Consumer Behaviour in Multi - Channel Retail Environments :

In order to understand how consumers move between online and offline channels in the context of multi-channel retail environments, an exploratory study has been conducted. To prepare for this study, the literature on consumer channel choice and contemporary consumption behaviour together with relevant HCI literature was reviewed. The initial findings from the research show that consumers move between online and offline channels in a straightforward, almost matter-of-fact way, though the factors influencing their multi-channel use are complex and dynamic. In their empowered parallel interactions with various businesses consumers are actively shaping the outcome of the service encounter. Introduction Several studies from the fields of marketing and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) (e.g. Ahuja et al., 2003, Forsythe and Shi, 2003, Goldsmith, 2000, Lee, 2002) report that although consumers regularly use e-commerce websites for browsing and searching, they often do not conclude this process with online purchasing. The percentages of consumers actually engaging in online purchases vary from 24% (Ahuja et al., 2003) to 32% (Lee, 2002). Based on these statistics it is suggested that consumers move between online and offline channels during the course of the consumption process, and that they actively decide which stages of this process they want to conduct through which channel. Contextualising Channel Proliferation and Consumer Behaviour Since new channels, such as internet, interactive telephone systems, and interactive TV have become available for shopping as an alternative to the traditional retail stores and catalogues, many studies (e.g. Black et al., 2002, Chiang et al., 2004, Gupta et al., 2003, Schoenbachler and Gordon, 2002, Reardon and McCorkle, 2002) have tried to ascertain what drives consumers in their choice of a particular channel. Black et al (2002) investigated why consumers, although purchasing essentially similar financial products, used particular channels in preference to others. The results of their study showed four categories of factors influencing consumers’ choice of channel: consumer characteristics, product characteristics, channel characteristics, and organizational factors. Other researchers have elaborated on each of these categories. In their study on consumer characteristics, Gupta et al (2003) have found that after making purchases through one channel, whether online or offline, risk-averse consumers tend to be more loyal customers than risk-neutral consumers. In a study on the influence of product characteristics on consumers’ patronage frequency, Chiang et