Consumers' device choice in E-retail: Do regulatory focus and chronotype matter?

Abstract

Today, digital shoppers express increasingly complex buying behavior. They can use multiple channels for shopping and also they can switch from one to another channel almost effortlessly, in the result of engaging in omnichannel shopping behavior. A few years ago, consumers were using brick and mortar stores to make their purchases. However, nowadays, they possess different digital devices (mobile and/or desktop) to search for different alternatives and to make a better shopping choice. These devices (mobile and desktop) are different and offer unique benefits to consumers. However, there has been very little research that has treated mobile and desktop devices separately. Perhaps this study is the pioneer when it comes to investigating the effect of regulatory focus (prevention vs. promotion) and chronotype (morning and evening person) on a sample of university students using desktop and mobile channels for their shopping. The findings from a sample of 312 digital consumers (mobile and/or desktop) confirmed that the desktop channel provides a greater fit for morning-type respondents and that the mobile channel offers better value for evening-type respondents in e-retail. Furthermore, promotion-focused shoppers favor the mobile channel, and prevention-focused shoppers favor the desktop channel. The new insights and contributions of this study provide a better understanding of digital consumers to help sellers to develop a more effective e-retail strategy.