Can music improve e-behavioral intentions by enhancing consumers' immersion and experience?

Abstract Websites must involve visitors in enjoyable and memorable experiences to entice people to revisit and recommend them. This article investigates the impact of music and seeks to explain e-behavioral intentions through two underlying processes: immersion and experience. A total of 250 persons were surveyed for their intentions to re-visit and recommend a virtual art gallery. The results reveal that music fosters e-behavioral intentions. They also emphasize that immersion and aesthetic experience (emotions and contemplation) mediate this effect. The findings, confirming the impact of music on immersion, could thus help managers design more effective Websites.

[1]  Lenita M. Davis,et al.  Empirical testing of a model of online store atmospherics and shopper responses , 2003 .

[2]  B. Joseph Pine,et al.  The Experience Economy , 1999 .

[3]  Charles S. Areni,et al.  The influence of background music on shopping behavior: Classical versus top-forty music in a , 1993 .

[4]  Robert Lechner.  The Aesthetic Experience , 2013 .

[5]  M. Gommans,et al.  From Brand Loyalty to E-Loyalty: A Conceptual Framework , 2001 .

[6]  John G. Lynch,et al.  Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and Truths about Mediation Analysis , 2010 .

[7]  Christina Knussen,et al.  An investigation of the effects of music and art on pain perception. , 2008 .

[8]  Lynn Dailey.  Navigational web atmospherics Explaining the influence of restrictive navigation cues , 2004 .

[9]  D. Berlyne,et al.  Aesthetics and Psychobiology , 1975 .

[10]  Edward F. McQuarrie,et al.  Narrative and Persuasion in Fashion Advertising , 2010 .

[11]  Raafat George Saadé,et al.  The impact of cognitive absorption on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in on-line learning: an extension of the technology acceptance model , 2005, Inf. Manag..

[12]  John F. Sherry,et al.  Speaking of Art as Embodied Imagination: A Multisensory Approach to Understanding Aesthetic Experience , 2003 .

[13]  Ajit Kambil,et al.  Consumer Behavior in Web-Based Commerce: An Empirical Study , 2001, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[14]  R. Oliver.  Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective On The Consumer , 1996 .

[15]  Katherine N. Lemon,et al.  Customer Experience Creation: Determinants, Dynamics and Management Strategies , 2009 .

[16]  J. Russell,et al.  The Basic Emotional Impact of Environments , 1974, Perceptual and motor skills.

[17]  M. Minor,et al.  Aesthetics and the online shopping environment: Understanding consumer responses , 2011 .

[18]  Edward E. Rigdon,et al.  Play, Flow, and the Online Search Experience , 2004 .

[19]  Laurette Dubé,et al.  The impact of music on consumers' reactions to waiting for services , 1997 .

[20]  Qimei Chen,et al.  Attitude Toward the Site , 1999 .

[21]  D. Iacobucci,et al.  A Meditation on Mediation: Evidence that Structural Equations Models Perform Better than Regressions , 2007 .

[22]  Maurice Pradines.  Traité de psychologie générale , 1986 .

[23]  H. Wilson,et al.  Engagement, telepresence and interactivity in online consumer experience: Reconciling scholastic and managerial perspectives , 2010 .

[24]  Matthew Lombard,et al.  At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Presence , 2006 .

[25]  E. Hirschman,et al.  The Experiential Aspects of Consumption: Consumer Fantasies, Feelings, and Fun , 1982 .

[26]  Rolph E. Anderson,et al.  Customer loyalty in e-commerce: an exploration of its antecedents and consequences , 2002 .

[27]  M. Richard.  Modeling the impact of internet atmospherics on surfer behavior , 2005 .

[28]  Dennis L. Hoffman,et al.  Marketing in Hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environments : Conceptual Foundations 1 ) , 1998 .

[29]  A. Broderick,et al.  Exploring the experiential intensity of online shopping environments , 2006 .

[30]  Stephen Davies,et al.  A Companion to Aesthetics , 1995 .

[31]  A. Hausman,et al.  The effect of web interface features on consumer online purchase intentions , 2009 .

[32]  Mel Slater,et al.  A Framework for Immersive Virtual Environments (FIVE): Speculations on the Role of Presence in Virtual Environments , 1997, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[33]  René van Egmond,et al.  Emotional experience of Frequency Modulated sounds: Implications for the design of alarm sounds , 2004 .

[34]  Marsha L. Richins.  Measuring Emotions in the Consumption Experience , 1997 .

[35]  Jacques Maritain.  Art et scolastique , 1920 .

[36]  Bob G. Witmer,et al.  Measuring Presence in Virtual Environments , 1994 .

[37]  L. Dubé,et al.  Evolution and Challenges Facing Retail Atmospherics: The Apprentice Sorcerer Is Dying , 2000 .

[38]  Arun Sharma,et al.  The Effect of Retail Atmospherics on Customers' Perceptions of Salespeople and Customer Persuasion:: An Empirical Investigation , 2000 .

[39]  Ulrike Schultze,et al.  Embodiment and presence in virtual worlds: a review , 2010, J. Inf. Technol..

[40]  Todd J. Arnold,et al.  Individual Differences in the Centrality of Visual Product Aesthetics: Concept and Measurement , 2003 .

[41]  Bernard Cova,et al.  How to facilitate immersion in a consumption experience: appropriation operations and service elements , 2006 .

