Need For Touch Research Articles

Webrooming: A Way of Dealing with Uncertainties in Purchasing

Purpose – This study aims to analyze ways in which uncertainty-related factors influence the intention of webrooming, a cross-channel buying behavior. The authors suggest that four factors (uncertainty avoidance, risk aversion, anticipated regret, and the need for touch) differ in their nature and, therefore, may exert different (direct or indirect) influence on the webrooming intention. Design/Methodology/Approach – The SEM analysis was applied to online survey data obtained in Lithuania. Findings and implications – The study confirms that uncertainty avoidance and risk aversion, as quite broadly conceptualized factors, have an indirect influence on the webrooming intention that is mediated by Internet mavenism. As anticipated regret is a more transaction-related factor, its influence on the webrooming intention is direct. Due to its specific nature, the need for touch has both direct and indirect influence on the webrooming intention. These findings contribute to filling the gaps in scientific knowledge in two ways. First, the study makes the first attempt to categorize uncertainty-linked antecedents in webrooming context and then assess the type of influence they exert. Second, it shows the direction and strength of the measured relations in the context of apparel product category. Additionally, it has managerial implications for retailing: cross-channel behavior in this category is largely triggered by uncertainty-related factors. Limitations – Webrooming intention was assessed only in one product category (apparel). Search results should be broadened to include other product categories. Moreover, the uncertainty-related factors of webrooming intention should be tested together with other types of factors that are important for this intention. Originality – The variety of factors used to investigate the influence on webrooming intention is quite broad. This study aims to acknowledge the influence of uncertainty-related factors on webrooming intention. Currently, scientific knowledge on this relationship is rather scarce.

Look but Don’t Touch! The Impact of Active Interpersonal Haptic Blocking on Compensatory Touch and Purchase Behavior

This research investigates situations in which frontline employees deliberately restrict customers’ access to touch products on display (active interpersonal haptic blocking), and how this understudied form of sensory blocking may increase customers’ downstream purchasing. While previous research examines the benefits of increased product touch, we temporarily block touch for specific products in display areas and then investigate the subsequent impact on customer behavior. Through four studies, including a retail field experiment, we find that when an employee asks a customer not to touch a product on display, this initiates a serial mediation process which: (1) engenders feelings of psychological reactance that result in (2) increased compensatory touching of subsequently encountered products to counterbalance a loss of sensory freedom, and (3) increased spending and purchasing once the customer leaves the reactance-inducing encounter. Effects are moderated by socioeconomic status (SES) and need for touch (NFT) whereby psychological reactance was significantly stronger for high SES customers with a moderate or high NFT when actively blocked. Results also demonstrate that active interpersonal haptic blocking does not result in more negative attitudes toward retailers, thus retailers might consider implementing this counterintuitive practice to encourage downstream sales.

Haptic information processing and need for touch in product evaluation

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effects of purchase environment, product type and need for touch (NFT) on cognitive response, affective response and overall product evaluation in the USA and India. Design/methodology/approach Two experiments were conducted in two different consumer markets. In Study 1, participants evaluated haptic and non-haptic products and gave responses on cognitive response, affective response and overall product evaluation measures in the US market. In Study 2, the authors replicate Study 1 in a culturally different market of India and extend Study 1 by examining the moderating role of instrumental and autotelic dimensions of NFT on the effect of purchase environment on cognitive and affective responses. Findings Research findings suggest that cognitive and affective responses are the underlying mechanism between the purchase environment and overall response only for haptic product among Indian consumers. In contrast, affective response is the underlying mechanism explaining this relationship among US consumers. Furthermore, the instrumental dimension of NFT moderates the impact of purchase environment on cognitive but the autotelic NFT moderates the effect of purchase environment on affective response only for the haptic product but not for the non-haptic product. Research limitations/implications The study uses a relatively homogenous sample in the Indian market in contrast to the US market. Practical implications Results advance the understanding of the importance of haptic information processing in consumer decision-making across different purchase environments, product types and NFT using psychological distance (proximity) as a theoretical underpinning. With non-haptic shopping environments (i.e. online and mobile) growing rapidly, the results have critical implications for development of marketing strategies in Asian and US markets. Originality/value Empirical research examining the underlying mechanism by which purchase environment influences overall evaluation for haptic product is scarce. Additionally, understanding of the differential roles of instrumental and autotelic dimensions of NFT on cognitive and affective responses is very limited. This research fills this void and provides an understanding of the specific environment in evaluating haptic and non-haptic products in two distinct markets.

Product touch in the real and digital world: How do consumers react?

