Showrooming is a phenomenon that describes a consumer’s behavior of collecting information about a product or service in a physical store and purchasing it in an online store afterwards. For retailers, this behavior can be a major opportunity or thread. To give insights into the phenomenon the thesis aims to determine a) channel attributes that encourage or deject customers from attending showrooming and b) how customer characteristics distinguish showrooming customers from customers who did not purchase online?
An empirical study collected data of 334 respondents via an online questionnaire. 149 showroomers and 185 respondents who did not showroom during a recent product purchase were compared regarding their perceived difference of channel attributes in the offline and the online channel. Further, both groups were compared in various customer characteristics.
The results of the binary logistic regression reveal that among all observed channel attributes the difference in price, service, purchase convenience, enjoyment and risk perception between the online and offline shop have a significant impact on the likelihood of showrooming, whereas the assortment and after-sales services did not show significant impact. Among the observation of customer characteristics, a positive attitude towards free riding, towards shopping and retailer loyalty were found to have a significant impact on the showrooming likelihood. The internet experience and the level of price-consciousness showed no significant impact.
With the results, the thesis supports physical retail stores to adjust the design of channel attributes in order to avoid showrooming behaviors of their customers. It also helps retailers to identify customers that are more likely to attend showrooming and target them specifically to prevent them from attending showrooming.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Theoretical background of showrooming.
- 2.1 Shopping trends and behaviors related to showrooming...
- 2.1.1 Multi-channel shopping
- 2.1.2 Research shopping
- 2.1.3 Free riding
- 2.2 Findings about showrooming.
- 3 Factors influencing showrooming
- 3.1 Literature review.
- 3.2 Channel attributes.
- 3.2.1 Enjoyment
- 3.2.2 Assortment
- 3.2.3 Purchase convenience.
- 3.2.4 Service
- 3.2.5 After-sales service.
- 3.2.6 Price
- 3.2.7 Risk.
- 3.3 Customer characteristics.
- 3.3.1 Attitude towards shopping
- 3.3.2 Internet experience.
- 3.3.3 Price-consciousness.
- 3.3.4 Attitudes towards free riding
- 3.3.5 Retailer loyalty...
- 3.4 Conceptual framework.
- 4 Empirical study.
- 4.1 Study design.
- 4.2 Operationalization of variables.
- 4.3 Sample...
- 4.4 Reliability of construct.
- 4.5 Logistic regression...
- 5 Results.
- 5.1 Testing of hypotheses.
- 5.2 Additional analyzes...
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This thesis aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the showrooming phenomenon. It investigates the factors that influence showrooming behavior, specifically examining the role of channel attributes and customer characteristics. The study analyzes the differences between showroomers and non-showroomers to identify key drivers of this emerging shopping trend.
- The influence of channel attributes on showrooming behavior.
- The impact of customer characteristics on showrooming likelihood.
- The distinction between showroomers and non-showroomers.
- The implications of showrooming for retailers.
- The potential of showrooming as a future shopping trend.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Theoretical background of showrooming
- Chapter 3: Factors influencing showrooming
- Chapter 4: Empirical study
- Chapter 5: Results
This chapter introduces the concept of showrooming and its significance in the evolving retail landscape. It outlines the research questions and the overall objective of the study, which is to provide insights into the factors influencing showrooming and the differences between showroomers and non-showroomers.
This chapter provides a theoretical foundation for understanding showrooming by exploring relevant shopping trends and behaviors, such as multi-channel shopping, research shopping, and free riding. It also examines existing research findings on showrooming to establish a contextual understanding of the phenomenon.
This chapter delves into the factors that may influence a customer's decision to engage in showrooming. It examines the role of channel attributes, such as enjoyment, assortment, purchase convenience, service, after-sales service, price, and risk perception. Additionally, it explores the impact of customer characteristics, including attitude towards shopping, internet experience, price-consciousness, attitudes towards free riding, and retailer loyalty.
This chapter describes the empirical study conducted to investigate the research questions. It outlines the study design, operationalization of variables, sampling methodology, and data analysis techniques used to examine the relationship between channel attributes, customer characteristics, and showrooming behavior.
This chapter presents the findings of the empirical study. It analyzes the results of the logistic regression models to test the hypotheses and provides insights into the significance of various factors influencing showrooming.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
Showrooming, multi-channel shopping, channel attributes, customer characteristics, online retail, offline retail, consumer behavior, empirical study, logistic regression.
- Quote paper
- Christel Zaubitzer (Author), 2013, Understanding the Showrooming Phenomenon, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/278999