[42]  Lenita M. Davis,et al.  Atmospheric qualities of online retailing: A conceptual model and implications , 2001 .

[43]  Donna L. Hoffman,et al.  Measuring the Customer Experience in Online Environments: A Structural Modeling Approach , 2000 .

[44]  P. Shrout,et al.  Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: new procedures and recommendations. , 2002, Psychological methods.

[45]  Solomon Negash,et al.  The moderating effect of on-line experience on the antecedents and consequences of on-line satisfaction , 2005 .

[46]  David P Mackinnon,et al.  Confidence Limits for the Indirect Effect: Distribution of the Product and Resampling Methods , 2004, Multivariate behavioral research.

[47]  Sertan Kabadayi,et al.  The relationship between trusting beliefs and Web site loyalty: The moderating role of consumer motives and flow , 2010 .

[48]  Michael R. Hyman,et al.  E-Tail Atmospherics: A Critique of the Literature and Model Extension , 2004, J. Electron. Commer. Res..

[49]  Richard P. Bagozzi,et al.  Measurement and Meaning in Information Systems and Organizational Research: Methodological and Philosophical Foundations , 2011, MIS Q..

[50]  C. Mathwick.  Understanding the online consumer: A typology of online relational norms and behavior , 2002 .

[51]  Donnavieve N. Smith,et al.  Flow and Internet shopping behavior: A conceptual model and research propositions , 2004 .

[52]  Marianela Fornerino,et al.  Movie Consumption Experience and Immersion: Impact on Satisfaction , 2008 .

[53]  Cynthia Fraser,et al.  Music to Your Brain: Background Music Changes Are Processed First, Reducing Ad Message Recall , 2013 .

[54]  A. Fiore,et al.  Effects of a product display and environmental fragrancing on approach responses and pleasurable experiences , 2000 .

[55]  I. Kant,et al.  Critique of judgment , 2000 .

[56]  H. Yen,et al.  Internet retail customer loyalty: the mediating role of relational benefits , 2003 .

[57]  E. Thorson,et al.  The Effects of Progressive Levels of Interactivity and Vividness in Web Marketing Sites , 2001 .

[58]  Terry L. Childers,et al.  The Role of Expectancy and Relevancy in Memory for Verbal and Visual Information: What Is Incongruency? , 1992 .

[59]  Deborah E. Rosen,et al.  Website design: Viewing the web as a cognitive landscape , 2004 .

[60]  A. Venkatesh,et al.  Marketing in a postmodern world , 1995 .

[61]  K. Scherer,et al.  Emotions evoked by the sound of music: characterization, classification, and measurement. , 2008, Emotion.

[62]  Dianne Cyr,et al.  Extending Models of Flow and E-Loyalty , 2007 .

[63]  Renée Bouveresse.  L'expérience esthétique , 1998 .

[64]  Leonard B. Meyer.  Emotion and Meaning in Music , 1957 .

[65]  Chin-Lung Hsu,et al.  Why do people play on-line games? An extended TAM with social influences and flow experience , 2004, Inf. Manag..

[66]  C. Whan Park,et al.  The Differential Role of Characteristics of Music on High- and Low-Involvement Consumers' Processing of Ads , 1991 .

[67]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[68]  P. Bentler,et al.  Fit indices in covariance structure modeling : Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification , 1998 .

[69]  Bernd H. Schmitt,et al.  Brand Experience: What is It? How is it Measured? Does it Affect Loyalty? , 2009 .

[70]  A. Manstead,et al.  Social sharing of emotion following exposure to a negatively valenced situation , 2000 .

[71]  Gordon W. Cheung,et al.  Testing Mediation and Suppression Effects of Latent Variables , 2008 .

[72]  Michael D. Robinson.  Running from William James' bear: A review of preattentive mechanisms and their contributions to emotional experience. , 1998 .

[73]  L. Cronbach.  Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests , 1951 .

[74]  K. Jöreskog.  Statistical analysis of sets of congeneric tests , 1971 .

[75]  Marios Koufaris,et al.  Applying the Technology Acceptance Model and Flow Theory to Online Consumer Behavior , 2002, Inf. Syst. Res..

[76]  Michael J. Singer,et al.  Measuring Presence in Virtual Environments: A Presence Questionnaire , 1998, Presence.

[77]  Jaeki Song,et al.  A Theoretical Approach to Web Design in E-Commerce: A Belief Reinforcement Model , 2005, Manag. Sci..

[78]  Kristopher J Preacher,et al.  Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models , 2008, Behavior research methods.

[79]  Yuping Liu.  The Long-Term Impact of Loyalty Programs on Consumer Purchase Behavior and Loyalty , 2007 .

[80]  Xueming Luo,et al.  Contextual Marketing and Customer-Orientation Strategy for E-Commerce: An Empirical Analysis , 2003, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[81]  David C. Yen,et al.  The effect of online store atmosphere on consumer's emotional responses – an experimental study of music and colour , 2009, Behav. Inf. Technol..

[82]  Margaret Meiling Luo,et al.  Post-Adoption Behaviors of E-Service Customers: The Interplay of Cognition and Emotion , 2008, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[83]  Cristiane Pizzutti,et al.  Effect of Recovery Efforts on Consumer Trust and Loyalty in E-Tail: A Contingency Model , 2010, Int. J. Electron. Commer..