This research examines how touching (versus not touching) tactile-functional products—namely those that provide a tactile feedback related to their utilitarian characteristics—affects these products’ expected ease of use, as well as consumers’ attitudes and intentions toward them. Three experimental studies investigated these effects by focusing on consumer electronics. Study 1 shows that product touch positively affects consumer attitude toward tactile-functional products via an increase of said products’ expected ease of use. Study 2 reveals that such an effect is moderated by consumers’ instrumental need for touch, that is, their propensity to touch products for diagnostic reasons. Study 3 demonstrates that even the mere imagination of product touch (vicarious touch) can boost the expected ease of using tactile-functional products and consumers’ intentions toward them. Thus, traditional and online retailers should be aware of the importance of actual and imagined product touch when striving to effectively market such products.

GİYİM ALIŞVERİŞİNDE ÇEVRİMİÇİ VE ÇEVRİMDIŞI KANAL TERCİHİNİ BELİRLEYEN UNSURLAR

Tüketiciler fiziksel mağazalara (çevrimdışı kanallar) ek olarak web siteleri, mobil uygulamalar veya sosyal ağlara (çevrimiçi kanallar) yöneldikçe, kanal tercihlerini tahmin etmek için hangi özelliklerin kullanılabileceğini anlamak, hem giyim markaları hem de tüketici araştırmacıları için oldukça önemli hale gelmiştir. Buradan hareketle bu çalışma, tüketicilerin kanal tercihini tahmin etmek maksadıyla moda yenilikçiliği, moda ilgilenimi, moda fikir liderliği, dokunma ihtiyacı, çevrimiçi güven ve demografik özelliklerden hangisinin kullanılabileceğini belirlemeyi amaçlamaktadır. 187 katılımcıdan elde edilen verilerin yapısal model değerlendirmesini takiben, hipotezler Çoklu Ayırma Analizi ve Ki-Kare Testi ile test edilmiştir. Bulgular, moda ilgilenimi, dokunma ihtiyacı ve çevrimiçi güvenin, hem çevrimiçi hem çevrimdışı kanalları tercih eden tüketicileri sadece çevrimdışı kanal tercih eden tüketicilerden ayırt edebileceğini ortaya koymaktadır. Öte yandan, tüketicilerin giyim alışverişindeki kanal tercihi ile demografik göstergeler arasında bir ilişki tespit edilmemiştir.

Online shopping environments and consumer’s Need for Touch

PurposeOnline shopping has become a commonplace thing nowadays as people can buy products from the comfort of their home. But such environments do not offer a complete sensory interaction as consumers are unable to touch products which is quite important for certain categories of products such as apparels. Therefore, in order to find whether every individual seeks touch equally, the purpose of this paper is to deal with the differences in an individual’s preferences for touch. The study also evaluates customer responses towards the introduction of touch-enabling technology which can, to some extent, compensate for the lack of touch. Lastly, the study includes customers’ views regarding showrooming and webrooming.Design/methodology/approachA total of 203 responses were received through online and offline questionnaires. The data were analysed using ANOVA, correlation and regression analysis through SPSS version 23.FindingsThe results revealed that gender influenced the Need for Touch (NFT) with women having higher NFT. The people who were high in NFT preferred to buy in-store, whereas their low NFT counterparts were comfortable with both online and in-store options. Lastly, it was found that there was a significant impact of NFT on online buying behaviour. The new technology when used by online retailers would break the barriers that exist between real touch and virtual touch.Originality/valueAlthough previous authors have given several options like mental representations, verbal details and brand image as alternatives to touch but the use of touch-enabling technology can revolutionise the way online products are perceived. The study adds value by relating NFT with online preferences, showrooming and webrooming.

Do Visual and Haptic Cues Affect Taste?

Previous studies have found that touch input influences customer attitudes and behavior; however, most research in this area has focused on diagnostic rather than nondiagnostic input. The concept is that the perceptual transfer of haptic cues is from the product container to evaluation of the product itself. Two studies were conducted. The study1 (75 participants) tested whether high- or low-autotelic NFT consumers tended to incorporate haptic cues into their product evaluations. The study2 (153 participants) examined whether haptic cues influenced taste effects through the moderating role of the visual cues. In addition, this study also examined the moderating role of visual cues with 2 languages (Japanese and Chinese) in product packaging. The analysis was conducted using ANOVA. The experimental findings suggest that haptic and visual cues affect quality evaluations, brand attitudes, and purchase intentions. In addition, visual cues and the autotelic need for touch moderate the relationship among haptic cues, quality evaluations, and brand attitudes. The results have implications for product and packaging designers, not only regarding material attributes but also on the visual presentation of products.
 
