One brand, three ways to shop': situational variables and multichannel consumer behaviour

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'One brand, threeways to shop':situational variables andmultichannel consumerbehaviourMichael Nicholson , Ian Clarke & MichaelBlakemorePublished online: 15 Apr 2011.

To cite this article: Michael Nicholson , Ian Clarke & Michael Blakemore(2002) 'One brand, three ways to shop': situational variables andmultichannel consumer behaviour, The International Review ofRetail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 12:2, 131-148, DOI:10.1080/09593960210127691

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‘One brand, three ways toshop’: situational variablesand multichannel consumerbehaviour

Michael Nicholson, Ian Clarke and Michael Blakemore

Abstract

To counter the growth in online retailing, high street retailers are increasinglyadopting multichannel distribution strategies, seeking to target individual consumersvia both physical and electronic channels as multiple routes to purchase. In order todevelop successful marketing strategies within this environment, however, an under-standing of consumer selection between available purchase channels is clearly needed.This paper explores the issue of shopping mode selection from an environmentalpsychology perspective, applying a traditional Belkian analysis of situational variablesin a longitudinal study of consumer channel selection decisions. Preliminary � ndingsfrom an empirical study of consumers of a leading UK fashion retailer are reportedwhich reveal signi� cant differences in the prevalence of different Belkian variablesbetween shopping modes, suggesting a major role for situational in� uence during thechannel selection process.

Keywords

Consumer behaviour, environmental psychology, multichannel retailing, situa-tional variables

Introduction

Initial ‘hype’ surrounding the growth in electronic shopping (ES) was accom-panied by apocalyptic predictions of the imminent demise of the high streetretailer, online companies such as Amazon.com being seen as the retail giants ofthe ‘new economy’. More recently, however, traditional ‘bricks ‘n’ mortar’retailers have begun to � ght back against the Internet ‘pure-plays’, adoptinginnovative multichannel marketing strategies which seek to target consumers via

Michael Nicholson, University of Durham Business School, Mill Hill Lane, DurhamCity, DH1 3LB, UK; e-mail: [email protected]; Ian Clarke, LancasterUniversity Management School, Lancaster, UK; Michael Blakemore, Department ofGeography, University of Durham, Durham, UK.

The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer ResearchISSN 0959-3969 print/ISSN 1466-4402 online © 2002 Taylor & Francis Ltd

http://www.tandf.co.uk/journalsDOI: 10.1080/09593960210127691

Int. Rev. of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research 12:2 April 2002 131–148

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both physical and electronic means as multiple routes to purchase; the so-called‘bricks ‘n’ clicks’ approach (Oinas 2001). Such strategies appear highly success-ful and popular among consumers, to the extent that ‘Amazon no longer appearsset to become the Wal-Mart of the Internet – Wal-Mart will be the Wal-Mart ofthe Internet!’ (Rosenbloom 2001).

Multichannel marketing strategies, by de� nition, seek to encourage multi-channel consumer behaviour. To date, however, the issue of consumer channelselection has been largely ignored by psychologists, consumer research in themain continuing to focus upon use of individual channels in isolation; i.e. store,catalogue or Internet (Whan Park et al. 1989; Jones and Vijayasarathy 1998; Stelland Paden 1999). But, what makes an individual consumer shop with the samefashion retailer via different channels in different situations?

This paper explores the issue of consumer shopping mode selection from anenvironmental psychology perspective. Faced with an opportunity to obtain thesame product from a single retailer via multiple purchase channels, the authorsargue that the consumer’s eventual channel selection decision must, in part, bedetermined by situational factors. The paper reports preliminary � ndings froman innovative programme of research with a leading UK fashion retailer, inwhich Belk’s (1975) taxonomy of situational variables present in the consumersetting, normally associated with the study of in-store shopping, is being appliedto the longitudinal analysis of multichannel consumer behaviour. Results to dateappear to con� rm the prediction that different clusters of situational variablesare more dominant when particular modes of shopping are adopted by theconsumer, suggesting a major role for Belkian situational variables in the channelselection process.

Conceptualizing the retail shopping situation

Effective marketing begins with an understanding of how and why customersbehave as they do (Merenski 1999). With the advent of ES and the emergence ofthe ‘bricks ‘n’ clicks’ strategy, however, this knowledge of consumer behaviourincreasingly requires a multichannel dimension. Quite simply, if the retailer is tosuccessfully operate both physical and electronic distribution channels, and todirect consumers to preferred channels for certain products and services, anunderstanding is needed of why customers select particular modes of shoppingon speci� c occasions.

Like any behaviour, selection of shopping mode occurs within an environmen-tal context. From the perspective of the environmental psychologist working inconsumer research, the task must therefore be to determine the appropriatecontextual unit of analysis required, then apply a robust taxonomic structure tothe empirical investigation of all those variables within that analytical unit whichmay in� uence the target behaviour – in this case, consumer channel choice(Stokols 1987).

