Online Product Presentation Research Articles

Factors Influencing Online Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Attitude toward Online Shopping: An Empirical Study in Cosmetics Sector in Jordan

This study aims to determine the factors that influence online purchase intentions in the cosmetics sector in Jordan. The results showed that online sales promotion, electronic word-of-mouth, online product presentation and perceived risk have significantly influenced OPI and attitude towards online shopping, which mediates the relationship between independent variables and online purchase intention in the cosmetics sector in Jordan. The study recommends to examine the same factors in more sectors, as people in different sectors may have different characteristics and distinct behaviors; so, the findings may lack generalizability.

The invisible hand of touch: Testing a tactile sensation‐choice satisfaction model in online shopping

AbstractThis study tests a model of the relationship between online store sensory environments and consumer responses using the stimulus‐organism‐response paradigm. The aim is to (a) examine the ability of three online product presentation formats (OPPFs) to induce tactile sensations, (b) identify the effect of tactile sensations upon choice satisfaction, and (c) examine the mediating role of cognitive effort and affective experience. Videos are found to induce the greatest tactile sensations followed by zoom image, whereas static image is found to induce the least. Furthermore, the more tactile sensations consumers experience while shopping online, the higher their emotional experience, resulting in lower cognitive effort and higher consumer choice satisfaction. Affective experience is found to mediate the tactile sensations and choice satisfaction relationship. The original contribution of the research is a newly validated model of OPPFs, tactile sensations, customer experience, and choice satisfaction that extends theoretical understanding of variables previously untested.Practical applicationsThe study offers practical results from which small to medium sized, or new start‐up, online clothing retailers can benefit. The study shows the advantages of using OPPFs such as videos and zoom images on retail websites to assist shoppers by enhancing the sensory buying experience. Such online retailers may not be able to afford the investment in more complex and costly advanced technologies such as the use of augmented reality in virtual mirroring. The study shows that when online retailers provide videos and/or zoom images on their websites, they allow shoppers to experience greater tactile sensations while evaluating and selecting a product compared to only being able to view it as a static image. Online clothing retailers can continue to rely on these technologies to compensate shoppers for the lack of touch in the online shopping context, which is so important when purchasing clothing.

Understanding the impact of augmented reality product presentation on diagnosticity, cognitive load, and product sales

Augmented reality (AR) enhances consumers’ sensory responses to online product presentations, providing a more immersive experience. In online marketplaces, the utilization of various sensory modalities for product representation proves valuable for consumers’ evaluations. To investigate the impact of AR interfaces on human cognition, we developed a mobile AR app and conducted an experiment. Subjects tested the app, equipped with AR capabilities, alongside traditional two-dimensional (2D) representations for various product types. Our findings reveal that, in comparison to conventional 2D presentations, AR affordances significantly enhance consumers’ perceived product diagnosticity. Notably, this effect is more pronounced for technology products. Additionally, our research indicates that AR interfaces may contribute to an increased perceived cognitive load. In a second study, we conducted a natural experiment using AR-enabled Amazon products to explore the influence of AR interfaces on purchase decisions. For technology products, we observed a substantial increase in product sales when utilizing AR for online presentations. This research makes a valuable contribution to the mobile commerce literature, offering insights to retailers about the efficacy of AR interfaces in the realm of mobile shopping.

Do customers evaluate the competence of SME retailers and retail chains differently in the context of online product presentations?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which customers evaluate inferior product presentations on a local shopping platform based on the retailer (small and medium-sized enterprise [SME] vs retail chain).Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a between-subject online study (N = 728) with a 2 (SME vs retail chain) x 2 (high vs low-quality product presentation) between-subject experimental design. The authors conducted several analyses of variance to analyze the hypotheses and analyses of covariance for a mediating effect.FindingsThis study's results show that customers tend to overlook inaccuracies from a retail chain more often than they overlook inaccuracies from SME retailers. The authors show that the perceived competence of the retailer mediates the impact of the retailer's quality on customer purchasing intentions, not only for the presented product but also for the retailer itself.Practical implicationsBased on this study's results, the authors give implications for retailer cross-channel strategies and hint at the importance of emphasizing the retail size.Originality/valueThis paper provides important contributions to the literature on resource-advantage theory by explaining that consumers perceive quality differences within product presentations on online shopping platforms differently with regard to retail chains vs SME retailers. Moreover, the information processing theory helps to provide a theoretical foundation concerning differences in online store quality (via engineered low- vs high-quality product presentations in this study).

