Effects of ‘feeling right’ about website cultural congruency on regular and mobile websites

Abstract

This research tests the notion that consumers misattribute feelings of certainty about their attitudes, or more broadly their ‘feeling right,’ to their attitudes about objects. Specifically, high (as compared to low) levels of website cultural congruity may induce greater certainty about consumers' attitudes toward retail websites, which affects the extremity of their attitudes toward the site as well as their purchase intentions. We test this issue experimentally by differentiating: (a) types of internet access devices (regular computers vs. touchscreen devices) and (b) reactions of ethnic majority (French) and ethnic minority (Maghrebian) consumers in France. The findings show that attitude certainty acts as a key mediator between website cultural congruity, attitudes toward the site and purchase intentions. The effects of website cultural congruity are stronger when consumers use touchscreen devices than regular computers, and stronger for French ethnic majority than for Maghrebian ethnic minority consumers.