An exploratory study to understand online consumers' experiential responses towards fashion visual content

The purpose of this study is explore online consumers' experiential response towards visual user-generated content in online shopping environments for fashion online shopping. The Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework... [ view full abstract ]

The purpose of this study is explore online consumers' experiential response towards visual user-generated content in online shopping environments for fashion online shopping. The Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework has been widely used online shopping environment studies to examine the effect of website attributes on online shoppers' internal affective and cognitive states, and shopping behaviour (Kawaf & Tagg, 2012). Recent literature in the field proposes a more holistic model of online experiences (e.g., Pentina, Amialchuk, & Taylor, 2011) which is conceptualised to mediate the relationship between website attributes and behavioural responses. Consumer experience is regarded a critical concept in consumer behaviour and marketing in order to understand consumers and create competitive advantage in online retailing (Schmitt, 2010). Building on existing online shopping environment research, the study conceptualises online experiences for fashion online. The exploratory study investigates online consumers' experiential responses (aesthetics, relational, emotional, cognitive and interactivity experiences) towards user-generated photographs of fashion looks created by community members of an online social shopping community, ASOS Fashion Finder. 12 photo-elicited interviews (PEI) with female online shoppers of ASOS, aged 18-25, were conducted. The results of the study present initial insight to understanding the experiential states of fashion online consumers for retail marketing.