 Keywords: Visual cues, Autotelic need for touch, Brand attitudes, Purchase intentions, Quality evaluation.
 
 
 To cite this document: Mehmet Fang-Ping Chen, Hsiang Chen, Hsiao-Chi Hou, Wenchang Fang, " Do Visual and Haptic Cues Affect Taste?", International Journal of Electronic Commerce Studies, Vol.15, No.1, pp.25-51, 2019.
 
 Permanent link to this document:
 https://doi.org/10.7903/cmr.18814

Does need for touch matter in the context of apparel online shopping? - Compensatory role of online aesthetic and instrumental cues -

The purpose of this study is to examine the compensatory role of instrumental (e.g., product information) and aesthetic (e.g., website background) online cues presented within apparel websites where touch is unavailable. The moderating role of two need for touch (NFT) dimensions (i.e., autotelic and instrumental NFT) between online cues and consumer responses was also investigated. Results demonstrate that personal differences in autotelic and instrumental NFT moderate the relationship between online cues and affective responses. It was found that consumers high in autotelic NFT (i.e., who need to touch for fun) seek more instrumental cues to compensate for lack of touch when shopping apparel products online. Surprisingly, consumers high in instrumental NFT (i.e., who need to touch for product evaluation) use aesthetic as well as instrumental cues to supplement the absence of touch. In contrast, for the low NFT groups, only aesthetic online cues showed significant effects on consumer arousal. Further analysis shows that instrumental NFT is negatively related to purchase intention while autotelic NFT has a positive effect on purchase intention. This implies that need for hedonic-oriented touch is no longer a barrier for online apparel shopping. However, the instrumental NFT seems a significant obstacle for the adoption of online apparel purchasing.

Insights on Consumer Online Purchase Decisions of Women’s Footwear

Abstract Shoes are probably one of the most difficult products to sell online due to the high need-for-touch (NFT) displayed: people need to experiment the product before buying it, more than in any other item. On another hand, women are more prone than men to buy fashion and apparel products through the web channel. This paper investigates the factors driving women consumers to shop footwear products online. A qualitative research method was used grounded on semi-structured, in-depth interviews that were conducted to corroborate the constructs defined in the proposed conceptual model namely: convenience, recreation, NFT and social e-shopping. The interviews were focused on the demand side to understand the female consumers’ perspective and on the top managers of women’s shoes companies representing the suppliers’ viewpoint. The results show that women highly appreciate the convenience that shopping shoes online provides as well as its recreational nature. The NFT also stands out in the shoe market context mainly due to the particularities related to shoe size. Additionally, social e-shopping was found not be as important for women as anticipated as they see social networks more as a communication platform for brands, and less as a factor that influences their predisposition to shop shoes online. On the suppliers’ side, the interviews revealed that managers believe in bloggers and social media influence and its consideration as part of the overall marketing strategy.

Sensory stimulation for sensible consumption: Multisensory marketing for e-tailing of ethical brands

Amidst strong competition and lack of resources and functional superiority, ethical brands may seek an experiential approach to marketing online. A between-subjects online experiment (N = 308) shows that ethically-congruent visual and auditory cues, and a tactile priming statement, positively influence consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for an ethical brand online. Altruistic and Biospheric value-orientation (ALTBIO) and Need for Touch (NfT) were considered as moderators to account for specific segments. For consumers with high ALTBIO, the effects of visual and auditory cues are mediated by Consumer Perceived Brand Ethicality (CPBE). Tactile priming has a significant effect only for consumers with high NfT. However, the interaction between the three cues has a positive effect on WTP irrespective of CPBE, ALTBIO, and NfT. Findings illustrate multisensory marketing's efficacy in fostering sensible consumption (considerate of natural and societal environments and their inhabitants) online for the mass-market and specific segments by creating an experiential customer judgement-context.

Distal and proximal predictors of food personality: An exploratory study on food neophilia

‘Food-related personality traits’, or simply ‘food personality’, is emerging as a new stream of research that investigates individual differences in terms of food preferences. There have already been some attempts within the literature to conceptualize the multidimensional construct of food personality, and some outcomes of food personality have also been studied. However, we have limited knowledge of the psychological antecedents of food personality. In this short communication, using survey data from 1006 Turkish consumers, we conduct an exploratory study of the distal and proximal predictors (i.e. psychological traits and other individual differences stemming from traits) of one dimension of food personality, namely food neophilia. Our findings suggest that promotion focus and materialism are proximal predictors of food neophilia, and openness to experience, extraversion, need for cognition and need for touch are distal predictors that have indirect effects on food neophilia through promotion focus and materialism.

