Effects of utilitarian and hedonic atmospheric dimensions on consumer responses in an online shopping environment

Abstract

As in physical environments, one of the most important research topics is related to the effects of the characteristics of these new interactive virtual environments on different dimensions of human behaviour. This is particularly relevant in the case of consumer shopping behaviour on the internet. In this line, research on webmosphere, and specifically, the impact of utilitarian and hedonic atmospheric dimensions on shopper responses, is an interesting topic to study the more appropriate designs of website to improve the benefits of e-tailers. According to background literature, our research is focused on a 2×2 experimental study in order to analyse the effects of two different atmospheric web conditions (navigational structure -“guided hierarchical e-pathway” vs. “free network”- and music -“non-music” vs. “music”-) on internal and behavioural consumer responses within an online shopping situation. A website and a tracking behaviour methodology for a fictitious apparel retailer have been developed. Our results show that if web marketers design stores with freedom of movement during navigation and adequate music for their customers, they could be able to generate more positive responses on e- consumers (satisfaction and approach responses), and in turn, improve their online sales.