• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.41-60
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• 2021

The purpose of this research was to determine whether multimodal cues in an online shopping environment could enhance tactile consumer mental imagery, purchase intentions, and attitudes towards an apparel product. One limitation of online retail is that consumers are unable to physically touch the items. However, as tactile information plays an important role in consumer decisions especially for apparel products, this study investigated the effects of multimodal cues on overcoming the lack of tactile stimuli. In experiment 1, to explore the product, the participants were randomly assigned to four conditions; picture only, video without sound, video with corresponding sound, and video with discordant sound; after which tactile mental imagery vividness, ease of imagination, attitude, and purchase intentions were measured. It was found that the video with discordant sound had the lowest average scores of all dependent variables. A within-participants design was used in experiment 2, in which all participants explored the same product in the four conditions in a random order. They were told that they were visiting four different brands on a price comparison web site. After the same variables as in experiment 1, including the need for touch, were measured, the repeated measures ANCOVA results revealed that compared to the other conditions, the video with the corresponding sound significantly enhanced tactile mental imagery vividness, attitude, and purchase intentions. However, the discordant condition had significantly lower attitudes and purchase intentions. The dual mediation analysis also revealed that the multimodal cue conditions significantly predicted attitudes and purchase intentions by sequentially mediating the imagery vividness and ease of imagination. In sum, vivid tactile mental imagery triggered using audio-visual stimuli could have a positive effect on consumer decision making by making it easier to imagine a situation where consumers could touch and use the product.