How online shopping experiences shape consumer webrooming behavior

Abstract

PurposeDue to increasing use of the Internet to purchase products, this article aimed to investigate how poor experiences during online purchases lead consumers to perform webrooming.Design/methodology/approachThe authors performed three laboratory experiments and analyzed secondary data to investigate this issue.FindingsThe findings revealed that (a) poor online experiences increased consumers' intentions to perform webrooming (studies 1, 2 and 3); (b) frustration is a mechanism that explains why consumers choose to perform webrooming in the same or rival stores (Studies 1, 2 and 3); (c) Perceived channel integration increases consumer's intentions to perform webrooming in the same retailer (study 3).Originality/valueThis research contributes to webrooming literature by highlighting one more antecedent of this behavior and its psychological mechanism. To the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first one shedding light on the differentiation between webrooming in the same or rival stores. The findings also complement omnichannel literature by exploring how poor experiences and frustration change channel preferences. Finally, the article demonstrated how managers could retain consumers by improving channel integration.