Shopping for products in a virtual world: Why haptics and visuals are equally important in shaping consumer perceptions and attitudes

Although touchscreens are quickly becoming the primary means of accessing content online, research into influences of touch interfaces on online consumer perceptions and behaviors is at present limited. This study investigated whether varying the degree of interface touch (i.e., ‘direct’ touchscreen vs. ‘indirect’ mouse) elicits differences in perceived psychological ownership and endowment of chosen products – taking into account potential moderating roles of object interactivity (i.e., static 2D vs. rotating 360° 3D product images) and autotelic “Need For Touch” [NFT], as well as additional effects on online shopping enjoyment. Findings from an online grocery shopping experiment confirm a meaningful interaction between touchscreen interfaces and high interactivity images in increasing ownership feelings and subsequent product valuations across food product types. Results showed no evidence for a main effect of interface touch nor moderating role of autotelic NFT on perceived psychological ownership. However, both interface touch and object interactivity predicted online shopping enjoyment independent of product category, with individuals – especially those high in autotelic NFT – experiencing greater enjoyment within the touchscreen and high interactivity conditions respectively.

The Effect of Psychological Traits, Compulsive Behavior and Techno Stress on Smartphone Usage

This paper presents the focus effects on four psychological traits which are locus of control, social interaction anxiety, the need for touch and materialism without considering the gender as indirect effect that can influence the compulsive usage and technostress. The proposed model has been empirically tested using collected data from a survey selected sample of respondents. The survey consists of questionnaire responded by 180 students with 90 % response rate among students in UiTM Puncak Perdana that located in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Data was analyzed by using descriptive analysis, correlation and multiples regression analysis other than common analysis technique. Findings indicated that all variables are positively associated with compulsive usage. Among them, there are three predictors have been identified which are locus of control (LOC), materialism (MAT) and need for touch (NFT) that contribute to more compulsive usage of smartphone. This findings contributed in terms of allowing us to understand the effects of psychological traits towards compulsive behavior and technostress. Besides, this study provides supplementary information which beneficial to the related industries, researchers and practitioners as discussed.

The Effect of Smartphone that Influence the Compulsive Usage among Students

This paper presents the effect that can influence the compulsive usage and technostress. The proposed model has been empirically tested using collected data from a survey selected sample of respondents. The survey consists of questionnaire responded by 180 students with 90 % response rate among students in UiTM Puncak Perdana that located in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Data was analyzed by using descriptive analysis, correlation and multiples regression analysis other than common analysis technique. Findings indicated that all variables are positively associated with compulsive usage. Among them, there are three predictors have been identified which are locus of control (LOC), materialism (MAT) and need for touch (NFT) that contribute to more compulsive usage of smartphone. This finding contributed in terms of allowing us to understand the effects of psychological traits towards compulsive behavior and technostress. The outcome of this paper provides supplementary information which beneficial to the related industries, researchers and practitioners as discussed.

Recent Development on the Effect of Smartphone Usage on Psychological Behavior

This paper presents the focus effects on four psychological traits which are locus of control, social interaction anxiety, the need for touch and materialism without considering the gender as indirect effect that can influence the compulsive usage and technostress. The proposed model has been empirically tested using collected data from a survey selected sample of respondents. Besides, this study provides supplementary information which beneficial to the related industries, researchers and practitioners as discussed. The purpose of this paper is to get more understanding and to expose related previous studies. This paper also explores the research framework of the study. In addition, the term used in this study will also be defined by understanding more about this research topic.

Need for touch and two-way communication in e-commerce

PurposeThe inability to touch products online is the top reason consumers list for preferring to shop in traditional brick and mortar versus e-commerce stores (Havas Worldwide, 2013). Need for touch (NFT) comprises autotelic and instrumental motives, which, respectively, relate to enjoyment and utility. This study aimed to examine how consumers’ NFT motives affect loyalty intentions toward e-commerce websites, both directly and as mediated by consumers’ level of technology acceptance (ease of use, enjoyment and perceived usefulness [PU]). The moderating effect of synchronous versus asynchronous two-way communication with sellers on the relationships among consumers’ NFT, acceptance of technology and loyalty intention was also examined.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted among consumers who had shopped from popular e-commerce websites chosen by this study within the 12 months prior to data collection.FindingsBoth types of NFT motives affected loyalty and technology acceptance. Specifically, autotelic NFT positively impacted perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived enjoyment (PE), whereas instrumental NFT negatively impacted PEOU, PE and loyalty intentions. Among the technology acceptance variables, PU had the strongest effect on loyalty intention. Tests of moderation revealed that high-quality, text-based synchronous communication (i.e. live chatting) with sellers can compensate for both autotelic and instrumental NFT.Originality/valueThis research shows how the inherent inability of e-commerce to meet consumers’ NFT stymies consumers’ e-commerce acceptance and affects their loyalty toward online retailers and examines strategies that e-commerce sites can use to compensate for this need.

