Enticing and Engaging Consumers via Online Product Presentations: The Effects of Restricted Interaction Design

Abstract

and assistant dean (graduate studies) in the School of Computing. He received his Ph.D. in management information systems from University of British Columbia. His research interests include social media, electronic commerce, human-computer interaction, and information privacy. His work has been published in top information systems journals, such as MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, and Journal of Management Information Systems, and top human-computer interaction conferences, such as CHI. He has served on the editorial board of MIS Quarterly, IEEE Transactions of Engineering Management, and Journal of the AIS, among others. He has previously taught at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Tsinghua University. He was also a visiting scholar in the Marketing Group of MIT Sloan School of Management.IZAK BENBASAT is a ABSTRACT: This work investigates the effects of three different online product presentation formats, namely, a noninteractive video presentation and two virtual product experience (VPE) presentations (full interaction and restricted interaction), on engaging users in online product experience as well as enticing users to try products offline. The experimental results show that restricted interaction, which deprives users of part of the interactive product experience, is more enticing than both the noninteractive and fully interactive design for users with more product-class knowledge. In addition, restricted interaction is generally as good as full interaction in engaging users. Both engagement and enticement positively affect users' purchase intentions. This study contributes to the information systems literature by extending the theory in curiosity formation to the interaction design context and advocating designs for enticement. It contributes to design practice by revealing that less interactive and less costly presentations can be more effective in attracting consumers toward the products.KEY WORDS AND PHRASES: virtual product experience (VPE), restricted interaction, full interaction, enticement, engagement, purchase intention, online product presentation, online video, online selling.This study investigates the effects of three online product presentation formats with varying degrees of interactivity on engaging online users and enticing them to pursue further product experiences offline. The role of users' product-class knowledge in moderating these effects is also assessed.Many online stores have employed various forms of product presentations to display their newly launched products in order to attract consumers. While traditional product presentations are limited mainly to text and pictures, online vendors are now using more vivid multimedia features to enrich the presentations [17,84]. For example, the Land Rover website (www.landroverusa.com) uses video clips with visual and sound effects to display cars in motion. The Samsung website (www.samsung.com) allows users to use their mouse or keyboard to rotate and view a virtual cell phone as well as to try out its various...

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