Purpose The expanded use of mobile devices for shopping has made mobile showrooming a frequent practice among omnichannel shoppers. This paper aims to shed light on the role of mobile dependency and uncertainty reduction strategies together with the motivation of getting the best value for money in showrooming behaviours and user-generated content (UGC) creation.Design/methodology/approach Data were collected by means of a questionnaire answered by 659 shoppers in two product categories: clothing and consumer electronics. The research model was tested through partial least squares.Findings The results suggest that mobile showrooming attitude is positively affected by mobile dependency, value consciousness and need for touch, and negatively by perceived risk of mobile shopping. The results also reveal how UGC is created by showroomers and suggest this behaviour is linked to mobile dependency in the clothing category.Research limitations/implications All the individuals in the sample had some experience in showrooming, which could affect the results regarding showrooming attitude and intentions. Future research should consider the role of experience and also validate the results across a larger number of product categories.Practical implications Mobile showrooming is a challenge for multichannel retailers. This paper reveals certain ways in which multichannel retailers could deal with showroomers as potential customers.Originality/value This study is the first to analyse the role of mobile dependency in showrooming and the chain of effects towards mobile showrooming attitude, behaviour and UGC creation in two different product categories.

Showrooming is an increasingly popular behaviour in the omnichannel era. The purpose of this paper is to understand the consumer intention to showroom through a technology acceptance and use model based on UTAUT2 that includes value consciousness and purchase involvement as drivers of showrooming intention and mobile dependency as a moderator. Data collected via a survey answered by 659 showroomers were analysed using Partial Least Squares (PLS). Results show that value consciousness, purchase involvement, hedonic motivation and social influence explain mobile showrooming intention and mobile dependency moderates the impact of value consciousness on mobile showrooming intention. Our results offer suggestions for multichannel retailers to deal with showroomers visiting their stores to try to turn them into buyers.