Atmospheric qualities of online retailing A conceptual model and implications Sevgin A. Eroglu a, *, Karen A. Machleit b , Lenita M. Davis b a Department of Marketing, University Plaza, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303-3083, USA b University of Cincinnati, USA Received 1 May 1999; accepted 1 May 1999 Abstract To address the lack of systematic research on the nature and effectiveness of online retailing, a conceptual model is proposed which examines the potential influence of atmospheric qualities of a virtual store. The underlying premise is that, given the demonstrated impact of store environment on shopper behaviors and outcomes in a traditional retailing setting, such atmospheric cues are likely to play a role in the online shopping context. A Stimulus – Organism – Response (S – O – R) framework is used as the basis of the model which posits that atmospheric cues of the online store, through the intervening effects of affective and cognitive states, influence the outcomes of online retail shopping in terms of approach/avoidance behaviors. Two individual traits, involvement and atmospheric responsiveness, are hypothesized to moderate the relationship between atmospheric cues and shoppers’ affective and cognitive reactions. Propositions are derived and the research implications of the model are presented. D 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Atmospheric qualities; Online retailing; Conceptual model Online retailing has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years due to its potential and implications for both buyers and sellers. From the retailer’s perspective, online commerce as a way of doing business offers a number of advantages. With consumers’ premium emphasis on effi- cient use of time and their declining interest in traditional shopping formats, combined with technology improvements that provide greater convenience and more information than traditional retailing, more retailers are considering the online as a way of doing business. From the consumer point of view, online shopping offers convenience (temporal and spatial), value (through price comparison opportunity), and hedonic consumption possibilities. ‘‘With online retailing, constraints of time and space disappear’’ (Kalakota and Whinston, 1997, p. 219) making it a desirable commercial medium for consumers and retailers alike. Despite all the hype, not much systematic research attention has been given to the nature and effectiveness of online retailing. What little work exists typically focuses on the nature of the medium, neglecting to a great extent its effectiveness particularly from the consumers’ perspective (Hoffman et al., 1996). One of the major determinants of effectiveness is the atmospheric qualities of the medium through which consumers interface the product or service offering (Shih, 1998). Just as the physical environment in a traditional retail store impacts the various psychological and behavioral shopping outcomes (Donovan and Rossiter, 1982; Bitner, 1992; Sherman et al., 1997), certain atmo- spheric qualities of the online shopping context are likely to affect the use (intentions and actual) and results (e.g., satisfaction, repatronage, amount purchased, and time spent online in the virtual store) of online shopping. The purpose of this article is to take a first step in examining the atmospheric qualities of online retailing as a virtual shopping outlet. Given the theory that atmospheric factors impact internal states, which shape customer beha- viors in the traditional retail context (Mehrabian and Rus- sell, 1974; Donovan and Rossiter, 1982; Bitner, 1992), we present a model and accompanying propositions. The model describes how the online retail store’s environment influ- ences shoppers’ emotional and cognitive states that then alter various aspects of shopping outcomes. First, major characteristics of online retailing are dis- cussed to explicate the nature of this new retailing format. Next, the model and accompanying propositions are pre- * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-404-651-3920. 0148-2963/01/$ – see front matter D 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. PII:S0148-2963(99)00087-9 Journal of Business Research 54 (2001) 177 – 184