Let me Entertain You – the Influence of Augmented Reality on Purchasing Intention in E-Commerce

Augmented reality (AR) in e-commerce helps consumers to envision products in their respective surroundings, so fosters customer experience. Our online experiment with 302 probands explores the effect of AR on purchasing intention, taking into account motivational variables—perceived usefulness, entertainment and perceived ease of use (PEOU). Consumers viewing products in an AR-enabled online shop rated perceived usefulness, entertainment and PEOU significantly higher than the control group viewing the non-AR-enabled online shop. Performing mediation analysis, we found that AR significantly influences purchase intention, which is mediated by perceived entertainment. Our findings add to the understanding of the interplay of the motivational variables perceived usefulness, entertainment and PEOU as well as the impact of AR on customer decision making. From a managerial point of view, our findings suggest that in the current stage of the technology, AR is perceived as a playful add-on to online shopping, positively impacting purchase intention

The social side of brick and mortar: the impact of brand-related user-generated content on different consumer typologies in food retailing

Social media influences most off-line purchasing decisions, thereby impacting the relationship between retailers and (prospective) customers. User-generated content (UGC) is a means of engaging with consumers and shaping their trust perception and loyalty. Based on a sample of 967 food retail customers, we identify four segments into which brand-related UGC consumers can be categorized: Brand Lovers, True-Blues, Detached Customers, and Confiding Customers. These clusters are distinct in terms of trust toward brand-related UGC, loyalty, brand-related UGC involvement, and demographics. Our findings add to the understanding of digital content marketing consequences by mapping four different brand-related UGC consumer typologies. From a managerial point of view, our findings suggest how to best engage with the determined consumer typologies and highlight the importance of social media for off-line businesses

Deal or No Deal? - Asessing the Daily Deal Shopper

We build upon previous work done in online shopping segmentation but follow a customer-revealed approach by using an explorative cluster analysis on a sample of 11,848 daily deal shoppers located in Switzerland. We identify six segments into which the daily deal shoppers can be categorized: recreational shoppers, mobile shoppers, traditionalists, bargain hunters, socializers, and convenience seekers. These clusters are distinctively different in terms of shopping motives, online behavior, and demographics. By following these clusters, our research maps for the first time the field of daily deal shopping in Switzerland. Our findings have implications for business, as they suggest how to best serve different segments to enhance the customer experience, and for research, as they complement daily deal literature by identifying daily deal shopper segments