Online product presentation: the effect of product coordination and a model's face

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of product coordination and a model's face on consumer responses in terms of affective states, perceived amount of information and purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach - The design of the study was a 2 (product presentation: coordinated vs uncoordinated) x 2 (model's face: present vs absent) between-subjects design. A convenience sample of 243 college students participated in a web experiment. Findings - The results suggest that complementary apparel items should be coordinated together (e.g. pairing t-shirt and pants together on a model) on the web sites to produce favorable consumers' shopping outcomes. However, contrary to prior research findings, consumers perceived more information when no model's face was present with the product than when an attractive model's face and body were shown together. Research limitations/implications - This study used a convenience sample of college women. Thus, future research needs to include a more diverse group of e-shoppers to enhance generalizability of the findings. Practical implications - The findings of the study provide useful insights that apparel e-retailers can utilize to develop more effective e-retailing web sites. Based on the findings, product coordination without a model's face is recommended for e-retailers. Originality/value - Overall the paper's findings provide empirical support for the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model and the ensemble effect.