부드러움 vs. 거침의 경험이 친사회적 행동에 미치는 영향 : 터치 욕구와 사회적 조정 수준을 중심으로

부드러움 vs. 거침의 경험이 친사회적 행동에 미치는 영향 : 터치 욕구와 사회적 조정 수준을 중심으로

To what extent does need for touch affect online perceived quality?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address the potential impact of need for touch (NFT) on perceived product quality and the possible roles of purchasers’ social (subjective norms), personal (buying impulsiveness) and epistemic (e-commerce orientation) factors, as well as the likely interaction effect of the shopping channel.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical study is based on 540 observations, analysed in a partial least squares structural equation model.FindingsThe link between the NFT and perceived quality tends to be negative, especially for online purchases. E-commerce orientation reduces the need to touch products, but subjective norms and buying impulsiveness have no significant effects.Research limitations/implicationsThe NFT scale might be improved by adding more items. Some of the structural model coefficients indicate a low effect size. Finally, the results are limited to Spanish purchasers of the focal product.Practical implicationsFirms should appeal to purchasers’ e-commerce orientation to reduce the negative implications of a need to touch products among consumers shopping online.Originality/valueThe need to touch a product may be an obstacle to online purchases, yet few studies deal with its impact in online, relative to offline, contexts to evaluate product quality. This study also integrates personal, social and epistemic factors.

The influence of online product presentation videos on persuasion and purchase channel preference: The role of imagery fluency and need for touch

The lack of physical contact between products and consumer represents a key characteristic of online environments that can influence consumer’s purchase behavior. In an effort to offer a close experience with the product, websites usually present vivid information in order to convince consumers about the goodness of their products. Vivid information is likely to prompt different aspects of the purchase process, like reduced feelings of uncertainty or a higher need for physical information. The goal of this research is twofold: first, we analyze how the presence and type of vivid information, in the form of product presentation videos (PPVs), affects consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions toward the product. Furthermore, we examine how the perceived ease of imagining the product evoked by vivid information mediates these effects. Second, we propose that individual differences, related to the consumer’s need of touching products, determine the impact of vivid information on the preferences toward the purchase channel (online or offline). The results of an experiment, which manipulated the presence and the style of PPVs, support the importance of vivid information in order to favor consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions, as well as to influence the relative preference for the purchase channel. Additionally, message and consumer characteristics are found as important factors that affect these relationships.

The Effect of Image Presentation method on Willingness to Pay: the Interaction of Need For Touch and Double Mediation Effect of Vividness of Mental Imagery and Decision Time

본 연구에서는 온라인 구매 환경에서 연구되는 개인차 요인 중 하나인 접촉욕구(Need-For-Touch: NFT) 수준과 환경적 요인인 상품의 이미지 제시방식이 상품에 대한 지불의사 가격(Willingness To Pay: WTP)에 미치는 영향을 살펴보았다. 또한 이미지 제시방식과 지불의사 가격의 관계를 심상선명도(Vividness of Mental Imagery: VMI)와 선택시간이 이중 매개함을 밝힘으로써 각 이미지 제시방식에 따른 지불의사 가격이 결정되는 과정을 살펴보았다. 실험 결과, 지불의사 가격은 이미지 제시방식, 접촉욕구 수준에 따른 상효작용 효과를 보였다. 접촉욕구가 높은 집단에서는 정적 이미지를 제시하였을 때 지불의사 가격이 높아짐을 알 수 있었고, 접촉욕구가 낮은 집단에서는 이미지 제시방식에 따른 지불의사 가격의 차이가 없음이 나타났다. 심상선명도와 선택시간의 이중매개효과를 살펴본 결과, ‘이미지 제시방식 → 심상선명도 → 선택시간 → 지불의사 가격’의 경로로 이미지 제시 방식과 지불의사 가격 사이를 매개 하였다. 즉, 정적 이미지의 경우 덜 생생한 심적 이미지(심상선명도)를 형성하고, 그에 따라 심사숙고 시간(선택시간)이 길어지면서 지불의사 가격이 증가하는 것으로 보인다.