Tactile Sensations in E-Retailing: The Role of Web Communities

Previous research universally recognized the pivotal role of touch in consumer behavior and considered it as one of the critical factors limiting the adoption of online shopping. In fact, in digital environments, consumers can rely only on the product visual representation and/or written descriptions of its characteristics. Starting from this evidence, several authors have underlined how the provision of a description of a product’s tactile characteristics may positively affect consumer behavior. However, previous contributions have devoted little attention to the differential influence of online sources of information on consumers’ willingness to buy when a description of a product’s tactile characteristics is provided. The research presented in this chapter aims to cover this gap, by demonstrating through two experimental studies that, when a description of the tactile characteristics of the product is provided, the information given by the users of a web-community increases consumer’s willingness to buy the product.