'Dear Stranger,This Looks Good on You': The Effect of Ambiguous Interactive Virtual Presence on Store Loyalty in Offline Retailing

摘要

The role of social influence on the consumption process is undisputed.Nowadays,even more ubiquitous shopping companions than friends or family are customers'smart-phones.Retailers are trying to take advantage of customers'smartphone consultation during their shopping trip in the store and have begun experimenting with location-based,real-time customer-to-customer online communities that enable shoppers in geographical proximity to a store or mall to anonymously interact with each other.Such efforts create a new form of interactive presence in of fline shopping,which can be characterized as an ambiguous interactive virtual presence.This innovative approach potentially of fers a relationship marketing instrument that retailers can use to effectively enhance the shopping experience and customers'loyalty to the store.Given the novelty of this intriguing tool for of fline retailers,no research has been conducted so far.With this research,we aim to answer three research questions:(1)Does an ambiguous interactive virtual presence have an effect on customers'loyalty toward the retail store?(2)What is the relevant psychological mechanism that explains the loyalty effect?(3)How does an ambiguous interactive virtual presence compare to other relevant types of interactive presence(nonambiguous interactive virtual or social presence)during of fline shopping in its loyalty effect?