Title: Understanding consumer shopping behaviour: a comparison of three theories of emotions in predicting online flow

Authors: Songpol Kulviwat; Yong Zhang; Jinyan Fan; Lu Zheng

Addresses: Department of Marketing and International Business, Frank G. Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University, 222 Weller Hall, Hempstead, NY 11549-1340, USA ' Department of Marketing and International Business, Frank G. Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University, 222 Weller Hall, Hempstead, NY 11549-1340, USA ' Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA ' Department of Psychology, Auburn University, 210 Thach Hall, Auburn, AL 36830, USA

Abstract: This study seeks to examine the emotional antecedents that predict flow in consumers when engaged in online shopping by empirically comparing the three well-known emotion theories to determine their effectiveness in predicting online flow. Using an experimental survey, the study shows that Plutchik and the Izard theories had more predictive power of flow than the PAD theory. Specifically, positive affect (particularly pleasure, joy, arousal, interest and excitement), rather than negative affect, plays an important role in predicting online flow. The study represents one of the first studies to theoretically and empirically examine and compare the three widely used emotion theories in predicting online flow. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications are discussed.

Keywords: emotion theories; online flow; PAD theory; Plutchik; Izard; positive affect; negative affect; consumer behaviour; shopping behaviour; emotional antecedents; online shopping.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEMR.2016.075322

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 2016 Vol.7 No.1, pp.3 - 21

Received: 25 Oct 2014
Accepted: 12 Apr 2015
Published online: 15 Mar 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article