One possible contextual unit of analysis is the behaviour setting, a particularpattern of ‘place-behaviour-time’ relations whereby expected behaviours areobservable in a place, irrespective of the individual actors present (Barker 1968).The layout of the supermarket, for instance, is such that it encourages observ-ance of particular consumer conventions, or behavioural programmes; using a

132 The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research

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shopping cart, negotiating the aisles, self-selecting products, standing in line atthe check-out, and so on. The majority of supermarket customers behave in thisway, often with little or no conscious thought.

With regard to multichannel consumer behaviour, Barker’s concept of thebehaviour setting clearly holds a degree of potential explanatory power. On theone hand, studying instances of store, catalogue and web site usage, for instance,may well yield valuable insight into any observable similarities and differences inthe behavioural programmes consumers typically follow between shoppingformats. At the same time, however, such an approach would reveal little as tohow and why an individual consumer came to select a particular channel to beginwith. Thus, in order to explore environmental in� uences upon channel selectionitself, we would contend that a smaller unit of analysis is clearly needed.

Since the late 1960s, researchers interested in environmental in� uences onconsumer behaviour have increasingly focused upon the shopping situation, atime-delimited subunit of Barker’s behaviour setting (Clitheroe Jr et al. 1998).Seen from the perspective of the consumer, a situation is a particular act ofbehaviour occurring at a speci� c point in space and time (Hackett and Foxall1993).

To illustrate this conceptual distinction, let us consider a very simpleexample: ‘Consumer A is shopping in store B, at day and time C, looking for anout� t to wear at Person D’s wedding’. When entering the store, Consumer Aprobably examines several garments on display, perhaps tries on one or twoitems in the � tting room, then concludes by evaluating options available and, ifappropriate, making a purchase. From a Barkerian point-of-view, such patternsof behaviour will be observable among numerous customers during the course ofthe trading day. In Barker’s terms, the fashion store is therefore a behavioursetting and Consumer A is enacting a de� nable behavioural programme.

At the same time, however, Consumer A probably remains totally unaware ofthis fact. As far as (s)he is concerned, this is a unique shopping experience witha speci� c purpose in mind; choosing an out� t to wear at a friend’s wedding.Furthermore, those aspects of the environment likely to exert in� uence on thisprocess will also be historically-speci� c to some degree; Consumer A is lookingfor a wedding out� t, so (s)he will probably not be in� uenced by a display ofmotorcycle attire which, on other occasions, may attract his or her interest! Seenfrom Consumer A’s point-of-view, then, this constitutes a particular shoppingsituation, de� ned by and subject to the in� uence of a particular set of situationalvariables.

For the purposes of the present research, the authors would argue that it isthis concept of the shopping situation that therefore holds the greater potentialexplanatory power. The aim is to understand why an individual consumer shopswith the same retailer via different channels on different occasions, a phenom-enon which is inherently situational in character. Is Consumer A shopping in astore on this occasion because the purchase is urgent, for instance, makingremote ordering impossible? Or, alternatively, has Person D set up an account forkey wedding guests in the store, precluding purchase via other means? Questionssuch as these are inherently situational and consumer-speci� c, requiring a clearfocus upon the shopping situation as perceived by the individual, together withits de� ning characteristics and any external in� uences upon behaviour. In short,a behaviour setting approach may tell us how a customer may behave in a store

Nicholson et al.: Situational variables and multi-channel behaviour 133

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or whilst using a web site, but only a situational analysis can explain why (s)heis shopping that way to begin with.

The situation, then, effectively serves as an interface between the person(fashion consumer) and the stimulus-object (garment purchased), all thosefactors de� ning that interface constituting situational variables. Over the years,several attempts have been made to develop appropriate typologies with which tocodify these situational variables, ranging from those which focus mainly uponthe situation as perceived by the individual (Kakkar and Lutz 1981) toMagnusson’s (1981) distinction between the actual-objective characteristics ofthe situation and person-bound properties. In terms of consumer researchapplication, however, perhaps the most in� uential taxonomic structure has beenthat proposed by Belk (1975) which continues to generate empirical work(Stoltman et al. 1999; Roslow et al. 2000).

According to Belk, situational variables are ‘all those factors particular to atime and place of observation which do not follow from a knowledge of personal(intra-individual) and stimulus (choice alternative) attributes’ (Belk 1974). Suchattributes range from store location and layout, to time of day and presence (orabsence) of others, classi� able according to � ve distinct dimensions of situationalin� uence: physical setting, social setting, temporal perspective, task de� nitionand antecedent states. It is a robust typology of variables which, on the whole,appears relatively comprehensive and cross-cultural (Kakkar and Lutz 1981;Nicholls et al. 1996).

