Recognizing that a consumer’s congruity judgment with a store image can be formed with both actual and ideal self-images, this study investigates the differential effects that these two congruity judgments might have on a consumer’s evaluation of an online store. The results indicate that the closer the image of an online store is to the consumer’s actual self, the more favorably the store is evaluated. Interestingly, however, the proximity between the image of an online store and a consumer’s ideal self has a negative effect on consumer evaluation toward the store. The results also indicate that the positive visual cues of an online store generate consumer delight more significantly than information cues do. Consumer delight is found to significantly increase the intention to make an initial purchase from the store.
Online retailing has increased dramatically in the last couple of decades and continues to grow at a healthy pace. eMarketer, a global research and advisory institution, reported that U.S. online retail sales reached $194.3 billion in 2011 recording a 16.1% rise in sales revenue from 2010 and will hit $361.9 billion by 2016 (Fredricksen, 2012). The National Retail Federation predicts that the growth of online purchasing will be between 9% and 12% for 2014, far outperforming the 4% rate of growth of total retail sales. As the online market expanded, so did the number of online stores offering similar products for consumers to choose from (Belicove, 2013). To win consumer endorsement and loyalty in this competitive environment, it becomes crucial for the retailer to generate positive emotional responses from consumers in addition to delivering core retail functions competently (Zorfas, 2011).
A key factor affecting the consumer’s emotional connection with a retail store is self-image (Sirgy, 1982). Consumers bring their self-images into the evaluation of a brand or a store and are more likely to pay attention to and choose the one with image characteristics similar to their own. In fact, the extant literature has shown that the degree to which the images of a brand/store matches self-images of consumers (i.e., self-congruity) exerts a significant influence on consumer behavior in various contexts, such as when forming attitudes toward brick-and-mortar and online stores (Ha and Im, 2012 and Sirgy et al., 1991), evaluating the service quality (Ekinci and Riley, 2003 and Han and Hyun, 2013), determining the effectiveness of advertisements (Hong and Zinkhan, 1995 and Taylor et al., 2012) and so on. The effect of self-congruity is particularly evident where the need for self-expression plays an integral role in a consumption decision, such as for clothing (Liljander, Polsa, & van Riel, 2009).
To understand the mechanism of self-congruity affecting consumer behavior, it is important to recognize that self-image can be formed with different reference points about one’s self. In particular, consumers can construct a self-image about who they actually are (i.e., actual self-image) as well as about who they aspire to be (i.e., ideal self-image) (Ekinci and Riley, 2003, Hong and Zinkhan, 1995, Malhotra, 1988 and Munson, 1973). Much of the extant literature has focused on the congruity between brand/store image and the consumer’s actual self-image. Yet little attention has been paid to understanding how congruity with the consumer’s ideal self might influence consumer responses in conjunction with the congruity with the actual self. Investigating the latter is important, given that the images portrayed in marketing and branding are predominantly the idealized images of target consumers. Our study addresses this issue.
Specifically, we posit that consumers will judge the congruity between store image and their actual and ideal self-images immediately after visiting an online store. The results of congruity judgment will bias their evaluations about the store’s atmospheric cues (e.g., specific design features of an online store). This will in turn determine the nature and the extent of the consumer’s emotional response towards the store. We investigate consumer delight as a key emotional response mediating the effect of atmospheric cues on purchasing intention. We also examine which atmospheric cues of an online store would affect consumer delight the most. The results of our study will not only clarify the conflicting views regarding the effects of self-image but also provide practical information as to how online stores can be designed to generate positive emotional and behavioral endorsements from consumers.
The remainder of the study is organized as follows. First, we discuss the literature and conceptual framework used to build our model. We then describe the research method and the data analyses we employed, followed by a discussion of the results. Finally, we elucidate the theoretical and practical implications of the study results.
