Vividness, delight, and urge to buy online

Abstract

The present study investigated how vivid, i.e. sensorially rich platforms influence the urge to buy impulsively in e-commerce environments. A stimulus-organism-response model was assessed in an experiment involving two groups, one experiencing a vivid platform and the other a more informational one. The response was posited to be mediated by the affect elicited during the experience. The results show that the urge to buy was not prevalent, but it was significantly higher in the group exposed to the vivid site. The variance of urge to buy was largely accounted buy the variance of positive arousal (delight). Negative affect, as well as low arousal positive affect (relax) have small negative effects on the urge. These results confirm our expectation that a simple distinction between negative and positive affect is insufficient to predict the urge, since the level of arousal also plays a fundamental role to trigger the urge.