I “showroom” but “webroom” too: investigating cross-shopping behaviour in a developing nation

Abstract

Purpose

The concepts of showrooming and webrooming have been well researched but majorly from the marketing/economic perspectives. The present study explores the socio-psychological motivations and different types of satisfaction derived from “cross-shopping” behaviour namely, showrooming and webrooming in a developing nation.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is exploratory and is conducted using an interpretive approach. The researchers conducted 52 in-depth interviews and the collected data were subjected to open and axial coding to generate the conceptual model.

Findings

The findings indicate various motivations of cross-shopping such a habit and the joy of discovery while novel aspects of satisfaction emerge such as process satisfaction and social satisfaction. The findings also revealed contextual moderators of the cross-shopping process.

Research limitations/implications

The present study contributes to the domain of cross shopping behaviour by illustrating the social motivators behind the same and novel satisfaction outcomes because of the cross-shopping process.

Practical implications

The present study has multiple implications that would enable managers to effectively utilize cross shopping behaviour such understanding of satisfaction beyond those derived from the product only.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies to investigate consumer behaviour related to cross shopping based on psycho-social dimensions.

Citation

Roy, S., Sharma, K. and Choudhary, S. (2022), "I “showroom” but “webroom” too: investigating cross-shopping behaviour in a developing nation", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 50 No. 12, pp. 1475-1493. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-05-2021-0222