The Impact Of Touch-screen Mobile Phone Use On Hedonic Food And Utilitarian Food Purchasing Preference

Nowadays,China has been the largest and most dynamic online consumer market in the world.Most Internet users in China have been used to online consumption,a necessary means for the daily consumption.Internet consumption plays a vital role in driving national economy development and facilitating the public lives.With the technological advancement,the electronic devices that people use to access the Internet diversify.Among these devices,touch screen phones and computers are the most frequently used tools.In addition,with the development of mobile phone applications(APPs)and the new retail model of "online purchase+offline distribution",touch-screen mobile phones will play a more and more important role in online shopping.Especially among college students,ordering take-out food and buying food online have become an indispensable part of their daily life.The choice of hedonic food and utilitarian food will affect the physical and mental health of college students.Therefore,it is of urgent practical significance to examine the impact of devices,especially touch-screen mobile phones on purchase choice among college students.In recent years,a few scholars have paid attention to the impact of touch-screen devices on consumers.Individual studies have shown that touch-screen devices are related to consumer behavior.However,current related studies are rather few,variables are similar,and there is lack of systematic and in-depth research.Existing research mainly focuses on the consumption of tourism and daily necessities,rarely involving food.In the Chinese food culture,purchasing food is a significant part of people's daily life.With the popularization of take-away ordering software and offline supermarket delivery models,buying food online may become the preferred choice.Therefore,this study focused on the effects of touch-screen devices on food selection.Firstly,this study verifies whether the use of touch-screen devices is related to purchase intention and behavior in the food sector.After clarifying the relationship between the use of touch screen devices and purchase preferences,this study examines whether product factors and consumer factors will affect the association between touch-screen mobile phone use and purchase preferences.Finally,drawing on the sensory marketing integration model,this study uses experiments and questionnaires to explore how touch-screen mobile phone use affects purchase preferences,that is,to examine the mediating paths between touch-screen mobile phone use and purchase preferences.To investigate whether electronic devices and product attributes would influence purchase intention,a 2(devices:touch-screen mobile phones/computers)×2(product attributes:hedonic food/practical food)mixed design was employed in 120 college students.The results showed that:(a)the main effects of devices and food attributes were not significant;(b)the interaction effect of devices and food attributes were significant.Compared with using non-direct-touch computers,consumers using touch-screen mobile phones were more willing to purchase hedonic food.Compared with touch-screen phones,consumers who used computers tended to buy utilitarian food.To examine the effects of different devices,different prices and different product attributes on purchase intention and purchase choice,this study designed a 2(devices:touch-screen mobile phones/computers)× 2(product attributes:hedonic food/utilitarian food)×2(product prices:low price/high price)mixed experiment in 287 college students.Results of ANOVAs showed that:(a)the interaction between food attributes and device on purchase intention was significant,which is consistent with sub-study 1;(b)There was a significant interactive effect of food attributes and food prices on consumer intention.Specifically,in the high-priced food group,participants were more inclined to buy practical food than hedonic food.(3)The main effect of devices on the choice behavior between hedonic food and utilitarian food was significant.Compared with computer users,participants using touch-screen mobile phones were more likely to buy hedonic food.(4)For the choice behavior of foods,the interactive effect of devices and prices was marginally significant.Compared with buying high-priced foods,the use of touch-screen mobile phones led to more hedonic food purchases when the participants purchased low-priced foods.Perceptions and attitudes affect individual preferences for hedonic and utilitarian goods.Among college students,hedonism prevails.Sub-study 3 aimed at examining the effect of hedonism on the relationship between touch-screen phone use and consumer preferences.This study designed 2(devices:touch-screen mobile phones/computers)× 2(hedonism:high hedonism/low hedonism)between-subjects experiment in 120 college students.The study found that:(a)the main effect of devices was significant when no interaction term was added,that is,consumers using mobile phones were more likely to purchase hedonic foods than those using computers.(b)the main effect of hedonism was significant when the interaction item was not added.Compared with the low hedonistic consumers,the consumers with high hedonism were more inclined to purchase hedonic food.(c)The interaction effect between hedonism and device type was significant.When using touch-screen mobile phones for shopping,compared with those with low hedonism,subjects with high hedonism preferred to choose hedonistic foods.Previous studies have revealed that the need for touch is an important variable affecting consumers'tactile experience and consumption behavior.In order to examine whether different need for touch of consumers would affect the relationship between touch-screen phone use and consumer preferences,Sub-study 4 invited 120 college students as participants to take part in a 2(devices:touch-screen mobile phones/computers)× 2(consumer touch needs:high touch need/low touch need)between-subjects experiment.The study found that(a)the main effect of device was significant.Specifically,compared with consumers using computers,consumers using mobile phones were more inclined to purchase hedonic foods;and(b)The interaction effect between touch need and device type was not significant.When using touch-screen phones for shopping,there was no difference between the purchase behavior of consumers with high touch need or low touch need.The sensory marketing model points out that product factors,consumer factors and environmental factors can influence consumers' consumption behavior through two pathways,namely cognition and emotion.Two experiments were designed to investigate the mediating mechanisms of the effects of touch-screen mobile phones use on consumer preferences.Sub-study 5 used a single-factor experimental design and questionnaires to explore the mediating effects of explicit emotion and thinking styles among 249 college students.Sub-study 6 used situational experiments,Implicit Relational Assessment Procedures(IRAP)and questionnaires to investigate the mediating roles of implicit emotion,explicit emotion and thinking styles in the association between different purchase devices and consume purchase choices in 116 college students.The research results showed that(a)consumers' empirical thinking and explicit emotion(negative affect for utilitarian food)played parallel mediating roles between device use and consumer behavior.Contrast with those who used computers,participants who used touch-screen mobile phones owned stronger empirical thinking and less positive emotion for utilitarian food,and they were more likely to purchase hedonic food.(b)Consumers' empirical thinking and implicit affect preference for food played parallel mediating roles between device use and consumer preference.Compared with those using computers,participants using mobile phones would have stronger empirical thinking,think hedonic food with more positive emotions and utilitarian food with more negative emotions,which resulted in buying more hedonic foods.(c)Empirical thinking and positive affects for hedonic food played a chain-mediating role between device use and purchase preferences.Compared with computers,touch-screen mobile phones were more likely to trigger consumers' empirical thinking,which in turn had a more positive explicit emotions towards hedonic foods,eventually increasing the purchase of hedonic food.This research carried out a series of studies on the relationship between touch-screen mobile phone use and consumer preferences.First of all,the impact of the use of touch-screen devices on consumer preferences was verified.Compared with computers,consumers using touch-screen mobile phones were more inclined to purchase hedonic foods.Based on this finding,the boundary conditions of the relationship between the use of touch-screen mobile phones and consumer preferences were examined from a product perspective and a consumer perspective.Compared with the users of computers,consumers using touch-screen phones were more inclined to buy hedonic food when buying low-priced good.Consumers with a strong hedonistic attitude were more inclined to purchase hedonistic food using touch-screen mobile phones.Finally,we examined the influencing mechanisms of touch-screen mobile phones use on consumer preferences,more precisely,the parallel mediation and chain mediation of thinking mode,implicit/explicit emotions.This study validated and enriched classical theories(Sensory Marketing Conceptual Framework,Dual Processing Theory,Embodied Cognition Theory),provided empirical support for these theories,and expanded their ecological validity in the field of online consumption.Moreover,this research can provide suggestions for consumers to consume in a scientific and healthy way,and give advices to sellers about how to segment the consumer groups and accurately launch advertisement.