The physical setting begins with the geographical and institutional location ofthe retail store (Bucklin 1967), but might equally be seen in terms of theenvironment in which the consumer reads a catalogue, or accesses a web site,together with any complicating factors arising from the intervening technologies.It also subsumes: in� uences on behaviour resulting from environmental condi-tions, such as weather or climate (Maunder 1986); visible con� gurations ofmerchandise and information provision in a store, catalogue or website (Braun1993; Rook and Fisher 1995; Dholakia and Rego 1998); and all those variablesKotler (1973) classi� ed as ‘store atmospherics’, such as the effects of backgroundmusic or colour scheme (Bellizzi and Hite 1992; North and Hargreaves 1996). Inrespect of these latter in� uences in particular, there are obvious parallels incatalogue shopping, such as illustrations accompanying products designed toinvoke the consumer’s imagination (Phillips 1996), and there may well beequivalents in virtual shopping environments also.

The social setting focuses on the presence or absence of others, together withtheir social roles, role attributes and opportunities for interaction. It is thereforea dimension which encapsulates everything from awareness of security staff inthe mall and opportunities for interaction with in-store sales staff, through to thepresence of those accompanying the consumer on the shopping trip and evenproximity to total strangers (Harrell et al. 1980; Willis 1990; Uzzell 1995;Stoltman et al. 1999). This can easily be extended to analysis of remote shoppingsituations; e.g. the often solitary nature of catalogue shopping, interactions withtelesales staff, online consumer ‘communities’, etc.

Given that a situation is a time-delimited context, a temporal perspective iscrucial to its description and all of the variables codi� ed under this category areapplicable to shopping in multiple forms. Time of day and constraints upon time


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available for shopping are variables with very obvious effects on buyer behaviour,for instance, as are factors such as seasonal variations in the available productrange – a particularly important situational variable within the context of fashionshopping (Berkowitz 1986; Herrington and Capella 1995). Belk argues that eventproximity must also be considered; e.g. date relative to ‘pay day’, time since lastmeal, etc.

Belk’s concept of task de� nition is more person-bound and encompassescognitive and motivational elements of the shopping situation, effectively captur-ing situational in� uences on the task de� nition, orientation, search and evalu-ation stages depicted in traditional cognitive consumer decision-making models(Engel et al. 1995; Nicosia 1966). For example, differences in information-processing behaviour have been observed where consumers are shopping forpractical or hedonic products, products for themselves versus gift purchases forothers, etc. (Granbois 1977; Ryans 1977). Again, although such variables arenormally explored empirically within the context of store or mall behaviour,there seems no reason to suppose that these issues are not equally applicable incatalogue and Internet shopping situations also. Moreover, where consumerscombine shopping channels (e.g. researching a product online prior to purchasein a physical store), it may well be the case that different channels serve differentstages of a multichannel decision-making process (i.e. the Internet for informa-tion search activities, the store for the act of purchase itself).

Antecedent states represent temporary conditions which the consumer eitherbrings to a situation or, alternatively, which may change signi� cantly as a resultof that situation. An obvious example here is mood-related effects uponbehaviour, such as anxiety, pleasure or depression, which, when not chronic orenduring trait conditions, can be regarded as situational; for instance, where aconsumer’s mood state results in negative expectations of a store, or serves as aninitial motivation for going shopping as a form of ‘retail therapy’ (for review, seeAnderson 1986; Halvena and Holbrook 1986). On a more general level, Belkargues that factors such as fatigue, cash-in-hand and temporary illness symp-toms can also be located within this category.

Taken in sum, Belk’s taxonomic structure seems to accommodate the vastmajority of situational variables typically explored within a consumer researchcontext. Moreover, there is no reason to presuppose that the � ve dimensionshypothesized are only applicable to the in-store shopping situations normallysubjected to a Belkian analysis. Indeed, many of the variables highlighted byresearchers adopting a Belkian perspective, such as ambience of surroundingsand time of day, appear equally characteristic of remote shopping situations also– whether physical or electronic/‘virtual’.

Multichannel consumers are, by de� nition, shopping via multiple purchaseroutes to the same retailer. Where the retailer operates uniform pricing andproduct range availability policies, this would suggest that selection of aparticular shopping mode on a speci� c occasion is, at least in part, a result ofsituational in� uence. In other words, individual shopping channels satisfyparticular needs and requirements in speci� c situations. Furthermore, the Belktaxonomy would appear an appropriate explanatory framework with which tobegin to explore those situations within a multichannel consumer researchcontext (Nicholson et al. 2001).


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Method

The present study has adopted a longitudinal research design, seeking to exploresituational in� uences on consumer use of multiple retail channels from a broadlyBelkian perspective. To date, the study is at the mid-point in a two-yearempirical programme and the proceeding analysis therefore constitutes prelimi-nary � ndings from the data accrued thus far.

