AFFECT TRANSMISSION EFFECTS: THE EFFECTIVE INFLUENCE OF SENSORY CHANNEL IN MARKETING STIMULI

Abstract

Market research found that consumers who shop online using touch-screen tablets are more likely to make purchases and spend more, as opposed to consumers using desktop computers. While demographics differences between tablet and non-tablet owners may account for this observation, little is known about how such purchase behavior could be influenced by differences between interaction on tablets and desktops. The current study offers a possible reason for this observation, through proposing a product valuation phenomenon referred to as „Affect Transmission Effects?. This phenomenon predicts that consumers using tablets to evaluate products will generate higher valuations towards the products than consumers using desktops. This is because tablet users engage in both visual and tactile interaction with product stimuli, while desktop users engage only in visual interaction. This gives rise to a difference in the sensory channels being activated to process stimuli affectively. Stronger transmission of affect occurs via the integrated visuo-tactile (visual and tactile) sensory channels in tablet interaction. Conversely, weaker transmission of affect occurs via the visual sensory channel in desktop interaction. The difference in affect transmitted for the two interactions thus lead to differences in product valuations. Furthermore, the study explored the transmission of both positive and negative affect. This was done through investigating how rewarding versus punishing product stimuli influenced product valuation on both devices. To test the prediction of „Affect Transmission Effects?, the study carried out two experiments involving 94 student participants. The experiments investigated three hypotheses, which tested (1) whether consumers using tablets for product evaluation generated higher valuations than consumers using desktops, (2) whether tactile interaction mediated the predicted relationship, and (3) whether impeding tactile stimulation on tablets would diminish the stronger affect transmission. Findings supported the three hypotheses for some product stimuli, giving evidence that “Affect Transmission Effects” may be observed when evaluating these products on a tablet due to tactile stimulation. The effects were most pronounced in food rewards that are sweet, female sexual stimuli paired with non-sexual products, and offensive images paired with neutral products. The study holds marketing implications, supporting the notion that online purchase behavior can be influenced by the use of tablets or desktops for product evaluation. Lessons can be drawn regarding the choice of products and the manner of promoting them on the two mediums. The study also holds implications for interaction design, suggesting that the affective quality of interaction, not just its ease and intuitiveness, could play a role in influencing user experience on tablets.