The role of spatial presence in establishing customer engagement in the mobile retail applications a contingency perspective.The role of spatial presence in establishing customer engagement in the mobile retail applications a contingency perspective.The role of spatial presence in establishing customer engagement in the mobile retail applications a contingency perspective.The role of spatial presence in establishing customer engagement in the mobile retail applications a contingency perspective.The role of spatial presence in establishing customer engagement in the mobile retail applications a contingency perspective.The role of spatial presence in establishing customer engagement in the mobile retail applications a contingency perspective.The role of spatial presence in establishing customer engagement in the mobile retail applications a contingency perspective.The role of spatial presence in establishing customer engagement in the mobile retail applications a contingency perspective.The role of spatial presence in establishing customer engagement in the mobile retail applications a contingency perspective.The role of spatial presence in establishing customer engagement in the mobile retail applications a contingency perspective.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY HO XUAN HUONG THE ROLE OF SPATIAL PRESENCE IN ESTABLISHING CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT IN THE MOBILE RETAIL APPLICATIONS: A CONTINGENCY PERSPECTIVE PH.D THESIS HO CHI MINH CITY – 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY HO XUAN HUONG THE ROLE OF SPATIAL PRESENCE IN ESTABLISHING CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT IN THE MOBILE RETAIL APPLICATIONS: A CONTINGENCY PERSPECTIVE PH.D THESIS MAJOR: COMMERCIAL BUSINESS CODE: 9340121 SUPERVISORS: PROF DR NGUYEN DONG PHONG ASSOC PROF DR LE NHAT HANH HO CHI MINH CITY – 2023 i DECLARATION I certify that this thesis contains no material previously published by any other person except where due acknowledgment has been made The content of the thesis is wholly the result of the work of the author with enduring support, instruction, and insight from the two supervisors, Professor Dr Nguyen Dong Phong and Associate Professor Dr Le Nhat Hanh The thesis has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved Ph.D program Ho Xuan Huong Date: 02nd February 2023 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of those who have supported me in so many ways to make this thesis possible and make my Ph.D journey to be a unique experience that I will cherish forever My most hearty gratitude is to my dear supervisors, Professor Dr Nguyen Dong Phong and Associate Professor Dr Le Nhat Hanh I am deeply grateful for the knowledge, skills, and every advice and opportunity they have been kindly sharing, which raise me up, walk me through so many difficulties and greatly inspire me to academic research That journey will never come to an end I also wish to especially thank Full Professor Julian Ming-Sung Cheng from National Central University, Distinguished Professor Ian Phau from Curtin University, and Distinguished Professor Joseph F Hair from the University of South Alabama for very valuable feedback on my thesis research model and methodology This thesis would not be completed without the huge support and cooperation from many UEH academic lecturers, especially from the School of International Business – Marketing and School of Management I also wish to acknowledge the great support from all of my QNU colleagues, especially from Associate Professor Dr Do Ngoc My, and the Faculty of Finance-Banking and Business Administration staff I am also grateful to all of my old colleagues from Nha Trang University and would like to share this greatest moment with all of my dear friends, who are always beside me during this long but absolutely worthy journey And the deepest thank is to my beloved family for their unconditional love, encouragement, and non-stop support This is the best achievement for my parents, sister, brother, and myself Ho Xuan Huong Date: 02nd February 2023 iii ABSTRACT This study develops and investigates the mechanisms through which retail mobile-app cognitions—i.e., interactivity and vividness—are translated into spatial presence experience and subsequently result in customer engagement under the parasol of the hierarchy-of-effects model and the situated cognition theory The contingency roles of need for cognition and domain-specific interest as individual intrinsic tendencies and issue-specific motivations, respectively, are also scrutinized A dataset obtained from a survey of 558 customers is employed to estimate the proposed research model The results indicate that interactivity and vividness significantly stimulate the spatial presence experience, i.e., feelings of “being there” in the mobile-app environment; in turn, this drives customers to become more engaged and contribute to retailers that provide such experiences The moderating roles of the two motivations are also identified The study makes crucial contributions to the field of retail marketing by developing and investigating a theory-driven dynamic and contingent model of customer engagement in the context of retail mobile apps Specifically, drawing on the hierarchy-of-effects model, we deepen the theoretical understanding of the sequential effects of mobile app cognitions on spatial presence experience, which in turn leads to customer engagement under the conditional impacts of need for cognition and domain-specific interest The situated cognition theory complements the hierarchy-of-effects model by disentangling the two categories of embodied and embedded cognitions (i.e., interactivity and vividness, respectively) to explain spatial presence experience As such, we advance the knowledge pertaining to enablers that generate a specific experience, that feeling of “being there”, in virtual environments In general terms, we add to the development of foundation theories in the realms