Impact of Online Flow on Brand Experience and Loyalty

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study examined the relationships between consumers' skill, perceived challenge, online flow, brand experience, and brand loyalty in the context of online shopping on an apparel brand's website. Data were collected using an online survey with a national sample of 400 female adults (age 20-34). Respondents were asked to perform an online browsing task on an existing brand's website randomly assigned to them and answer questions about the task. The results from stmctural equation modeling analysis show that more skillful consumers are more likely to reach a state of online flow on a brand's website, and the relationship between skill and online flow was moderated by the level of challenge felt by consumers about the given task. Further, online flow positively influenced sensory and affective brand experiences, which in turn led to brand loyalty. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed along with limitations and recommendations.Keywords: Online; Flo; Brand; Experience; Loyalty1. IntroductionMany firms have tried to foster brand loyalty. Because brand loyalty results from a close relationship between a brand and its customers, it can offer a robust customer base - a strong competitive advantage [Meyer & Schwager 2007; Pine & Gilmore 1998]. Strong brand loyalty is reflected by customers' emotional attachment to a brand and their patronage behavior toward the brand [Chaudhuri & Holbrook 2001]. As one way to build strong brand loyalty, it has been emphasized that firms need to convey positive brand experiences to consumers [Mascarenhas et al. 2006; Nysveen et al. 2013]. Considering that brand experience is comprised of consumers' synthesized perceptions of all points of contact with a brand [Morgan-Thomas & Veloutsou 2013], a brand's website is regarded as a cmcial channel for conveying brand experience because consumers can freely explore the brand's online offerings through richer and more interactive ways than through other channels [Berthon et al. 1996; Keller 2010; Muller et al. 2008; Pine & Gilmore 1998].Consumers' interaction with brand-related stimuli on the website has not been sufficiently investigated in regard to accumulated consumer experience with a brand. Prior studies focusing on the experience of online flow - a state of optimal, outstanding, memorable, extraordinary, totally absorbing, or engaging online experience - have demonstrated the positive effect of online flow on online learning [e.g., Hoffman & Novak 1996; Skadberg & Kiimnel 2004] and on online shopping [e.g., Hausman & Siekpe 2009; Hsu et al. 2012; Rose et al. 2012]. Given that online flow can be defined as a consumer's complete absorption in an online activity such as online shopping [van Noort et al. 2012], the momentary, fragmentary experience of enjoyment in online shopping is likely to create an overall positive perception of the website where the shopping activity happened. However, there are no published studies verifying the benefits of online flow in enhancing consumers' overall brand experience, and thereby, their brand loyalty. To fill this gap in the literature, the present study proposes that online flow, experienced on a brand's website, positively influences brand experience and leads to enhanced brand loyalty.In addition to examining the influence of online flow on brand experience and brand loyalty, it is necessary to know how consumers reach a state of online flow when visiting a brand's website. Consumers' flow experience is known to result from their expectation of control over web navigation [Chen et al. 1999; Dailey 2004; Hoffman & Novak 1996; Novak et al. 2000]. Flow theory postulates that consumers can reach flow only when they have sufficient skill to complete a task that is manageably challenging [Csikszentmihalyi 1991; Csikszentmihalyi 1997]. For a given online task, skill is a user's ability to accomplish the task, while challenge is the amount of effort required to accomplish the task. …

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