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The Impact of Mobile App Adoption on Cross-buying: The Moderating Roles of Product Category Characteristics and Adoption Timing

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  • Liu, Huan
  • Sese, F. Javier

Abstract

With more and more companies introducing mobile apps and consumers using them during the purchase journey, it is increasingly important to understand the consequences of app adoption on behavioral outcomes. This paper investigates the impact of app adoption on the number of additional products purchased by customers (i.e., cross-buying) and how this effect varies across different product categories and different customers. We focus on two key product category characteristics (utilitarian vs. hedonic nature and perceived risk) and on adopters who vary in their adoption timings (early vs. late adopters). Using data from an online retailer and a combination of propensity score weighting with difference-in-differences and Heckman correction estimation techniques, the results show that app adoption has a positive effect on cross-buying overall, but the effect varies greatly across products and consumers. App adoption promotes additional product purchases for hedonic products but leads to less cross-buying for utilitarian products. In addition, early adopters purchase a higher number of additional product categories than late adopters, with this difference decreasing over time and for new consumers compared to existing customers. These results offer novel insights into the behavioral consequences of app adoption and provide managers with useful recommendations for improving the effectiveness of their mobile app investments.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Huan & Sese, F. Javier, 2022. "The Impact of Mobile App Adoption on Cross-buying: The Moderating Roles of Product Category Characteristics and Adoption Timing," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 241-259.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jouret:v:98:y:2022:i:2:p:241-259
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretai.2021.02.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Jihoon Cho & Swinder Janda, 2023. "Perception carryover in cross-buying: the role of interpurchase time and product locus," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(4), pages 809-819, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mobile app adoption; Cross-buying; Product category attributes; Adoption timing; Difference-in-differences; Heckman correction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing

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