Haptic Feedback and the Role of Need for Touch on Augmented Reality Mobile Shopping Apps

ABSTRACT As mobile commerce has become increasingly prevalent, retailers have sought to enhance the mobile shopping experience by incorporating multisensory stimulation (i.e., visual, auditory, and now tactile stimulation). This paper investigates the presence of sensory inputs, specifically haptic feedback, when positioning and manipulating augmented reality (AR) products within a retailer shopping app on a smartphone. It furthermore examines the downstream effects on consumer evaluation of the app, purchase intention, and satisfaction with the app through perceived trust. Organized into two studies, this research explores how haptic feedback through vibrotactile stimulation can influence shoppers with varying levels of need for touch (NFT). The present findings show that NFT positively moderates the effects of haptic feedback, increasing consumers' trust in the retailer's AR mobile shopping app. These effects lead to the AR app being perceived as more useful and entertaining, with purchase likelihood increasing. This paper contributes to the existing retail app and consumer behavior literature on sensory experiences in mobile retail, highlighting the need for retailers to offer haptic feedback experiences while offering suggestions for identifying high‐ and low‐touch customer preferences.