تاثیر تجانس در ابعاد ذخیره ویژگی و خویشتن بینی در نیت خرید در فروشگاه های آنلاین از خرده فروشان چند مجرایی

Online stores of multichannel retailers continue to lag pure internet retailers with reference to consumers' shopping intentions and sales. This study develops and tests a framework in which (a) trust and attitude (conceptualized as a second-order construct with hedonic and utilitarian dimensions) influence purchase intentions, (b) congruity between the multichannel retailer's land-based and online stores (conceptualized as a second-order constructs made up of seven dimensions: aesthetic appeal, navigation convenience, transaction convenience, atmosphere, service, price orientation, and security) influences trust in and attitude toward the online store, and (c) congruity between consumers' self-image and perceived image of the online store influences trust in and attitude toward the online store. The findings provide robust support for the framework and have strong implications for theory and practice.

Despite the seemingly pervasive nature of Internet retailers, industry reports emphasize that there still remains tremendous potential for the continued growth of online shopping both within the U.S. and globally (Nielsen, 2010). Global online retail sales continues to demonstrate growth and is expected to reach approximately one trillion dollars in 2013, with online sales in U.S. and Europe accounting for approximately $260 billion and $170 billion, respectively (Internet Retailer, 2013). However, when comparisons are made regarding consumer behavior and retailer performance across the online stores of multichannel retailers (i.e., erstwhile land-based retailers who have complemented their retail operations by creating their own online stores) and those of pure Internet players, sharp differences emerge. In 2009, online stores of pure Internet players (sales of $42.9 B and compounded annual growth rate of 19.89%) outpaced those of multichannel retailers (sales of $49.8 B and compounded annual growth rate of 15.74%) (Internet Retailer, 2013). A comparison of online performance of leading online retailers in 2012 shows the following discrepancy: Amazon.com generated sales of $48.1 billion at a growth rate of 41%, whereas Walmart.com posted sales of approximately $4.9 B at a growth rate of 8% (Businessweek, 2012 and Internet Retailer, 2013). As for consumer behavior, it has been reported that less than half of online consumers in the U.S. favor online stores of pure Internet players and only 17% favor online stores of multichannel retailers (Nielsen, 2010). Needless to say, notwithstanding increased investments in online businesses, sales in online stores represent a very small share of total revenues in large multichannel retailers such as Walmart (2%), Target (2%), Macy's (7.2%), and Sears (8.7%) (Businessweek, 2012). These statistics frame the need for researchers to examine the phenomenon of multichannel retailing more rigorously and offer actionable implications to multichannel retailers so that their online stores can compete better against those of pure Internet players. Toward this end, the current study contributes to research on multichannel retailing by identifying three major gaps in the literature and, subsequently, developing and testing an expanded framework of purchase intentions in online stores of multichannel retailers. First, extant research on online stores of multichannel retailers has employed the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) to examine the influence of trust in and attitude toward the online store on consumers' purchase intentions (e.g., Jarvenpaa and Tractinsky, 1999, McKnight et al., 2002 and Shim et al., 2001). However, although online shopping includes hedonic and utilitarian dimensions (Bridges and Florsheim, 2008 and Childers et al., 2001), few studies have deconstructed consumer attitudes in this context to examine the antecedents and influence of attitude toward the online store as a multi-dimensional construct. Second, researchers maintain that consumers' perceived congruity between the two stores positively influences the formation of trust in and attitude toward the multichannel retailer's online store (e.g., Badrinarayanan et al., 2012, Kwon and Lennon, 2009 and Wang et al., 2009). However, a majority of these studies have conceptualized congruity between the two stores as a holistic construct and few studies have compared congruity on an attribute-by-attribute basis (e.g., Verhagen and van Dolen, 2009). Third, past research suggests that congruity between consumers' self-image and perceived store image plays an important role in the formation of trust in and attitude toward retailers (e.g., Kang et al., 2009 and Kressmann et al., 2006). Yet, few studies have incorporated congruity between consumers' self-image and perceived image of the online store of a multichannel retailer in their theoretical frameworks. Addressing these issues, this study develops a framework in which (a) trust and attitude (conceptualized as a second-order construct with hedonic and utilitarian dimensions) influence purchase intentions, (b) congruity between the multichannel retailer's land-based and online stores (conceptualized as a second-order constructs made up of seven dimensions: aesthetic appeal, navigation convenience, transaction convenience, atmosphere, service, price orientation, and security) influences trust in and attitude toward the online store, and (c) congruity between consumers' self-image and perceived image of the online store influences trust in and attitude toward the online store. The framework is then tested using data collected from 316 respondents. The findings indicate that the two congruity variables are critical for influencing purchase intentions in online stores of multichannel retailers, albeit through different routes. Specifically, the results indicate that congruity between the land-based and online stores of multichannel retailers is necessary for the formation of trust in the online store, whereas congruity between self-image and image of the online store is necessary for the formation of trust in and attitude toward the online store. In the following sections, the theoretical framework is developed and appropriate hypotheses are offered. Subsequently, the data collection and analysis procedures are discussed. Based on the study's results, theoretical contributions and implications for multichannel retailers are presented. Finally, limitations of the study and directions for future research are summarized.

