless and quick shopping procedure (Schröder and Zaharia, 2008; Wagner and Rudolph, 2010) are less likely to switch from the online to the offline channel (Rohm and Swaminathan, 2004), since switching to a physical store reduces the efficiency in terms of investing time and effort.
Therefore, with durable products, it is very likely that consumers also will go to the physical store from the beginning of the shopping trip onwards.
Third, this study found that immediate possession has a significant effect on webrooming intention, which lead to accepting hypotheses 1c. This positive relation was also found by Boardman and McCormick (2014) and Aw (2019), who researched this phenomenon among different age groups. Since the product delivery time for an online channel is higher, consumers who want to use or obtain their product immediately will switch to the physical store (Boardman and McCormick, 2018; Rohm and Swaminathan, 2004).
Fourth, the impact of variety seeking on the consumer’s intention to webroom is insignificant. Therefore, the assumed hypothesis 2a will be rejected. A possible explanation for this insignificant finding is given by Ratner and Kahn (1999), who argue that consumers sometimes seek a variety of products in public to appear more interesting for others, where they would not show this behaviour in a private setting when they search for products online. Besides, Sela, Hadar, Morgan and Maimaran (2019) show that consumers often choose distinctive and rare options or a variety of products and brands to signal expertise. Since the variety of products online is very broad, it is possible that consumers will stick to the online channel during the search and purchase process.
Sixth, the impact of impulse buying orientation on consumer’s intention to webroom is insignificant, which lead to rejection of hypothesis 2c. A possible explanation for this insignificant finding is the use of durable products in the questionnaire. Purchasing a durable product is most often related to a higher risk and therefore associated with a higher level of product involvement. This high involvement is in turn related to a lower level of impulse buying behaviour (Drossos, Kokkinaki, Giaglis and Fouskas, 2014).
have the most impact on consumers, since the strength of the review increased and systematic processing is activated. Furthermore, it turns out that star ratings are easier to process and will have a stronger influence on the decision making process than numerical ratings (Nazlan, Tanford and Montgomery, 2018).
5.2 Theoretical implications
5.3 Managerial implications
With the above-mentioned obtained results, insights on which shopping motivations and technologies are important for consumers during their shopping trip can be given. The results show that the effect of convenience orientation, immediate possession and shopping enjoyment orientation on webrooming intention is confirmed. This implies that consumers who value efficiency and a quick shopping procedure will not switch from the online to the offline channel. On the other hand, consumers who want to obtain or use the product immediately have a higher intention to webroom and thus switch from the online to the offline channel. This will be the same for consumers who gain enjoyment from switching between channels. By taking into account these aspects, managers of a company will be more likely to follow the consumer during their shopping trip and are able to effectively respond in time to consumer actions. Therefore, a main suggestion for managers would be to enhance the efficiency of a shopping trip, by implementing features such as shop-and-go instead of inhouse delivery or the set up of pick-up-points. This will ease the immediate possession and convenience principle even more and consumers are still able to switch between the channels to enlarge their shopping enjoyment orientation. However, the hypothesized moderating effects of both ease of use of mobile technologies and eWOM on webrooming intentions are rejected. Therefore, managers need to reconsider the use of mobile technologies and eWOM and need to do further research to gain a complete insight in the effectiveness and importance and to make a deliberate decision to take into account or incorporate these technologies into the business format or strategy.
5.4 Limitations and recommendations for future research
found to be effective with these small sample sizes, a larger and broader sample would increase the generalizability of the study. Besides, due to time and budget constraints and the chosen sampling method, the respondents mainly consists of students. If the sample was more diverse, regarding age, gender and education, the findings might be very different. Therefore, to generalize these results in the future, a more extensive and diverse sample is necessary.
Second, a quantitative method is used in this study to obtain the results. However, the use of secondary data, and lab- or field experiments in future research might give a more extensive insight in the relation between the shopping motivations and consumer’s webrooming intention. Besides, the independent- and moderating variables can be measured during the shopping trip, instead of at one specific moment in time.