of SPE and engagement behaviours in virtual retailing environments In addition, by empirically validating the proposed dynamic model, we not only support the applicability of the two theories in the context of the specific study but also offer iv practical knowledge for retailers to design mobile apps that foster consumers’ interactive and vividness cognitions, facilitate the feeling of a “real” shopping experience and ultimately encourage customers to actively engage and effectively contribute to participating retailers Keywords: customer engagement, spatial presence experience, hierarchy-of-effects model, situated cognition theory v RESEARCH OUTPUTS RELATED TO THE THESIS Ho, X.H., Nguyen, D.P., Cheng, J.M.S., & Le, A.N.H (2022) Customer engagement in the context of retail mobile apps: A contingency model integrating spatial presence experience and its drivers Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 66, 102950 Le, A.N.H., Ho, H.X, Nguyen, D.P., & Cheng, J.M.S (2022) Dataset for cognition processes, motivations, spatial presence experience, and customer engagement in retail mobile apps Data in Brief, 42, 108198 Le, A.N.H., & Ho, X.H (2020) The behavioral consequences of regret, anger, and frustration in service settings Journal of Global Marketing, 33(2), 84-102 Ho, X.H., Le, A.N.H., & Cheng, J.M.S (2021) Engendering immersive experiences: A review and integrated conceptual model In CBIM2021 International Conference: “Challenges and opportunities for increasingly turbulent times in business markets” (pp: 279-282), Georgia State University (Atlanta, USA) 22-24 June 2021 Ho, H.X & Nguyen, D.P (2019) Virtual retailing environments: presence, value experience, and decision-making evaluation In e-Proceedings of 2nd Connect-Us Conference (CuC 2019) (pp: 76-80), University of Teknologi Malaysia (Malaysia) 9-10 October 2019 Mai, A.T., Ho, H.X., & Le, A.N.H (2019) Value co-creation experiences and customer satisfaction in e-retailing sectors: The mediating role of participation behaviors In e-Proceedings of 2nd Connect-Us Conference (CuC 2019) (pp: 8689), University of Teknologi Malaysia (Malaysia) 9-10 October 2019 Hồ Xuân Hướng, Lê Nhật Hạnh & Lê Thị Hạnh Dung (2020) Vai trò của thực tế ảo quảng cáo du lịch: Một cách tiếp cận từ mô hình SOR Tạp chí Nghiên cứu Kinh tế Kinh doanh Châu Á, 31(1), 48-74 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .ii ABSTRACT iii RESEARCH OUTPUTS RELATED TO THE THESIS v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS x LIST OF TABLES xi LIST OF FIGURES xii CHAPTER - INTRODUCTION 1.1 Overview 1.2 Reasons for choosing the topic .1 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Research objectives .10 1.5 Overview of key concepts .11 1.6 Overview of key theories 12 1.6.1 Core theory – The hierarchy of effects (HOE) model .12 1.6.2 Core theory – Situated cognition theory 13 1.7 Defining the scope of research 13 1.7.1 Retail mobile apps context 13 1.7.2 Vietnam context 15 1.8 Research methods and design .15 1.9 Significance of the study .17 1.9.1 Theoretical aspect .17 1.9.2 Methodological aspect 17 1.9.3 Managerial aspect .18 1.10 Thesis outline 18 CHAPTER - LITERATURE REVIEW 21 2.1 Overview .21 vii 2.2 Retail mobile applications 21 2.3 Overview of studies in Vietnam about the topic 33 2.4 Spatial presence 33 2.4.1 Defining and measuring spatial presence in the emerging technologies 33 2.4.2 Overview study on spatial presence in virtual environments .35 2.5 Customer engagement 42 2.6 Functional mechanisms of retail mobile apps .47 2.6.1 Interactivity 47 2.6.2 Vividness .49 2.7 Users’ motivations 50 2.7.1 Need for cognition 50 2.7.2 Domain-specific interest .51 2.8 Research gaps .51 CHAPTER - CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 61 3.1 Overview .61 3.2 Theoretical underpinnings 61 3.2.1 The hierarchy of effects model 61 3.2.2 Situated cognition theory 62 3.3 Hypothesis development .63 3.3.1 Effects of interactivity and vividness on spatial presence experience 63 3.3.2 Impact of spatial presence experience on customer engagement 66 3.3.3 Mediating effect of spatial presence experience 67 3.3.4 Need for cognition as a moderator on the formation of spatial presence experience 68 3.3.5 The moderating role of domain-specific interest on the relationship between spatial presence experience and customer engagement 70 vi 3.4 The theoretical proposal model .72 CHAPTER - RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 74 4.1 Overview .74 4.2 Research design 74 4.3 Scale operationalization 77 4.4 Questionnaire design, pretest and pilot-test 82 4.5 Environmental setting and data collection process .85 4.6 Data analysis methods 86 4.6.1 Measurement scale evaluation 87 4.6.2 Common method bias 88 4.6.3 Assessing the structural model and hypothesis testing .89 CHAPTER - RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 90 5.1 Overview .90 5.2 Research sample descriptions .90 5.3 Scale accuracy analysis 93 5.3.1 Reflective scales/dimensions 93 5.3.2 Formative scale 102 5.4 Common method bias 102 5.5 Assessing the structural model 103 5.6 Hypothesis testing results 106 5.6.1 Direct effects .106 5.6.2 Mediating effects 108 5.6.3 Moderating effects testing 109 5.7 Findings and discussions 109 CHAPTER - CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 113 6.1 Overview .113 6.2 Conclusion 113 6.3 Theoretical contributions 115 6.4 Practical implications 117 ... environment in general and a retail mobile app, in particular, may lead to acquiring, engaging, and retaining customers (van Heerde et al., 2019) According to Hilken et al (2017), in order to engage customers...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY HO XUAN HUONG THE ROLE OF SPATIAL PRESENCE IN ESTABLISHING CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT IN THE MOBILE RETAIL. .. 2018) In a retailing context, a large proportion of marketing budgets has been allocated to mobile apps as a strategic way to enhance the customer experience and to enable retailers to remain competitive