Multichannel shopping: the relationship between search and purchase channel choice

Multichannel retailing increasingly involves consumers searching for information online and then choosing to buy products from a variety of channel options. The Internet will continue to have a major impact on consumer information search behaviour, however little is known about the relationship between online search behaviour and purchase channel choice. In this article, we consider the drivers of this relationship through an investigation of the utilitarian and hedonic shopping values of Internet users and present a conceptual model to represent these relationships. This paper contributes to our understanding of multichannel buying behaviour and provides considerations for online media suppliers and media buyers.