Unpacking the Digital Consumer Mindset

Abstract

The digital economy is recasting global commerce. The digital drive is often attributed to millennial and Gen Z technology adoption, purchase power, and societal habits (urbanization and discretionary income). For e-commerce, when defined as the sale of physical product(s) mediated by a digital platform, the pivot point is the consumer mindset. The consumer mindset is the root cause of purchase intent. That collective demand spurs all levels of sellers (firm) to behavioral strategies aimed to complete the commerce circuit; a good or service is sought and sold. During the reign of retail, advances in consumer research and neuromarketing led to a deeper competence (never complete) of the consumer in the retail context, which led to successful strategies of the firm. The consumer mindset in the digital economy can prove vexing for the firm that cannot identify the new cognitive schemas that define the digital path to purchase. This chapter presents no original research but synthesizes the research, existing subject matter expert insight and direct industry experience to give vision to the emerging mindset of the digital consumer, the social context of e-commerce, and the imperative behavioral strategies of the firm in the digital economy.