Recent industry reports indicate that online stores of multichannel retailers continue to underperform compared to pure Internet retailers in terms of compounded annual growth rate, consumers’ patronage and purchase intentions, and sales. Therefore, although researchers have investigated the phenomenon of erstwhile land-based retailers transforming into multichannel retailers for more than a decade, more rigorous research attention is warranted. Specifically, this study empirically tested a framework in which (a) trust and attitude (conceptualized as a second-order construct with hedonic and utilitarian dimensions) influence purchase intentions, (b) congruity between the multichannel retailer’s land-based and online stores (conceptualized as a second-order constructs made up of seven dimensions: aesthetic appeal, navigation convenience, transaction convenience, atmosphere, service, price orientation, and security) influences trust in and attitude toward the online store, and (c) congruity between consumers’ self-image and perceived image of the online store influences trust in and attitude toward the online store. By developing and testing a parsimonious, yet expanded, model of purchase intentions in online stores of multichannel retailers, this study contributes to the extant literature on multichannel retailers and offers actionable recommendations for such retailers to compete better. First, this study confirms the appropriateness of the theory of reasoned action in the context of online stores of multichannel retailers. Consistent with the theory, trust in the online store was found to be positively related to attitude toward the online store, which in turn was positively related to purchase intentions. In fact, among all the factors included in the framework, attitude toward the store exerts the greatest influence on online purchase intentions. However, our framework adds more depth to testing the theory of reasoned action in the context of online stores of multichannel retailers by introducing the notion of second-order factors for attitude toward the online store and consumers’ perceived congruity between a multichannel retailer’s land-based and online stores. The results of our research provide support for conceptualizing and testing the underlying dimensions of attitude (e.g., Voss et al., 2003) and store image (e.g., Katerattankul and Siau 2003; Jinfeng and Zhilong, 2009) and, consequently, suggest that the respective characteristics must be understood at a greater level of specificity than the holistic approach suggested in extant research (e.g., Badrinarayanan et al., 2012). Specifically, the results provide support for the second-order factor structure of consumer attitudes, which is reflected in two first-order factors: hedonic and utilitarian attitudes. This indicates that multichannel retailers need to focus on the components of attitude toward their online store rather than assuming that attitude formation is a holistic process. Utilitarian attitudes refer to consumers’ rational evaluations and predispositions that result from the completion of their shopping tasks in an efficient and timely manner without any irritations (Childers et al., 2001). To facilitate the formation of utilitarian attitudes, multichannel retailers must therefore focus on how their online stores facilitate the shopping process and identify ways to enhance consumer utility by leveraging the integration between their land-based and online stores (e.g., browsing/pick-up/return options that cannot be provided by pure Internet retailers). Hedonic attitudes refer to consumers’ personal or subjective evaluations and predispositions that result from the fun, entertainment, and playfulness derived from the shopping experience, rather than any specific goal achievement (Childers et al., 2001). To facilitate the formation of hedonic attitudes, online stores of multichannel retailers must focus on making the shopping experience an enjoyable one and incorporate sensory cues that are offered by prototypical online stores (e.g., personalization, product trial, real-time interaction, avatars, and other sensory stimuli that influence enjoyment or excitement). Second, this study complements prior research on the importance of consumers’ perceived congruity between a multichannel retailer’s land-based and online stores (e.g., Badrinarayanan et al., 2012 and Kwon and Lennon, 2009). Although a direct relationship between this congruity variable and attitude toward the online store was not supported, a significant and positive relationship was supported with trust in the online store. This finding implies that multichannel retailers must monitor, maintain, and improve the perceived fit between the images of their two stores to facilitate trust formation in their online stores. In addition, the results provide support for the second-order factor structure of consumers’ perceived congruity between a multichannel retailer’s land-based and online stores, which is reflected in seven first-order factors: aesthetic appeal, navigation convenience, transaction convenience, atmosphere, service, price orientation, and security. As all seven factors exhibit high factor loadings, an implication for multichannel retailers is that they must identify store-related attributes that are salient to their shopper segments and strive for establishing and communicating consistency on those attributes to their online customers. Third, this study incorporated research on self-image congruity to better understand trust and attitude formation in online stores of multichannel retailers. Although past studies demonstrate that consumers select products, brands, retailers, and online stores based on assessments of congruity between their images of such entities and their self-image (e.g., Kang et al., 2009 and