Consumer Choice Among Product Assortments in Virtual QR Code Stores

Virtual QR Code Stores are currently expanding globally and it is commonplace in the market to put emphasis on purely hedonic product assortments. This practice reflects the widespread assumption that hedonic products should be more effective to stimulate purchases because they facilitate impulse buying behavior. Contrary to this argumentation, the results of our study demonstrate that purchasing related to Virtual QR Code Stores can better be explained by planned as opposed to impulse buying behavior. We show that more diverse product assortments consisting of utilitarian products in addition to hedonics are more effective to stimulate customers’ purchases in Virtual QR Code Stores. This is because utilitarian products cause improvements in customers’ utility perceptions of Virtual QR Code Stores resulting from enhanced shopping convenience. Based on this, we contribute by expanding the perspective on critical factors influencing customers in their purchase decision making process in Virtual QR Code Stores.