Products and their representation in memory

: the impact of shopping channels

Abstract

The growth of online consumption created a trend in the academic literature to study the variants of this topic, for example, the different characteristics sought in each channel, the type of consumers that buy in each channel and the type of products more likely to be bought in each channel. Many researchers found a connection between utilitarianism and online channels and hedonism and offline channels. Knowing this, the aim of this study was to understand if the different channels influenced how products were represented in consumers’ minds and which type of attributes of the products are recalled. Taking into consideration the literature it was expected that when remembering/imagining online shopping experiences consumers would recall more utilitarian attributes of products, while when remembering/imagining offline shopping experiences consumers would recall more hedonic attributes of products. In terms of methodology, two studies were conducted, one in which participants were asked to imagine a shopping experience, online or offline, in which they were about to buy a jacket (described), and another in which participants recalled their last shopping experience, either online or offline. From the results it was possible to conclude that this connection exists: online participants recalled more utilitarian attributes of products, and offline more hedonic attributes were recalled. However, despite the channel, participants valued the same type of attributes such as price, and quality. The conclusions of this study can provide some helpful information for management teams; however, some limitations were encountered so, some recommendations for future research were made.

Date of Award	6 Mar 2018
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	João Niza Braga (Supervisor)