Why Do Customers Use Smartphones for Shopping in Omnichannel Environments? A Conceptual Extension of a Special Relationship Between Customers and Devices
Journal Title: Journal of Emerging Trends in Marketing and Management - Year 2016, Vol 0, Issue 1
Abstract
The proliferation of smartphones, tablet computers and mobile internet is influencing the evolution of customer behaviour. Retail and industry are increasingly catering for customers who use more and more technologies within their demand journey. Some suppliers distribute their goods and services, and communicate, in omnichannel systems. Technologies such as quick-response code, near-field communication, augmented reality and beacons provide new opportunities for the incorporation of various phases of the demand process. The internet complements and enables a functional networking of different marketing channels. Technological-trend monitoring is now an important management task, as is the design of omnichannel systems that allow buyers a problem-free shopping experience across multiple marketing channels. Numerous papers and studies focus on customers’ acceptance of – and willingness to use – smartphones. But how can different levels of acceptance and willingness be explained? Why do customers see smartphones as playing such an important role in their everyday lives? The purpose of this conceptual paper is to broaden and deepen the understanding of customer behaviour with regard to smartphones in an omnichannel environment. This paper develops a framework that focusses on the relationship between customers and smartphones in the context of omnichannel systems. Several theoretical approaches – such as the extended self, the extended mind, the digital doppelgänger, actor–network theory and the cyborg assemblage are used to derive hypothetical constructs providing implications for future empirical studies. We suggest five active roles for smartphones within the relationships with customers: (1) parts of the customers’ selves; (2) drivers of cognitive processes; (3) supporters of digital doppelgängers; (4) agents for active impulses; and (5) partners in fusions. We assume that these five roles of smartphones have a positive effect on customers’ willingness to use smartphones as shopping companions in bricks-and-mortar retail stores.
Authors and Affiliations
Stephan Kull, Philipp Hübner
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP265706
- DOI -
- Views 112
- Downloads 0
Specific Applications of Weather-Based Marketing
The rapid penetration of new technologies in business and using them largely by consumers is a prerequisite for designing new applications for the purposes of marketing. Binding marketing decisions with big data is alrea...
Exploring Tourist Emotional Experiences within a UNESCO Geo-park
The paper explores emotions as the backbone of satisfactory tourists experience by investigating visitors of a UNESCO geo-park, located in Italy, in which ecomuseum and tourist facilities are offered. The study aims to p...
Crowdsourcing and Outsourcing: Friends or Foes?
Crowdsourcing and outsourcing are alternative ways for performing business activities by companies. The purpose of this paper is to explore what type of marketing activities are nowadays outsourced and crowdsourced by en...
The Brand Effect - Living the Brand in Negotiations
Prior studies in marketing could confirm that the humanization of the brand through the sales person is beneficial for the brand perception by the customer during the selling process. While this research could indicate a...
Competences and Managerial Profile as Drivers of Hotel Internationalization: Implications on Firm´s Internationalization Strategy Pattern
Literature indicates that internationalization is a phenomenon influenced by firm specific and environmental factors. However, the international entrepreneurship literature has recently attributed to entrepreneur manager...