A influência da estética hedônica e utilitária online no comportamento de compra do consumidor

Abstract

Online retail is an important sector that keeps continuously growing. Between 2008 and 2014, Brazil registered a growth in sales in this segment of 436% (WEBSHOPPERS, 2015). There is still a lack of comprehensive research on the impact of online retail esthetics in consumer behavior (PUCCINELLI et al., 2009; WANG et al., 2011.). This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of online retail esthetics and to answer the following research question: How is purchasing behavior influenced by hedonic and utilitarian esthetic online? To answer the research question, the objective of this work is to understand the influence of hedonic and utilitarian esthetics (value) on online satisfaction, purchase intention, intention to return to the site, impulse buying and intention to indicate the site. This research is quantitative and experimental. For this, we conducted a structured collection of data, using one online survey with 128 respondents in São Paulo (Brazil). The results showed that the hedonic esthetic of an online retail store positively influenced consumer behavior, increasing satisfaction, intention to indicate the site, and intention to return to the site. Only the dependent variables impulse buying and purchase intention did not influence consumer behavior. Thus, the online retail nowadays is not just a place to search for information and cheaper products, it is also a place of leisure and entertainment, which can provide hedonic experiences for consumer. For a managerial point of view, a replication of the study in other types of sites may contribute to a more positive consumer buying behavior and might influence increasing in sales, customer loyalty and to increase competitiveness.