‘One brand, three ways to shop’ is a qualitative case study of a sample ofconsumers (N 5 48) of a leading UK fashion retailer, each consumer currentlyshopping via multiple channels; i.e. store, catalogue, internet. Commercialsupport for the work via a case study approach serves two functions; it providesmeaningful access to multichannel consumers and, via the provision of in-centives, overcomes some of the problems typically associated with maintaininga sample over a substantive timeframe. Moreover, the fashion sector has theadvantage that, at least in the UK, it is a sector which has witnessed increasingadoption of multichannel distribution strategies in recent years and, given thenature of the product, also allows an exploration of both functional and hedonicacts of shopping.

The north-East of England was selected as the area of analysis, being in closeproximity of the researchers to facilitate ongoing contact. In view of hypothe-sized sex differences in the saliency of situational variables resulting from bothdispositional and lifestyle factors (Magnusson 1981), however, it was decided toadopt a single-sex research design, with a view to replicating the study with theomitted sex at a later date. Four hundred female consumers from the hostretailer’s database were therefore contacted, from which 178 positive responseswere obtained. Applicant screening was on the base of all standard geodemo-graphic variables, together with two additional factors: credit status, to minimizethe risk of institutional barriers to participation in Internet shopping; andindividual differences in IT skills, to eliminate negative responses towardelectronic shopping resulting from ‘techno-phobia’. A geographical informationsystem (GIS) was employed to identify suitable spatial clusters of volunteers asan aid to the formation of focus groups. After screening, a representativeconsumer panel of 48 female participants was obtained, each panel memberbeing active in the use of the three shopping modes of interest over thepreceding six months.

Given the comprehensive range of variables subsumed within the Belktaxonomy, two qualitative methodologies have thus far been adopted. Focusgroups, conducted at the study outset, mid-point and close, are permitting anexploration of situational in� uences within a loosely-moderated group dy-namic.

The focus groups have been complemented by the use of monthly shoppingdiaries. Given the dif� culties inherent in maintaining a longitudinal sample, theresearchers elected to ask participants to recount one shopping experience permonth of their own choice in depth, rather than require all shopping trips to berecorded and run the risk of data decline later in the study where initialenthusiasm may subside and apathy sets in. Issues of data quality also in� uencedthis decision; participants asked to recount one incident in detail typicallyproduce a more focused response, with a greater degree of abstraction, than


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those asked to record multiple incidents, who typically generate more cursorydescriptions of events (Arnould et al. 2001). Participants were, however, asked toexplain the reasons for their selection of shopping experiences each month. Insome cases, selection proved a matter of simply recounting a particularlymemorable shopping trip, for either positive or negative reasons (e.g. satisfyingor unsatisfying, a trip with a close friend or ‘time out’ alone, etc.). On otheroccasions, selection was clearly a function of a recency effect, the consumermerely detailing the shopping experience closest to arrival of the monthly diary.In the case of both methodologies, however, the primary focus of analysis hasbeen upon factors in� uencing shopping mode selection rather than upon use ofa single shopping mode per se.

Focus groups were convened in areas close to the identi� ed participantclusters, with due consideration to convenience, ambience and participantcomfort. The sessions were approximately 90 minutes in duration, being loosely-moderated in an inclusive style. During the sessions, consumer discussion wasorganized around Belk’s � ve hypothesized dimensions and participants wereinvited to focus upon the speci� c issue of purchase channel selection. In additionto exploring situational in� uences on choice of shopping mode, the initial focusgroup sessions also served to inform construction of the shopping diaries, whichbecame semi-structured comprising both speci� c prompts and opportunities forfree expression.

Focus group transcripts and submitted shopping diaries were subjected tocontent analysis, employing a coding rationale developed on the basis of acomprehensive literature review of Belkian consumer research. The rationaleemployed ten coding categories, corresponding to instances where a Belkiansituational variable exerted either a positive or a negative effect upon channelselection. For instance, use of a store on the basis of its close proximity to theconsumer would be rated Physical1 due to location’s positive in� uence, whereasavoidance of a store due to traf� c congestion and associated travel problemswould be coded Physical 2 . Similarly, a participant may be attracted to theInternet because ordering services are available outside of normal store tradinghours (a Temporal 1 bene� t of the web) or, alternatively, simply be forced toorder via remote means because of the store’s limited trading hours and lifestylecommitments which prohibit its use (a Temporal 2 feature of store shopping).Two raters independently coded both the transcripts and diaries on this basisand a concordance rate of 78.4 percent was obtained.

On the basis of the coding process, a 3 3 10 contingency table wasconstructed detailing shopping channel by Belkian coding category (Table 1).The observed frequency counts were then subjected to statistical analysis inorder to determine whether signi� cant differences exist in the dominantsituational in� uences upon consumer selection between the three shoppingchannels.

