Mental Imagery and Its Determinants as Factors of Consumers Emotional and Behavioral Responses: Situation Analysis in Online Shopping

Abstract

The study of mental imagery among consumers has an increasingly important place in marketing research and particularly in the context of distance selling where trying the product is initially ‘imaginary’. This quasi-sensory or quasi-perceptive experience that the individual is aware of, develops in the absence of conditions for real and authentic stimulation. For several years marketing research has tried to understand the various influences mental imagery may exert on consumer behaviour. Since responses to imagery can be cognitive, emotional and conative, the field of research is vast.

The literature regarding the concept of imagery underlines the interest of studying the effects of imagery and its antecedents on the consumer’s emotional and behavioural responses. The links that exist between these concepts are indeed rarely studied. Therefore this study aims to answer the following research question: What role does mental imagery triggered by a product presentation on an e-retail site play in the production of consumer emotional and behavioural responses?

The results of this study highlight the positive influence of self-mental imagery and its antecedents on mixed anticipated emotions and purchase intention and impulse purchase of e-consumers. For example, the more the e-consumer imagines using or buying the product displayed, the stronger impulse purchase and purchase intention will be. Moreover, the choice of stimuli used in the presentation of a product can significantly influence mental imagery and behavioural consumer responses. To reach the dual objective of improving self-mental imagery and purchase behavior, this research tends to choose a photo with staging of the product and include imagery instructions in the text.

The aim of this study is to provide new data concerning mental imagery in a e-commerce setting after an empirical study while contributing conceptually and methodologically to the literature in marketing.