Determinants of continuous usage intention of branded apps in omni-channel retail environment : comparison between experience-oriented and transaction-oriented apps

Branded applications (apps) have become core touchpoints for improving consumer shopping experiences in omni-channel retailing, and many firms have developed different types of branded apps to provide additional value. Moreover, continuous usage intention is the key to improving enterprises' gain efficiency and consumers’ brand loyalty. This study aims to reveal how branded apps achieve continuance intention from the perspective of consumer perceptions by combining the technology acceptance model and investigating the impact of differences in channel features on usage behavior between the two types of branded apps. An experiment was designed comparing transaction- and experience-oriented branded apps. A structural equation modeling technique was employed to validate the model based on the survey data of respondents from the experimental groups. The results show that the supportive role of omni-channel has a unique experience mechanism that promotes continuous usage intention. However, there are two discrepant results regarding the effect of perceived complementarity on perceived usefulness in transaction- and experience-oriented branded apps. The mediating role of perceived usefulness between perceived consistency, complementarity, ease of use and consumer satisfaction was supported in the experience-oriented apps but rejected in the transaction-oriented apps.