Statistical analysis of the 3 3 10 contingency table revealed signi� cantdifferences in the frequency counts of the ten Belkian coding categories betweenshopping modes ( x 2 5 269.87; d.f. 5 18; p , 0.001). Given that the frequencycounts re� ect consumer references to variables in each category during accountsof shopping mode selection, the results therefore suggest that different cate-gories of situational variables dominate when a particular channel is selected.


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Tab

le 1

Con

ting

ency

tab

le o

f fr

eque

ncy

coun

ts,

Bel

kian

dim

ensi

on b

y sh

oppi

ng m

ode

Phy

s1P

hys 2

Soci

al1

Soci

al2

Tem

p1

Tem

p2

Task

1Ta

sk2

Ant

e1A

nte 2

Tota

ls

Sto

re11

880

7556

960

2217

106

4358

6(1

02.0

4)(8

7.51

)(3

8.26

)(4

2.87

)(6

8.73

)(4

0.39

)(3

8.85

)(3

4.72

)(9

2.82

)(4

1.81

)

Cat

alog

ue87

6319

2083

1939

1310

222

467

(81.

31)

(69.

74)

(30.

49)

(34.

16)

(54.

77)

(32.

19)

(29.

36)

(27.

67)

(73.

97)

(33.

32)

Inte

rnet

8310

414

4510

235

4368

5453

601

(104

.65)

(89.

75)

(39.

24)

(43.

97)

(70.

49)

(41.

42)

(37.

79)

(35.

61)

(95.

20)

(42.

85)

Tot

als

288

247

108

121

194

114

104

9826

211

816

54N

otes

x2

526

9.87

; d.

f.5

18;

p,

0.00

1.


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Discussion

It is something of a truism to state that consumers will favour different modesof shopping in different situations. How the researcher chooses to describe suchsituations, however, can be a crucial factor in the successful formulation of amultichannel marketing strategy. Increasingly, the retailer is seeking to targetparticular products and services via speci� c channels, a strategy requiring a moregrounded knowledge of channel appeal. Preliminary data from the present studywould appear to suggest that focusing consumer research upon Belkian situa-tional variables may signi� cantly inform that knowledge.

Examination of the 3 3 10 contingency table reveals two important character-istics. First, consumer accounts of channel selection decisions are characterizedby references to situational variables in all � ve Belkian categories, irrespective ofthe eventual channel selected. At the same time, however, non-parametricanalysis of the recorded frequency counts reveals signi� cant differences acrosschannels in the dominance of variables within particular Belkian categories.Temporal factors appear to exert a powerful positive in� uence in the selection ofthe Internet shopping option (frequency count: 102), for instance, but have littleimpact upon selection of the store-based option (frequency count: 9). This latter� nding suggests a signi� cant role for situational in� uence in the channelselection process. That said, given the absence of any obvious main effects, it isnecessary to engage in a more interpretive analysis of the diary and focus groupdata, guided by the observed frequency counts, in order to shed light on thecomplex variable interactions at work. In other words, whilst the contingencytable reveals that signi� cant differences in the importance of particular Belkiancategories exist between shopping channels, a more qualitative exploration ofthe data is needed to explain those differences in the absence of a cleardifferentiator.

In exploring the complex interrelationships between variables at work here,there are three key issues to consider: (1) the dominance of particular Belkiancategories in respect of individual channels selected; (2) the stability of any suchdominance in terms of the study’s longitudinal dimension; and (3) the potentialexistence of any situations in which a combination of channels may be used inparallel within a single shopping situation, together with the variable inter-relationships associated with them – something the coding rationale simplycannot detect in its present form.

Channel selection decisions

As Table 1 illustrates, consumer accounts of adoption of a store-based shoppingmode are dominated by references to situational variables in Belk’s physical,social and antecedent dimensions, the Physical1 , Antecedent 1 , Physical2 andSocial1 coding categories recording the greatest number of observations (fre-quency counts of 118, 106, 80 and 75 respectively). Closer examination of thefocus group transcripts and diary submissions suggests that the latter antecedentdimension serves as the key moderator, subsuming as it does any mood-


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congruent effects. As one participant remarked, ‘When you’re in a good mood,you want to GO shopping with your mates’.

Russell and Mehrabian (1978) report that primary emotional responses tostimuli in the environment stimulate approach to aspects of the physical settingand encourage peer af� liation and arousal-seeking. These � ndings are evident inthe current data, too. Female shoppers appear to favour the store-based optionwhen they are in a good mood and selectively attend to positive aspects of thestore’s physical environment. The host retailer has a strong high street image, itsstores projecting a spacious and ‘luxurious’ setting. When describing in-storeshopping situations, the majority of participants frequently make reference tothis and to ambient factors such as lighting, background music and overall storelayout, con� rming Kotler’s (1973) observations regarding store ‘atmospherics’.Moreover, many participants report that these variables in turn have a reinforc-ing effect, improving the mood state further.

