A Study on Need for Touch and Haptic Imagery in Online Shopping Environments
Park, Minjung · 소비자학연구 · 2009
In online shopping environments, the lack of direct sensory experience makes it difficult for apparel shoppers to assess product quality and make a purchase decision of a product. It is important to investigate the way to stimulate haptic imagery under the nontouch shopping media and to examine how individuals’ need for touch (NFT) influence haptic imagery processes and show different shopping behaviors. Therefore, the current research focuses on examining the roles of haptic imagery and NFT. The hypotheses of the study addressed the positive effect of haptic imagery on perceived product quality (H1), the positive effect of perceived product quality on behavioral intention (H2), and the moderating role of need for touch on the relationships among haptic imagery, perceived product quality, and behavioral intention (H3). A simulated online apparel shopping web experiment was conducted with a 3(pictorial information: low, medium or high haptic imagery) x 2(verbal information: low or high haptic imagery) between-subjects factorial design. American college women (N=639) participated in the experiment. The results of the study were summarized as followings: A structural equation modeling analysis revealed the positive relationships among haptic imagery (haptic imagery elaboration and vividness of haptic imagery), perceived product quality (performance, usefulness, aesthetics) and behavioral intention. Multiple sample analyses found that NFT moderates the relationships between perceived haptic imagery and perceived product quality. When high NFT people perceived haptic imagery elaboration, they highly perceived aesthetic quality of a product. On the other hand, when low NFT people perceived vividness of haptic imagery, they highly perceived usefulness and aesthetic quality of a product. The findings of the study suggested theoretical and managerial implications.