Online apparel retailing: roles of e‐shopping quality and experiential e‐shopping motives

Purpose The objectives of this paper are to: examine e‐shopping quality dimensions; explore how e‐shopping quality factors influence consumer shopping outcomes (e‐shopping satisfaction and e‐shopping intention); and test the moderating effects of consumer experiential e‐shopping motives on the e‐shopping quality – e‐shopping outcomes links within the context of online apparel retailing. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered from 298 college students in the USA using a self‐administered online survey. Findings Among four e‐shopping quality factors identified (privacy/security, web site content/functionality, customer service, and experiential/atmospheric), web site content/functionality and atmospheric/experiential quality have significant impact on e‐shopping satisfaction contributing to e‐shopping intention, while privacy/security and customer service have significant impact on e‐shopping intention but not on e‐shopping satisfaction. Furthermore, this study provides some support for the moderating roles that experiential e‐shopping motives plays in the e‐shopping quality – e‐shopping outcomes links. Research limitation/implications This paper shows that experiential e‐shopping motives as an individual characteristic play a role in controlling the dynamics among e‐shopping quality, e‐shopping satisfaction, and e‐shopping intention. However, the data consisting of self‐reported measures from a single segment of online retail industry warrants caution in generalization in relation to common method bias. Practical implications This paper entails useful implications for internet‐ and multichannel retail marketers delivering apparel/fashion goods to better understand the online consumer response process and determine effective e‐store management strategies that reflect the differing customer evaluation processes. Originality/value This study extends and complements the e‐tail service literature by examining whether and how experiential e‐shopping motives moderate the relationships among e‐shopping quality dimensions, e‐shopping satisfaction, and e‐shopping intention.