Consumer digital inequality and technology resistance in technology-driven fashion retail environments : a mixed methods approach
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In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital shopping technology, consumers experiencing vulnerability toward these advances have become a significant, yet overlooked, challenge. This study explored the cognitive and emotional dimensions of fashion consumers' digital inequalities, specifically digital inadaptability and relative digital exclusion, and its impact on their resistance to in-store technologies, using a mixed-methods approach. In Phase 1, a qualitative study explored the psychological mechanisms behind consumers' perceptions of digital inequalities. A total of eight influencing factors were identified through summative content analysis based on the Qualtrics samples (n = 31). In Phase 2, a quantitative study examined how these identified factors lead to consumers' resistance toward in-store innovations through the perception of digital inequalities. The PLS-SEM results with Qualtrics samples (n = 588) indicated that the higher consumers perceive technology complexity and the lack of digital self-efficacy, the greater they perceive their digital inadaptability. Inertia, feeling aged, and feeling disconnected from technology increased consumers' feelings of relative digital exclusion. Frustration was triggered by technology errors and human crowdedness in stores. Finally, perceived digital inadaptability, relative digital exclusion, and frustration facilitated consumers' resistance to in-store technologies. The study provides an inclusive perspective to examine consumers' digital technology-engaged shopping behavior and fashion retailers can implement practical strategies to alleviate consumers' digital inequality perceptions. Future studies can test the model to a particular type of in-store technology and conduct a multigroup analysis to explore the potential moderating effects of demographic factors, such as age or living area, on the research model.
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Ph. D.