Purpose

This study aims to explore consumers' vicarious experience of touch, namely, mental simulation for touch, through product pictures as visual stimuli and the use of touch devices as motion stimuli in the context of online fashion shopping.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants were randomly exposed to one of the two texture conditions (weak vs strong tactile sensitivity). The responses from the participants who used a laptop as a non-touch device and a touch device were considered in the analysis. A total of 179 responses were analyzed with analysis of variance and the PROCESS procedure for path analysis using SPSS 20.0.

Findings

The interaction effects of tactile sensitivity and device types on mental simulation for touch were significant; seeing a less tactile-sensitive product facilitated a greater mental simulation for touch when using a touch device; however, seeing a tactile-sensitive product produced a similar mental simulation for touch, regardless of device types. Furthermore, browsing a less tactile-sensitive product using a touch device increased favorable product attitudes, fully mediated by mental simulation for touch.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on online shopping behaviors of fashion consumers by showing the role of mental simulation for touch that is shaped by the tactile qualities of products and device types. Exploration of this topic can contribute significantly to online fashion retailers because studies on consumers' mental simulation for touch are limited.

中文翻译：

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我可以触摸屏幕上的衣服吗？在线时尚购物中触觉的心理模拟

目的

本研究旨在探索消费者的触觉替代体验，即在在线时尚购物的背景下，通过产品图片作为视觉刺激和使用触摸设备作为运动刺激的触觉心理模拟。

设计/方法/途径

参与者随机暴露于两种质地条件之一（弱与强触觉敏感性）。分析中考虑了使用笔记本电脑作为非触摸设备和触摸设备的参与者的反应。使用 SPSS 20.0 通过方差分析和用于路径分析的 PROCESS 程序对总共 179 个响应进行了分析。

发现

触觉灵敏度和设备类型对触觉心理模拟的交互作用显着；在使用触摸设备时，看到对触觉不太敏感的产品有助于更好地模拟触觉；然而，无论设备类型如何，看到触觉敏感产品都会产生类似的触觉心理模拟。此外，使用触摸设备浏览触觉敏感度较低的产品会增加对产品的好感度，这完全由触摸的心理模拟来调节。

原创性/价值

这项研究通过展示由产品和设备类型的触觉质量塑造的触觉心理模拟的作用，为时尚消费者在线购物行为的文献做出了贡献。探索这个主题可以对在线时尚零售商做出重大贡献，因为对消费者的触觉心理模拟的研究是有限的。