The Determinants Of Consumer Behaviours Over Multi-channel Platforms

Cross-channel integration(CCI)and the inception of social media over online shopping channels has transformed the very concept of shopping.Such transformation has originated various consumer behaviours and has set challenges for new age retailers.Not only it has set challenges for new age retailers,but it also has resonated the hysteria among academicians to underpin the unaddressed insights.No doubt in recent times the proliferation of new technologies and an urge to strategise businesses in retaining customers,businesses have reshaped their self.Online business became more advanced with social media plugins,and offline channels are no more isolated.The new business developments have brought consumers to spend most of their time online at different platforms.While incorporating new social and technological features,online shopping platforms have emerged as social and commerce platforms,thus paving a way to the concept of s-commerce.Upon observing such consumer shopping traits,retailers have also strategised their business by integrating their shopping channels such as online and offline platforms in facilitating and retaining consumers.The integration of various channels has incepted the ideology of cross-channel integration(CCI)among modern day retailers.While the inception of channel integration instigated many opportunities,at the same point in time,the insights to various complexities in-regard to consumers‘ multi-channel adoption is somehow still infancy in academic and practitioner‘s body of knowledge.In addressing the complexities for achieving perceived integrated channel synergies amongst consumer‘s thoughts,it is pertinent in the field of channel integration to discourse retailer‘s ability to integrate channels and to enable social media artefacts to elucidate the in-depth appreciation of consumers‘ reactions further.Hence,this dissertation is primarily interested in elucidating consumers‘ behaviour over multi-channel platforms in the perspective of the role of social commerce over online platforms,channel integration and channel extension.The three related research articles provide thoughtful insights to academicians and detailed acumens to practitioners in strategising their online and offline platform businesses in the digital age.In the below subsequent paragraphs,the abstract information of each article is illustrated.Building on social commerce(s-commerce)perspectives and the trust transfer theory,the first study of this dissertation develops a theoretical model that explains the indirect effects of two types of s-commerce attributes(community and platform)on behavioural outcomes(s-commerce intentions and e-Word-of-Mouth(e-WOM)intentions)through trust in community and platform.We analyse data collected from s-commerce users on travel booking websites using structural equation modelling technique.Results confirm that s-commerce intentions and e-WOM intentions are contingent upon s-commerce community and platform attributes.Moreover,the results provide evidence for the mediating effects of trust in the community and platform on the relationship between s-commerce attributes and behavioural outcomes.The study provides further insights into the impact of s-commerce experience on s-commerce intention and e-WOM intention.Moreover,the first study contributes to s-commerce research and practice by developing and validating the role of s-commerce community and platform attributes in forming consumers‘ social commerce behavioural outcomes.The second study investigates the interrelationships between channel integration and online and offline consumers‘ patronage intentions.Building on the self-determination theory behaviour,the theoretical framework proposes perceived empowerment,perceived assortment and perceived benefits as mediating,and showrooming and web-rooming as moderating variables on the relationship between channel integration and consumers‘ patronage intentions.The data collected,through an online survey for two studies,i.e.304(search product)and 307(experience product)from respondents is analysed through variance-based structural equation modelling.Results confirm that in both studies showrooming and web-rooming moderates the channel integrations and online/offline patronage intentions.Results also confirm that in the case of(search products)empowerment do not mediate between channel integration and offline patronage intention,however,in all other hypothesised relationships for both studies empowerment do mediate.Furthermore,the second study provides useful implications for academicians and practitioners along with discussion and conclusion.The third study elucidates insights about channel extension.In the current era,consumers are living in a multi-channel shopping environment.Retailers are expanding their business channels to get the most out of their ongoing multi-channel businesses and to create a sustainable shopping environment for consumers.The extant literature is quite elaborative about the impact of new online channels on retailers,but a minimal part of the said literature discusses the impact of adding both new online/offline channels to the retailers‘ existing business channels and the perceived benefits they create for consumers.The third study makes the comparison of multi-channel additions and their impacts on consumer benefits in creating a sustainable retailer–consumer business environment.This dimension of research is quite new regarding the subject of multi-channel shopping.In the third study,a simulated experimental design is adapted to analyse the impact of the multi-channel structure with a mix of different product types(experience and search)and the perceived benefit to consumers(perceived variety,perceived convenience,and perceived risk).The results show that,compared to the newly added offline channels,newly added online channels can make consumers more aware of the overall variety,increase perceived convenience,and reduce perceived risk.However,for retailers selling search products,the newly added online channel does not create any significant difference to the consumers' overall perceived variety of retailers.