Related to the above is the observation that store-based shopping is often acomponent in a more general leisure outing. Consumers make numerousreferences to the proximity of retail stores to other leisure facilities, such asrestaurants, bars, cinemas and gym facilities, con� rming Uzzell’s (1995) � ndingsthat shopping is only a single component in the consumer motivation to visit amall. Typically, participants appear to be seeking a far more prolonged and socialleisure experience, shopping for clothes merely being a part of that experience.Overwhelmingly, consumers in the sample expressed a preference for a ‘girls’day out in town’, rarely shopping alone and enjoying the company of friends andfamily – exchanging opinions, offering advice and generally interacting on asocial level (eating out, visiting non-retail attractions, etc.). Indeed, in theabsence of a signi� cant other, participants report approaching, or being ap-proached by, appropriate strangers or engaging in silent interaction. Attitudestoward sales staff, however, are typically negative and cynical: ‘They’re bound tosay it’s the best thing they’ve ever seen anybody wear, even though you lookludicrous!’ Mood is also re� ected strongly in the target purchase. Consumers aremore likely to select the store-based option when shopping for hedonic goods (‘atreat’) than for functional items (‘something for work’), and where the purchaseis for themselves or very young children rather than for other third parties.

Paradoxically, perhaps, negative aspects of the physical environment can alsoappear to hold appeal, Physical2 references achieving a frequency count of 80.Closer examination of the focus group transcripts in particular, however,suggests that this apparent anomaly can primarily be explained by the hostretailer’s quarterly and seasonal sales periods. Consumers make reference tofactors such as crowding, cluttered displays and poor merchandising, but confessthat these normally negative Belkian variables actually contribute to the atmos-phere of the sales and the ‘illusion that you’re getting a good bargain’. Onceagain, this demonstrates the signi� cance of antecedent factors and con� rms� ndings elsewhere that excitement and arousal are key motivations in mall-basedshopping (Wake� eld and Baker 1998).

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, temporal variables rarely feature in consumer ac-counts of selecting store-based options, remote shopping channels generallybeing deemed to yield a temporal dividend by comparison; ‘You go shopping topass time, not save it – unless you need something urgently, of course’. This is,however, also closely related to Belk’s more cognitive task dimension. For


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personal hedonic purchases, the ability to physically examine goods prior topurchase is deemed more important than in functional shopping instances andconsumers appear to regard the additional temporal investment required asjusti� able on such occasions, particularly where the purchase is for a specialoccasion.

Overwhelmingly, then, the store-based option is the preferred shopping modein mood-dependent social situations, often as a component in a combined leisureexperience. A strong physical environment serves as a powerful reinforcer insuch circumstances, elevating the mood state further via enhanced opportunitiesfor social interaction, product evaluation and sensory stimulation. However,consumers recognize the greater temporal investment needed for store-basedshopping and, generally speaking, have a lower motivation to devote thenecessary time to such activities where the target purchase is functional and/orfor a third party.

As in store-based shopping, consumer accounts of selection of the catalogueshopping option are also dominated by reference to physical and antecedentvariables (Physical1 87; Antecedent 1 102). The latter appears particularlyimportant; for many participants, there is a strong attitudinal preference, thecatalogue being the preferred shopping mode, the decision to adopt alternativeshopping channels often being characterized by reference to reasons why thecatalogue cannot be used in particular situations. Undoubtedly, this is probablyattributable to the host retailer’s market dominance in this area and the strongbrand image of its catalogue; ‘Sounds snobby, I know, but it’s very slick andglossy, more of a coffee table book really, and it says something about you ifyou’ve got one!’.

This physical structure of the retailer’s catalogue is clearly designed tointercept with these mood-related antecedent factors. Participants hold greataffection for the catalogue as a product and see it as a relaxing read, whether tounwind after a stressful day or, alternatively, to indulge themselves when in apositive mood state. As one participant remarked, ‘Sometimes you just want tocurl up with a cup of coffee and browse through the catalogue – fatal!’ In thiscontext, the catalogue also scores over other modes of shopping in that the rangeof products available is maximized, particularly in terms of sizes and colours, farexceeding that available via the retailer’s stores. In general, Physical2 referencestypically only relate to delivery and distribution delays/errors or congestedtelephone lines, factors which can severely negatively effect the consumer’sinitial mood state.