Sirgy and Samli, 1985), self-image congruity has not been explored thus far in the context online stores of multichannel retailers. The results show that self-image congruity is positively related to both trust in and attitude toward the online store. After attitude toward the online store, self-image congruity exerts the highest influence on online purchase intentions. This indicates that, in addition to making sure perceived congruity exists between their land-based and online stores, multichannel retailers must carefully design their online stores so that it is consistent with the self-images of their shopper segments. Overall, the results of the empirical test provide robust support to the framework developed in this paper. Although two of the proposed hypotheses were not supported, the total effects of all of variables in the framework were found to be significant. The framework and the results of the empirical test suggest that our study is a step in the right direction. Specifically, given that attitude and congruity were historically conceptualized and measured as holistic constructs, academics and practitioners should note that viewing attitude and congruity from a multi-dimensional perspective should be actively pursued and could prove beneficial for the online stores of multichannel retailers. This study conceptualizes and measures attitude and congruity as second order constructs and, therefore, provides initial evidence for why these constructs merit multi-dimensional conceptualizations and measures. However, we do acknowledge that our framework is just the beginning and hope that it acts as a catalyst for future research. Accordingly, we invite empirical and conceptual scrutiny of our framework and believe that future research can critically evaluate our work in order to build strong theoretical foundations for research on online stores of multichannel retailers. 5.1. Limitations and directions for future research Though we find robust support for the proposed framework, this study is not without limitations. Specifically, our framework is neither exhaustive nor comprehensive. However, it provides strong foundations for theory development with reference to purchase intentions in online stores of multichannel retailers. Potentially, first, future research could add several variables that are specific to online stores of multi-channel retailers. For example, some multichannel retailers are better than others in creating synergy between the two store formats by allowing customers to purchase merchandise online and pick-up or return offline. Similarly, online stores of multichannel retailers often indicate whether an item being browsed is available in an offline store within proximity of a customer’s physical location. It would be interesting to verify whether perceived synergy in transactions complement shoppers’ perceived congruity in engendering purchase intentions. In addition, website appearance, entertainment value, informational assistance, transaction capability, response time, and trust in online transactions have been identified in prior research as unique dimensions affecting transactions in online retailers (e.g., Kim and Stoel, 2004). Although it is not feasible to measure congruity across dimensions that are unique to offline (e.g., parking, lighting, etc.) and online (e.g., page loading or refresh time, pop-ups, etc.), we urge that dimensions pertinent to online stores be incorporated in future frameworks on online purchase intentions as moderators or control variables. Second, future research could conceptualize attitude and congruity as multi-dimensional but not as second-order constructs. We acknowledge that such conceptualization and measurement could provide additional depth to our framework. Third, future research could provide a deeper understanding of the seven dimensions of congruity, i.e., aesthetic appeal, navigation convenience, transaction convenience, atmosphere, service, price orientation, and security that were included in this study. For example, it would be worthwhile to explore specific antecedents and consequences of the seven dimensions. Similar research could also be done with reference to hedonic and utilitarian dimensions of attitude. Fourth, future research could investigate multi-dimensional nature of congruity and attitude in the context of pure Internet retailers that become multi-channel retailers. Fifth, as this study did not examine retailer-specific differences, future researchers could verify whether the proposed relationships hold across different retailer types and sizes, products carried, brand assortment, and other characteristics. Further, to improve the generalizability of the findings, different samples and respondent profiles could be used. Although this study used seven dimensions for perceived congruity between the land-based and online stores of multichannel retailers, other dimensions can be incorporated in future studies (e.g., brands carried, discounting strategies, sales promotions, etc.). Shopping orientation was used here as a control variable. However, future researchers can examine whether rational and compulsive shoppers differ in terms or congruity assessments, trust and attitude formation, and intentions to purchase in online stores of multichannel retailers. It would be interesting to compare the framework across multichannel retailers in business-to-consumer and business-to-business settings to verify whether certain dimensions and/or relationships are unique to each context. In summary, this study offers theoretical and practical contributions regarding purchase intentions in online stores of multichannel retailers and calls for future researchers to engage in rigorous research to better understand this phenomenon and offer useful recommendations to multichannel retailers.