Impact of online product presentation on sales: the effects of text-image introductory information and celebrity endorsements

PurposeProduct presentation plays a critical role in influencing consumers’ purchasing decisions in online shopping. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of text-image information on online product presentation pages on sales. This study also specifically explores the moderating role of celebrity endorsements in the relationship between text-image presentation information and sales.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on regression analysis using data sets from the largest online book retailer in China, Dangdang.com.FindingsThe results of this study show that there is an inverse U-shaped relationship between word count and book sales. Conversely, image quantity has a positive linear effect on book sales. Furthermore, celebrity endorsements moderate the relationship between word count and sales in two distinct ways. First, the positive effect of increasing word count from low to medium is enlarged by increasing the number of celebrity endorsers. Second, the turning point of the inverse-U relationship between word count and sales rank moves to the right as the number of endorsers increases.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to examine the effects of text-image quantity on sales across the full continuum. This study adds understanding on how information load might have distinct consequences on the processing performance of text and images. Furthermore, this study investigates how sales are impacted by the quantity of celebrity endorsers in relation to textual and pictorial information in online shopping contexts, extending our knowledge of the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements.

If I Feel It, I Desire It…: Harnessing Visual-induced Tactile Imagery for Enhancing Purchase Intention

How can marketers create an illusion of touch through expanding the roles of the visual sense to better present products on online shopping platforms? This study is a conceptual attempt to apply cross-modal mental imagery in the context of generating illusions of tactile sense through stimulating visual sense by the use of sensory-aided descriptions (SAD). We establish that these perceptual illusions can enhance the purchase intention of online shoppers when they are making purchases. Furthermore, we introduce that this linkage is moderated by the unique imaginative capability of the customer. The proposed model in this paper provides thoughtful insights for marketing managers to consider during the process of designing online product presentations. Theoretically, it contributes by establishing that cross-modal mental imagery, when applied over SAD, can serve as effective stimuli in the generation of tactile mental imagery.

The Relevance of Corporate Information Transparency of the Use and Handling of Customer Data in Online Product Presentations

ABSTRACT Many companies are seeking to balance between the use of information transparency to attract new customers by presenting themselves as open companies and the associated risk of losing customers, as disclosing certain information could trigger negative sentiments. Being transparent with certain information can make the potential buying process seem more incomprehensible to the customer. Most studies focus on different aspects of information disclosure in the case of product or price transparency. The impact of information transparency on data use and handling as well as the relevance of customers’ privacy concerns have often been disregarded. This study addresses the research questions of (1) how customers respond to a higher level of information transparency in the context of a service provider’s data use and handling in terms of purchase intention and willingness to pay and (2) the extent to which customer trust in a service provider has a significant mediating influence, and the associated privacy concerns a moderating influence, on the relationship between the level of information transparency of data use and handling and the customers’ purchase intention and willingness to pay. We base our study on the information processing model and privacy calculus theory and manipulate service providers’ communication on information transparency regarding data use and handling in online product presentations. In an online experiment (N = 142), it was found that an increase in information transparency triggers a decrease in the customers’ purchase intention and willingness to pay. Moreover, customers with high levels of privacy concerns seem to evaluate their purchase intention more critically when there was a low level of transparency, whereas, with a high level of transparency, customers with high and low privacy concerns hardly showed any difference. The results suggest that companies should communicate less about data use- and handling-related information when presenting products online.