Temporal and task-dependent variables are fairly obvious bene� ts of catalogueshopping, so the observed frequencies here (Temporal1 83; Task 1 39) hold littlesurprise. In respect of the former, consumers � nd the ability to order bytelephone up to 11p.m. in the evening a tremendous advantage in the wake ofcurrent lifestyle demands, along with the ability to specify delivery slots withinforty-eight hours of ordering. The majority of participants also regard thecatalogue as the primary source of information and ideas about the retailer’sproducts, irrespective of the eventual purchase channel selected. There is,however, evidence that the informational content demanded is greater than thatexpected with other shopping channels, con� rming � ndings elsewhere (Braun1993). Moreover, whilst consumers recognize that remote ordering deprivesthem of valuable initial sensory stimulation (particularly tactile stimulation), they


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nevertheless appear willing to trade this off against the added advantage of beingable to try on garments in combination with numerous items in their ownwardrobes after delivery and prior to purchase commitment; ‘It’s great, likehaving the changing room brought to your own home!’.

Aspects of the social setting, � nally, were almost equally rated in respect ofpositive and negative in� uences upon channel selection (19 and 20 observationsrespectively). On the one hand, participants see the catalogue as a poorsubstitute for the overall experience of shopping in the mall with signi� cantothers, together with any associated leisure activities. At the same time, however,it appears that the strong affective appeal of the catalogue overcomes this barrierto a certain extent and, indeed, often seems to encourage indulgence insubstitute pseudo-social activities. Some 70 percent of sample members, forinstance, share their catalogues with friends and family members, and one-in-sixreport regularly reading the catalogue with third parties; ‘Me and me matesoften have a look through it together with a cuppa round the kitchen table’.

The Internet shopping option is perhaps the most interesting and paradoxicalchannel selection decision. As Table 1 illustrates, consumer accounts of situa-tions in which electronic shopping is the preferred purchase option aredominated by an almost equal weighting of Temporal 1 and Physical 2 variables(102 and 104 observations respectively).

There is a very apparent trade-off here. On the one hand, the company’sInternet site shares all of the temporal bene� ts of the catalogue option; i.e.convenience of ordering, consumer delivery time speci� cation, etc. The only realdisadvantage is seen as being the retailer’s current policy of closing the orderingfacility at 11p.m. – a policy consumers see as being at odds with the web’s 24 37 ethos; ‘I don’t see the point. I mean, it’s a computer – not like there’s a littleman in there who needs his sleep!’

Against the majority of these temporal dividends, however, the customer mustbalance the negative aspects of Internet shopping. In particular, consumers citethe poor quality of illustrations of products, the presentation of the majority ofavailable products in list form only, navigational dif� culties, security concerns,and so on. These characteristics of the medium are re� ected in the task andantecedent dimensions, too. In the main, consumers � nd the technology toocomplex and cognitively demanding in its present form; ‘Doesn’t feel likeshopping – too much like hard work!’. Early experiences also appear crucial, anunsuccessful � rst encounter with online shopping media resulting in quitepowerful and enduring negative predispositions.

During the channel selection process, all of these factors are weighed againstthe temporal convenience of the Internet as a remote shopping medium. Theresult is thus selection of the electronic channel in a minority of quite speci� csituations only. The majority of consumers in the sample prefer to use theInternet for quite functional purchases only, ordering quite standard everydayitems which often they have prior experience of anyway. Interestingly, theInternet is also frequently seen as a way of avoiding social contact with store ortelephone sales personal – again, suggesting a powerful mood-dependent effectis in operation.

In sum, consumers appear to select different channels in quite differentsituations, indicating an important role for Belkian situational variables in thechannel selection process. Store shopping is primarily a social experience,


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favoured for the purchase of personal and hedonic items. Catalogue shopping isdriven by temporal convenience, reinforced by a strong affective attachment tothe retailer’s catalogue itself, serving as a � rst ‘port-of-call’ for a variety ofproduct types. Internet shopping is predominantly used for functional repeatpurchases only, or as a way of avoiding social contact when consumer mood islow. In all cases, however, there are strong mood-congruent effects visible,con� rming observations elsewhere as to the emotional dimensions of theshopping situation (Russell and Mehrabian 1978).

Longitudinal and multichannel observations

It is important to recognize that the above summary represents preliminary� ndings only. The project is ongoing and, to date, it has only been possible tointegrate mid-stage data from the two methodologies employed. It should also benoted that the analysis is longitudinal and, as such, the behaviours observed maybe subject to change. Indeed, some behavioural changes since the study outsetare already becoming apparent. In general, however, these changes relateprimarily to the use of multiple channels within a single shopping instance.Longitudinal observations will therefore be discussed within the context ofmultichannel usage.

Overwhelmingly, the data accrued thus far indicate quite clearly that the threemodes of shopping should not be seen as indicative of only three types ofshopping situation. Increasingly, consumers are combining available purchasechannels, often as a result of lifestyle demands.