Third, the focus of this research was on durable products, especially those bought in the last six months. The chosen timespan and product group might have had an influence on the obtained results. Future research can investigate the use of different product groups or the use of another timespan. Besides, the influence of gender might play a role in the level of shopping motivations used during the shopping trip. Since gender is not taken into account in this study, this effect can be considered as well in future research.
to be established in future research to investigate the influence of different kinds of online reviews on the intention to webroom.
Finally, the results are obtained during a period in the Netherlands, where the Coronavirus was present in the society. This might have had an influence on the answers participants gave on the questions in the survey, since shopping in a physical store was not possible at that time. Therefore, the results used for the data analysis can be biased and do not give a general overview. To generalize the results, this research should be performed again in a period without a worldwide pandemic.
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Appendix
Appendix A: Measurement items
Table 1: Measurement items
Variable Label Measurement item Source
Webrooming intention (WR)
WR1 I would search a durable product online and then
purchase it offline Arora, S., & Sahney, S. (2019)
WR2 I would search for a durable product through an online channel of a company, but purchase through the offline channel of another company
WR3 I always intend checking information about a durable product online before purchasing offline
Convenience orientation (CO)
CO1 When I shop, I want to find what I’m looking for in
the least amount of time Noble, S. M.,
Griffith, D. A., & Adjei, M. T. (2006).
CO2 I want to expend little effort when I shop
CO3 I want to shop in the least amount of time
Price-consciousness orientation (PO)
PO1 I often compare product prices across retailers to get
the lowest price Noble, S. M.,
PO2 I usually find myself price comparison shopping
PO3 I often find myself looking for the exact same product at different outlets to find the lowest price
Immediate possession (IP)
IP1 When I order a product I do not want to wait for it to
arrive Noble, S. M.,
Griffith, D. A., & Weinberger, M. G. (2005) IP2 When I purchase a product I want to use it
immediately
IP3 I would rather buy a product at a store than order it
in-home and wait for it to arrive
IP4 I do not mind ordering products through the Internet or catalogs and waiting for the product to arrive*
Variety seeking (VS)
VS1 I like to have access to many brands when I shop
Noble, S. M., Griffith, D. A., & Weinberger, M. G. (2005) VS2 I like to have access to a wide selection of products
Shopping enjoyment orientation (SEO)
SEO1 In-store shopping is generally a lot of fun for me
Noble, S. M., Griffith, D. A., & Weinberger, M. G. (2005) SEO2 I often visit shopping malls or markets just for
something to do, rather than to buy something specific
SEO3 I enjoy browsing for things in a store even if I can not
buy them yet
Impulse buying orientation (IBO)
IBO1 I tend to spend money without thinking Martos-Partal, M., & González-Benito, Ó. (2013)
IBO2 I often buy things just because I see it on store shelves
IBO3 I spend more money at the store than I intend
Ease of use of mobile
technologies (MT)
MT1 If I heard about a new mobile technology, I would look for ways to experiment with it
Agarwal, R., & Prasad, J., 1998; Goldsmith, R. E., & Hofacker, C. F. (1991) MT2 Among my peers, I am usually the first to try out new
MT3 In general, I am hesitant to try out new mobile
technologies*
MT4 I like to experiment with new mobile technologies
Ease of use of
eWOM (OR) OR1 Accessing reviews online helps gain knowledge about how a product works Arora, S., & Sahney, S. (2019)
OR2 Accessing reviews online helps reduce the risk of
making a purchase decision
OR3 I make more knowledgeable and informed decisions
after accessing online reviews
OR4 Accessing reviews online helps me check product
features and functions
OR5 Reviews online help me judge the quality of products
* Reversed item
Appendix B: Online survey - English version Dear participant,
The study will take approximately 5 till 10 minutes. By filling in this survey, please rely on your first impression. Your participation is on a voluntary basis and you can withdraw at any given time. Furthermore, the results are anonymous and will only be used for this research.
Thank you very much for taking the time to complete this survey.
New page
Demographics
Q1. What is your gender? ● Male
● Female ● Other Q2. What is your age?
Q3. What is the highest level of education you achieved? ● High school graduate
● MBO ● Bachelor HBO ● Master HBO ● Bachelor WO ● Master WO ● PhD New page