How a blurry background in product presentation influences product size perception

AbstractThis study demonstrates a visual phenomenon in online product presentation: product size perception is influenced by the depth of field of the presentation image. Depth of field refers to how blurry or sharp the background around the focused subject is a shallow depth‐of‐field image result in a clear focused subject and a blurry background, while in a deep depth‐of‐field image, both the subject and the background are clear. One eye‐tracking study, three behavioral experiments, and one field study show that a shallow (vs. deep) depth‐of‐field product presentation (i.e., a clear product with a blurry background) increases consumers' product size perceptions. This effect is mediated by the greater attention allocated to the product and is moderated by product familiarity. Specifically, when product familiarity is low, consumer attention mediates the significant effect of depth of field on product size perception. However, when product familiarity is high, the effects of depth of field and consumer attention decrease. The current research contributes to the previous research on product presentation and product size perception by investigating the effect of a novel factor, the depth of field, on consumers' estimations of product size. Overall, the findings encourage online retailers to carefully adapt the depth of field technique in their product presentation according to their objectives (e.g., attract consumers' interest vs. provide accurate information) and consumers' familiarity with their products.

Effects of consumer characteristics and product presentations on online apparel impulse buying

ABSTRACT In the current study, we examined three consumer characteristics (i.e. perceived hedonic value of apparel, perceived symbolic value of apparel, and impulsive apparel shopping tendency) and ten online product presentation methods (i.e. organized product displays, attractive product displays, detailed product descriptions, large images, good quality pictures, products pictured from various angles, products pictured in all available colours, images that coordinate various items, helpful size charts, and a visual model) to understand the interactions between themselves and their relationships with online apparel impulse buying. The data were collected by an online survey that involved U.S. college students of ages 18 to 22 who had purchased apparel online within the past six months, and 262 useful responses were received. The results show that perceived hedonic value and symbolic value of apparel are antecedents of impulsive apparel shopping tendency. Impulsive tendency is a predictor of online apparel impulse buying. Three of the ten product presentation methods have both significant direct effects on online apparel impulse buying and moderating effects on the relationship between impulsive tendency and impulse buying. Four presentation methods do not have significant direct effects but have significant moderating effects, making the effect of impulsive tendency on impulse buying stronger.

User experience design approaches for accommodating high “need for touch” consumers in ecommerce

AbstractInability to touch physical products when shopping online may be an issue for consumers with a high “need for touch” (NFT), defined as preference for the extraction and use of haptic information. This study explores the inclusion of congruent auditory and visual haptic information in online product presentation videos as a user experience (UX)–design approach to compensate for the lack of touch in e‐commerce. A between‐subjects online experiment was conducted where participants (N = 183) evaluated variants in two product categories—kitchen knives and sweaters—in three conditions: static images, videos containing natural audio from the product interaction, and the same videos with a musical background. Product presentation was found to significantly affect perceived haptic properties (weight for the knives, softness for sweaters), perceived overall quality, perceptual discrimination and experienced task difficulty. Importantly, interactions between NFT and product category were identified: specifically, natural auditory haptic information improved the user experience of high NFT consumers in one product category (knives), but not the other (sweaters).Practical applicationsOverall, the present study demonstrates that auditory haptic information congruent with visual haptic information can improve the user experience of high NFT consumers in an online shopping context. However, the effectiveness of this UX‐design approach may be dependent on the product characteristics, in particular the salience of the instrumental (vs. autotelic) dimension of touch.

Mechanism Linking AR-Based Presentation Mode and Consumers’ Responses: A Moderated Serial Mediation Model

The technological development of online product presentation modes (e.g., augmented reality, virtual reality) will greatly impact the future of e-retailing. The potential benefits of applying these new technologies for e-retailers need further investigation. Based upon the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model, this study examines the effect of AR-based presentation modes on consumer patronage intention, with the mediating role of immersion, enjoyment, perceived product risk and attractiveness of the online store. Furthermore, it explores the moderating effect of technophilia that reflects consumers’ positive attitude towards technology. A single factor between-subject experiment study was conducted with a sample of 420 university students. Results suggest that the serial indirect effects of AR presentation on patronage intention through immersion/enjoyment/perceived product risk and attractiveness of online store are conditional upon the level of technophilia. Technophilia is a critical factor that explains consumers’ psychological and behavioral responses when they are using new technologies. The study provides new knowledge for e-marketing practitioners, as well as AR literature by indicating how and when new technology-based presentation works in evoking consumers’ patronage intention.

