Tell me what they are like and I will tell you where they buy. An analysis of omnichannel consumer behavior

摘要

In the past, consumers used to go to brick-and-mortar stores togather information and often concluded their shopping there, with thephysical store probably being one of their few sources of productinformation. Nowadays, with the arrival of digital devices, the number ofsources of information has grown. Consumers tend to combine these withbrick-and-mortar establishments both to search and buy, leading to theemergence of omnichannel behavior. In this context, there is a lack ofresearch which considers online and mobile devices separately. The aim ofthe present study is to analyze how two individual traits -impulsivenessand need for touch- influence the use of each device in the omnichanneldecision-making process. Results from a sample of 284 real digital(online and/or mobile) shoppers of clothes confirm that personal traitsinfluence omnichannel consumer behavior. Results show that impulsiveshoppers make greater use of mobile devices whereas individuals with highneed for touch are more predisposed to use online devices in theiromnichannel process. Besides, the effect of individual demographics istaken into account. Finally, we discuss the paper's contributions andoutline the actions which managers can engage in so as to succeed inomnichannel retail.