Omnichannel Retailing in Light of Psychological Factors: A Mediated Model

Abstract

Purpose Retail businesses have been seeing dramatic changes in the last decades. It has evolved from single-channel retailing to omnichannel retailing, providing a seamless shopping experience to customers. Customers armed with modern technology are creating challenges for retailers and forcing them to create an omnichannel environment. So, implementing an omnichannel retailing strategy is a big challenge for retail managers in the age of modern technologies. Retailers could evaluate consumers’ usage intention of omnichannel retailing based on technological and psychological factors. However, research based on psychological factors is limited in the prevailing literature on omnichannel retailing. Based on the Motivational Model (MM) and Big-Five Factors (BFF) of personality traits, the study tried to fill the gap regarding the influence of psychological factors on omnichannel usage intention. Methods A sample of 724 respondents through a structured questionnaire from a developing economy. The target population of the current study was internet users, as they might be prospective Omni shoppers in the near future. Relationships were tested through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with AMOS 23. Results Results revealed that personality traits directly correlate with omnichannel usage intention, while motivations (intrinsic and extrinsic) partially mediate these relationships. Moreover, the results of the current study also revealed that the personality traits extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are vital antecedents of behavioral intention. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations positively impact consumers’ usage intention, while extrinsic motivation partially mediates intrinsic motivation and consumers’ usage intention. Additionally, full mediation prevails in the association of consumers’ usage intention and personality traits (emotional stability and Openness to experiences). Originality The domino effects provide a solid theoretical milestone in understanding the phenomenon of omnichannel retailing strategy and facilitates marketing managers to design channel strategies for emerging economics.