The purpose of this experimental study was to examine the effects of digital product presentation on consumer information processing and behavioral intent in apparel e-retailing contexts. The Stimulus-Organism-Response Model and Dual Coding Theory were used as theoretical frameworks. This research employed a 2 (visual: large vs. small) x 2 (verbal: concrete vs. abstract) between-subjects factorial design and included Need for Cognition as a moderator. Research findings showed that verbal stimuli which varied in concreteness of product descriptions were more effective in evoking both imagery and discursive processing than were visual stimuli which varied in sizes. Imagery processing was positively associated with behavioral intent. A significant moderating role of need for cognition was found.

Introduction

With the advancement of the Internet and related technology, digital commerce has grown tremendously and continues to evolve. Global e-commerce sales reached more than $2 trillion in 2017 and are expected to more than double by 2021 (Neufeld and Roghanizad, 2018). The wide adoption of digital commerce has profoundly transformed how people shop and buy. Regardless of where actual purchases are made, consumers today begin their shopping journey on digital devices (Think with Google.com, 2016). More than 55% of consumer traffic to the major U.S. e-retailing sites were from mobile devices in 2015 (Sterling, 2016). M-commerce continues to gain excellent traction in digital commerce. In 2017, m-commerce accounted for over one third of total digital commerce sales. In 2018, m-commerce is predicted to generate over $90 billion in sales in the U.S. (Lazar, 2016a). By 2021, m-commerce is expected to generate more than half the total digital commerce sales (Statista, 2018b). Despite its impressive growth rates, however, digital commerce still struggles with low conversion rates as compared to offline retail conversion rates (Neufeld and Roghanizad, 2018), suggesting that consumer experience in digital commerce may fall short on meeting consumer expectations. Parallel to the growth of digital commerce, there has been growing research interest among scholars and practitioners about digital product presentation.