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Who seeks a surprise box? Predictors of consumers’ use of fashion and beauty subscription-based online services (SOS)

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  • Woo, Hongjoo
  • Ramkumar, Bharath

Abstract

Subscription-based online services (SOS), the e-businesses that provide periodic delivery of a customized box of merchandise to consumers, have become a $5 billion industry with over 2000 SOS retailers in the United States. This new method of online shopping that removes consumers’ responsibility to select merchandise and visit stores is substantially changing consumers’ consumption habits and, further, their lifestyles. However, there is little information about who are the target customers of such SOS, and what consumer characteristics predict consumers’ use of SOS. This study surveyed 385 American consumers focusing on fashion and beauty SOS. Results revealed that SOS users are more likely to be female with high level of e-tailer trust and fashion consciousness. Age and exploratory product acquisition tendencies of consumers had no significant influence. Both supported and unsupported hypotheses testing results suggest implications regarding potential target market strategies to SOS retailers, and provide a better understanding of consumers who have used this new, effortless shopping method, for consumer researchers.

Suggested Citation

  • Woo, Hongjoo & Ramkumar, Bharath, 2018. "Who seeks a surprise box? Predictors of consumers’ use of fashion and beauty subscription-based online services (SOS)," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 121-130.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:41:y:2018:i:c:p:121-130
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.11.011
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gefen, David, 2000. "E-commerce: the role of familiarity and trust," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 725-737, December.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Roy, Gobinda & Sharma, Swati, 2021. "Measuring the role of factors on website effectiveness using vector autoregressive model," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    3. Andonova, Yana & Anaza, Nwamaka A. & Bennett, Delancy H.S., 2021. "Riding the subscription box wave: Understanding the landscape, challenges, and critical success factors of the subscription box industry," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(5), pages 631-646.
    4. Gupta, Aditya & Eilert, Meike & Gentry, James W., 2020. "Can I surprise myself? A conceptual framework of surprise self-gifting among consumers," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    5. Bray, J. & De Silva Kanakaratne, M. & Dragouni, M. & Douglas, J., 2021. "Thinking inside the box: An empirical exploration of subscription retailing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    6. Bischof, Severin Friedrich & Boettger, Tim M. & Rudolph, Thomas, 2020. "“Curated subscription commerce: A theoretical conceptualizationâ€," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    7. Kovacheva, Aleksandra & Nikolova, Hristina & Lamberton, Cait, 2022. "Will he buy a surprise? Gender differences in the purchase of surprise offerings," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(4), pages 667-684.
    8. Tan, Wee-Kheng & Chen, Bo-Hsiang, 2021. "Enhancing subscription-based ecommerce services through gambled price discounts," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    9. Park, Hyejune & Joyner Armstrong, Cosette M., 2019. "Is money the biggest driver? Uncovering motives for engaging in online collaborative consumption retail models for apparel," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 42-50.

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