School of Business

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Consumers increasingly purchase through m-channels, including apps. Accordingly, marketers have enhanced immersive, sensorial aspects of m-channels, such as including vibrations while making in-app purchases. Given discrepant findings, it remains unclear whether adding such vibrotactile feedback affects consumer decision making. The present research addresses: (1) Whether adding vibrotactile feedback influences consumers' anticipated product satisfaction and purchase confidence, and (2) if so, how? Through an online pilot survey, two online experiments, and one lab experiment, this research finds that adding vibrotactile feedback to m-channels increases consumers' anticipated product satisfaction, but not purchase confidence. Moreover, perceived ownership mediates this effect, because the vibrations offer a sense of control over the product during the purchase process. This research makes several contributions. First, it documents that control elicited via vibrations offers an alternative means to psychological ownership, as opposed to imagining touch. Second, we offer this haptic route as a means to achieve the stimulation motivation driving perceived ownership, different from prior visual routes. Third, it potentially reconciles literature conflicts regarding the effect of vibrotactile feedback on consumer decision making.

Publication Title

Psychology and Marketing

Publication Date

2024

ISSN

0742-6046

DOI

10.1002/mar.22008

Keywords

anticipated satisfaction, haptics, m-commerce, perceived control, perceived ownership, technology-mediated touch, vibrotactile feedback

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Business Commons

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