Beyond the storefront: empirical insights into consumers' responses to omnichannel apparel retailers

Abstract

Purpose

This research investigates apparel consumers' psychological and behavioral responses to omnichannel (OC) integration. Specifically, the study applies the cognitive–affective–conative (CAC) model to reveal consumers' decision-making process under the impact of channel integration quality (CIQ), perceived fluency (PF) and cognitive and affective trust (AT).

Design/methodology/approach

Primary data were collected through an online survey. In total, 657 eligible responses were received. This study applied partial least square structural equation modeling for data analysis.

Findings

The findings demonstrate that the extrinsic cognitive factor, CIQ, substantially affects consumers' intrinsic cognition (cognitive trust [CT] and PF), which consequently fosters consumers' AT and shopping intentions. Specifically, integrated promotion and transaction information positively affects CT, while integrated product and price and information access negatively impact CT. All the dimensions of CIQ, except integrated promotion (IP), significantly affect PF. CT and AT exhibit mediation effects in the CAC model.

Practical implications

Apparel brands and retailers may apply the findings to effectively design their retail channels and implement channel integration to boost consumers' shopping intentions and trust.

Originality/value

This study is one of the pioneering studies applying the CAC model to empirically examine OC consumers' decision-making process. It is also among the first to determine that cognitive and AT have theoretical distinctions in the OC retailing setting.