How highly creative product descriptions lead to attitude change: a dual-process model

ABSTRACT This study employs a heuristic-systematic model to examine the internal mechanisms responsible for the persuasiveness of text descriptions that are high (vs. low) in creativity, and their effect on consumers’ attitudes toward products. It also examines the moderating role of trust cues. We theorised and demonstrated via three between-subjects design experiments that text descriptions high in creativity can be perceived as providing a heuristic signal of style and systematic information regarding their content. Furthermore, perceived effort and perceived message strength mediated the persuasiveness of text descriptions high in creativity in parallel, as measured by consumers’ attitudes. Moreover, the positive valence of the mediating role depended on trust cues. The present study reveals a novel dual-process model of the persuasiveness of text descriptions high (vs. low) in creativity and identifies the boundary condition. The implications of these findings for consumer decision-making and firms seeking to manage online product presentation are discussed.

How Does Virtual Reality Matter? Evidence from an Online Real Estate Platform

Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging vision technology that constructs a simulated 3D environment to mimic the real world. The technique has been used as a tool for online product presentation, which enables consumers to obtain rich product information through interacting with the simulated interface. In recent years, VR has been adopted by leading online real estate platforms worldwide as a novel function for online house tours, referred to as VR Tour. In this study, we analyze the impact of VR Tour on properties’ selling time. Using data from a large online real estate platform in China, we conduct survival analyses and employ multiple identification strategies to investigate the impact of VR Tour. Our results show that VR Tour could significantly reduce the property’s selling time. Properties that support VR Tour benefit from both attracting consumers to their webpage through the display of a VR badge and sustaining consumers’ purchase interest after consumers exploit the VR Tour function and obtain property information. The effectiveness of VR Tour varies over time, with a deceleration effect on the selling process in the short run, but an acceleration effect in the long run. The temporal deceleration effect could attribute to consumers’ lack of experience in using the VR Tour function, hurting both the consumers’ purchase experience and the property’s selling process. Furthermore, we find a substitution effect of VR Tour over pictures on the property selling process, resulting in a longer selling time when more pictures are posted for VR-enabled properties. Our work provides insights into both VR literature and managerial practice.

What women want? How contextual product displays influence women’s online shopping behavior

A lack of touch and feel options inhibits online purchases; to enhance online product presentations, this study suggests a potential influence of rich contextual product displays, relative to plain white backgrounds. The results of five studies reveal that the product usage context influences purchase intentions among female customers. Women and men differ in their decision-making processes and evaluate different attributes and benefits prior to purchase. Displaying a product in a rich contextual setting appears to enhance women’s perceptions of emotional value, which heightens their purchase intentions. This article also explicates the additive effect of including contextual elements and confirms the robustness of these effects across product categories and price changes. These findings suggest various notable implications for academics and practitioners.

Effect of Online Product Presentation on the Purchase Intention of Wearable Devices: The Role of Mental Imagery and Individualism-Collectivism.

The main objective of this study was to investigate how and when online product presentation influences individual purchase intention of wearable devices in China. This study hypothesized that online product presentation would influence individual mental imagery, which, in turn, would impact purchase intention through perceived social risk and positive emotion, but this effect would be moderated by individualism–collectivism value at the individual level. We performed a laboratory experiment (2 × 2) to collect the data (N = 254). The experimental results indicated that there was a significant interaction effect between the product feature presentation video and usage scenario presentation picture on mental imagery. In addition to a direct effect, mental imagery had an indirect effect on purchase intention through perceived social risk and positive emotion. Additionally, the behavioral effect of perceived social risk was moderated by individualism–collectivism. Specifically, compared with individualists, perceived social risk had a stronger impact on collectivists’ purchase intention. This study contributes to a greater understanding of the mechanism through which online product presentation drives purchase intention, with a particular emphasis on how individualism–collectivism value at the individual level moderates consumers’ intention to purchase wearable devices.