At the study outset, for instance, around one third of participants reportedresearching products online prior to eventual purchase in a traditional store. Atthe time of writing, this � gure has risen to around 70 percent of the total sample.Similarly, whereas initially only 25 percent engaged in the reverse practice, some55 percent of participants are now sampling goods in a physical store, then eitherordering remotely via the catalogue, where there is greater size/colour avail-ability, or shopping around for a ‘better deal’ on the web. This is quite anincrease in channel combination within an individual shopping situation, thoughof course further research is clearly needed to determine whether this is in facta real effect generalizable across the population, or whether this is merely anartefact of participation in a multichannel study changing participants’ behav-iour – on the basis of the increase observed, it is suspected that the effectsprobably encompass some combination of the two.

What neither the researchers nor the host retailer had fully anticipated wasthe extent to which consumers currently use remote channel combinations.Around 60 percent of consumers currently purchasing goods online are notactually shopping online. Rather, they are merely ordering electronically, theactual purchase selections having been made via the retailer’s catalogue prior tovisiting the web site. The percentage engaging in this combined remote shoppingform has remained stable throughout the study, despite attempts by the retailerto encourage web usage by redesigning aspects of the site in line with consumerfeedback. This is an important observation on two counts. First, it calls intoquestion the retailer’s metrics in respect of its success in the conversion ofcatalogue users to the Internet, given that many remain ‘hidden’ catalogue users,


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regarding the web site as an order form only. More importantly, perhaps, it alsoclearly illustrates the fact that modern consumer behaviour is increasinglycharacterized by a pronounced and diverse spectrum of shopping situations,each subject to a particular range of situational variables and potential channelcombinations.

Finally, in order to conceptualize these new multichannel situations, it may behelpful to return to traditional cognitive models of consumer decision-makingand speculate as to the actual functions served by particular channels at differentstages in the decision process. In cases where the web serves as an initial researchtool to circumvent spatial and temporal elements of product search prior to aphysical store purchase, for instance, it may well be the case that the web issatisfying the information search stage in the decision-making process, whereasthe store continues to correspond with the � nal evaluation and purchase stages(Figure 1). However, further research is clearly needed into these multichannelbehaviours in order to explore such possibilities more formally. In any event, itnow appears almost naive to discuss channel usage in terms of individualshopping modes only, given the strong multichannel tendencies observable in thecurrent sample.

Conclusions

To summarize, with the recent expansion in multichannel retailing, the formula-tion of marketing strategy increasingly requires a grounded knowledge ofmultichannel consumer behaviour. Within this context, the present study isseeking to explore how and why consumers select particular modes of shoppingin speci� c situations. A Belkian analysis of situational variables present in theconsumer setting is being applied longitudinally, the aim being to establishwhich Belkian environmental dimensions dominate when a particular channelbecomes the preferred shopping mode.

Preliminary results from the study suggest a major role for situationalvariables in the channel selection process, signi� cant differences being observedin the dominance of consumer references to factors in particular Belkiancategories in accounts of channel selection. There are no clear main effects,however, so the interrelationships between variables/dimensions require furtherexploration. It must also be remembered that this is effectively a case studyapproach, focusing on a sample of customers from a single multichannel fashionretailer. To what extent might this particular retailer’s ‘high end’ image havecontributed to the prevalence of emotional variables within the channel selectionprocess? And, related to this, how transferable does this make the results interms of other retail sectors, such as grocery or home furnishings for instance?Further research is clearly needed to address such issues. Nevertheless, despitesuch quali� cations, the signi� cance of the Belkian framework’s ability todistinguish between channel selection situations should not be understated,suggesting as it does a key role for environmental in� uence within multichannelconsumer decision-making processes.

In conclusion, although different shopping methods are selected individuallyin different situations, it is important to recognize also that the number of


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potential shopping situations now far exceeds the number of available purchasechannels. As the present paper demonstrates, the consumer ingenuity forcombining and integrating available channels is increasing, an observation which,with some quali� cation, is clearly evident among the current longitudinalsample. Consumers now almost routinely utilize multiple available purchasechannels in quite interesting and innovative ways, a trend which it seemsrequires a situational approach to the study of consumer behaviour in order toshed light on the factors underlying particular channel combinations. Despitebeing formulated over 25 years ago, the Belk taxonomy still appears to hold adegree of explanatory power and may well prove an ideal foundation upon whichto construct an effective context model of consumer behaviour at the emergentphysical–virtual interface.

Figure 1 Multichannel decision-making situations


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Acknowledgements

This paper is a substantial revision of our paper ‘Multichannel consumer behaviour inthe retail fashion sector’, presented at the 11th International Conference on Research in theDistributive Trades, Tilburg, the Netherlands, June 2001.

The authors would like to express appreciation to all those attending the Conferencewho contributed valuable feedback and encouragement which have made this presentpaper possible.

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One brand, three ways to shop': situational variables and multichannel consumer behaviour