Investigating online consumers’ responses to product presentation modes

Purpose With the proliferation of virtual reality (VR) applications in electronic commerce, investigations on the effects of VR on consumer responses are important. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of online presentation modes (i.e. situational VR, pure VR and picture) on consumer responses for three product types (i.e. geometric, material and mechanical). Design/methodology/approach This study conducted a 3×3 between-subjects experiment to validate the research model and hypotheses. Findings The results revealed that both the situational VR mode and the pure VR mode had a greater impact on product knowledge and purchase intention than the picture mode. The situational VR mode yielded a higher level of product knowledge and purchase intention than the pure VR mode although it was not statistically significant. Furthermore, the pattern of VR modes superiority was found to be consistent across geometric, material and mechanical product types. Originality/value This research study contributes to the VR literature by investigating a new type of VR: situational VR, and offering a more comprehensive picture of consumer responses to online product presentations. The authors then drew the implications from the findings to suggest guidelines for practitioners to efficiently allocate resources and maximize the effectiveness of online presentation modes.

How consumers form product quality perceptions in absence of fixed posted prices: Interaction of product cues with seller reputation and third-party reviews

The uncertainty about product quality has increased in online settings, and consumers' often use multiple product cues to assess product quality. The authors have tested the simultaneous effects of multiple product cues in Pay-what-you-want (PWYW) online settings. PWYW lacks posted prices and allows buyers to decide the prices. This paper investigates how consumers process multiple cues of varying diagnostic nature simultaneously and form product quality perceptions. Specifically, study 1 examines the interactions among seller reputation, online product presentation, and external reference price and study 2 examines the interaction effect of third-party reviews and online product presentation and the external reference price. The results add to the theoretical domain by suggesting that consumers' online cue processing behaviour is much more complicated than previously presented in the literature.

The impact of product presentation on decision-making and purchasing

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how apparel product presentation influences consumer decision-making and whether there are any differences between age groups.Design/methodology/approachA mixed methodology was used including eye-tracking and qualitative in-depth interviews, with a purposive sample of 50 participants between age 20 and 70.FindingsA higher number of product presentation features resulted in increased positive visual, cognitive and affective responses as consumers wanted as much visual information as possible to aid decision-making. Images of models attracted the most attention and were the most influential product presentation feature, followed by mannequin images and the zoom function. The 20 s spent much less time viewing and interacting with the product presentation features than middle age groups (30 s-50 s), had minimal fixations on mannequin images and had a much quicker decision-making process than other age groups.Practical implicationsThe research informs retailers which product presentation features are the most effective for their target market to aid consumer decision-making with the aim of reducing returns.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the literature by providing more in-depth insights than previous studies into the impact of online product presentation on consumer decision-making by using qualitative research and eye-tracking. The research also explores more product presentation features than previous research and investigates the presentation of apparel products, which are notoriously the most difficult products for consumers to assess online. The research is unique in its exploration of age differences in relation to product presentation features.

Try online before you buy: How does shopping with augmented reality affect brand responses and personal data disclosure

Abstract Augmented Reality (AR) enables consumers to virtually try products on their own face or surroundings in real time (e.g., make-up, furniture), which could help providing consumers a ‘try before you buy’ experience when shopping online. In an online experiment, we examined the potential positive and negative effects of online product presentation with AR, compared to two non-AR product presentations on a picture of the self or a model. Results suggest that AR enhances perceived informativeness and enjoyment of the shopping experience, as opposed to both non-AR product presentations. Consequently, perceived informativeness leads to a cognitive process which enhances purchase intention and willingness to share personal data with the brand, while perceived enjoyment leads to an affective process which enhances attitude towards the brand. At the same time, AR is perceived as more intrusive, but against expectations, this does not lead to any negative effects.

Determinants of online journey and its influence on online customer satisfaction associated with online customer loyalty

The purposes of this study are to identify the determinants of online journey and investigate its influence to online customer satisfaction and loyalty in the Indonesian online shop context. We develop the online journey model by Mangiaracina et al. (2009): site landing, product discovery, product presentation, cart management, and check-out. The delivery stages added to complete the journey. SEM analysis used to identify the positive influence of latent variables. The results showed that four stages of online journey had a significant positive effect on online customer satisfaction, i.e., product discovery, product presentation, cart management, and delivery. Moreover, online customer satisfactions influence the online customer loyalty significantly. It indicates that online journey important to consider in monitoring the online customer satisfaction and loyalty. The online shop companies can evaluate their service quality by online journey model. The magnitude of determinants influences can be indicator to set the customers experience improvement priorities.