Thesis project

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FIGURE 1: Gucci add 2015

See Now Buy Now Effect Rebecca de Pallejá Sardá BA Fashion marketing & communication, Level 6, 2017-2018 6FAMK001C Major Project CWK2 Teacher: José Guerrero Word count: 8.500

SEE NOW BUY NOW EFFECT


FIGURE 2: Pinterest futuristic

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ABSTRACT The overall aim of this research paper is to evaluate and study the characteristics of impulse buying behavior which is also known as the ‘See now buy now effect.’ Throughout this report, the writer implements and showcases an analysis of existing literature on consumer experience and behavior regarding shopping and will go in depth to analyze and investigate how customer experience replies to the demands on instant gratification and how dynamic business models respond to it. The present report aims to undertake the gap in the literature and furnish a more profound and improved understanding of the conception of ‘consumer experience’ and the results behind it, showing particular interest on the new shopping models that appeared as a reply to this effect and how dynamic business models respond to instant gratification. Notably, the writer profoundly centers on how experiences are a crucial key to understand the central concept fully. The preeminent objective of this research is to examine the bond amongst brand experience and instant gratification, which creates the see now buy now effect. This study consists of a systematic analysis of existing literature, building up a theoretical framework.

knowledge on experiential needs of consumers and the new marketing strategies dynamic business implements to achieve instant gratification. Definitions, different perspectives and significant research topics in the fields of consumer, consumption and brand experiences where analyzed and reviewed. Further information was reported through seminal studies, empirical findings and the understanding of the experience process, displaying information on experiential themes and dimensions. The writer implements different theories to produce explicit material and predictions, focussing on a robust hypothesis of the rationality of firms and consumers. Main findings on customer experience management are gathered from a strategic point of view by focusing on issues such as how and to what extent an experience-based business can create growth. In each of these areas, the author identifies and discuss important issues worthy of further research.

The main implications surged through the writing of the paper was the limited amount of information about it since fashion is an Mixed methods, such as quantitative and emulated behavior. qualitative are adopted and approached through the research. Data analysis is em- The overall outcome of the research was ployed within descriptive statistics, confir- the understanding of the modern consumatory and exploratory factor analysis and mer and the new value fashion chain, which in the multiple/linear regression analysis has created the see now buy now effect. for hypothesis examination. This research supplies additional observations to the consumer, marketing, and consumer experience literature, offering guides for future research. Ultimately, this study will be of help for firms as it provides 3


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to communicate my gratitude to a wide amount of persons for the encouragement and help they have given me throughout my studies at IED. To start with, I would like to deeply thank my first tutor, Sir. Jose Guerrero for his advice, supervision and ongoing encouragement. I am extremely grateful, as working with him has been a very enjoyable experience which has greatly helped in the fulfillment of my research project. More importantly, his personal support and the energy and passion he has transmitted always enabled me to overcome all the obstacles I faced during the writing of the research. His ability to immediately answer the emails has always been of big help and I deeply appreciate his personal and sincere ways of transmitting ideas. I felt very comfortable talking with him, always with a smile on his face. My sincere recognition to abundant academics for their helpful assessment to several parts of my paper. Additionally, express my appreciation to Miss. Julie Foale who delighted me with her knowledge and bright feedback, which guided me from the start to my final piece of the project. Her academic advice and direction has always been very beneficial. She showed great interest in the research and her involvement, deep understanding and the way she expressed herself offered me good assistance. Finally, a big thank you to my family for always being there and constantly pushing me forward through my weakest times, and when I thought that everything was lost empowering me with serenity and happiness.

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FIGURE 3: Pinterest consumerism collage

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CONTENTS ·INTRODUCTION· page 8 to page 17 • • • •

Aims & Objectives Research Questions Spider Diagram See Now Buy Now Chart

·LITERATURE REVIEW· page 18 to page 41 1. • • 2. • • • 3. • 4.

Consumer Response How does stimuli and sales bridge together on consumer mind? Why instant gratification appears throghout consumer behaviour? Shopping and Shopping Models What is the new “value” chain for the fashion business industry (value = experience = gratification) Why shopping as an event (experience) responds to demands on instant gratification How shop-operators enhance experiential gratification Business Models The “see now/buy now” effect: How does dynamic business models responds to instant gratification? Key Findings

·METHODOLOGY AND LITERATURE CONSULTED· page 42 to page 45 ·FINDINGS AND RESULTS· page 46 to page 67 • • • • • •

Fashion getting faster Changing consumer It´s all about experiences New value journey/chain Technology is life Artificial intelligence raises

·DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION· page 68 to page 71 ·REFERENCES· page 72 to page 77 ·APPENDIX· page 78 to page 83 6


FIGURE 4: Pinterest consumerism

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FIGURE 5: See now buy now effect google image

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INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC This research proposal consists of the ‘See now Buy now effect’, being a “consumer-facing concept” (Hoang, 2016). The main aspect in order to understand this effect is the understanding of consumers mind and way of acting to this issue (their behavior), how they sense the online shopping environments. Suggestions have been made that the key driver behind the shift in models is the rise of digital media and the fact that consumers, specially Millennials, see something on social media and crave instant gratification. The theoretical model states that consumers perceive these environments in forms of their exploratory potential and sense-making, considering the influence of this aspects on the person involvement with the web site, shopping value and intention to revisit.

self, his evaluations and descriptions of himself (Green et al 1969) • ideal self-image, referring to the individual’s perception of what he should aspire to become (Grubb and stern 1971) However, recently a new concept has appeared, the individual’s social self-concept, the image he or she would like others to have of him or herself, has received research attention (Malhotra 1988; Sirgy 1980). Digital technology and IT transformations has been one of the main reasons of this effect, social networks have created an eco system of immediacy, the development of commerce has created the impulse buying, creating also a new value chain for the fashion business industry, consisting of three main faces: value, experience and gratification. Fashion trends are directly exposed though social media. A new market scheme has been created, where the buyer interaction and immediacy are significant issues that fashion brands have to think about, where the ‘see now buy now’ business model arises as a reaction to this new market.

In addition to this, according to Dincer’s (2010) research results impulse buying is purely affective. This could be explained by the fact that consumers buy products for non-economic reasons, such as fun, fantasy, and social or emotional gratification. So, the affective facet is more related with feelings and emotions, in that way, the impulse purchase might be a way to The interest of analyzing this field deal with emotions. came from a personal feeling of understanding the consumers behavior Consumers choose products that are through the buying face, their impulconsistent with their perceptions of ses, how this are driven, how things themselves (Sirgy 1982). Two con- have been altered though out time cepts have been employed in consu- and how business respond technically mer research: to this. • actual self-image, which refers to how an individual sees him-

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AIMS & OBJECTIVES The main aim and objectives the writer has towards this research paper is to completely understand and comprehend the successful motivations of the see now buy now and how to adapt the stimlui and the business models towards this effect. Being able to comprehend how this effect flourishes and how this evokes and develops into a marketing strategy, refering as the stimuli and operational model, being the main aim of the research paper. This will be achieved by explaining how consumer behavior is affected by this effect, how does consumer respond to this effect, describing the new “value� chain for the fashion business industry and consequently justifying how does dynamic business models respond to instant gratification. Moreover, a very important objective that this paper will analyze is what potential impact consumers have towards their stimulus tendencies, also known as their impulse habits with reference to the online atmosphere, explaining what purchasing desires contains the most powerful impact towards the online impulse buying. The final objective consists to understand how instant gratification is satisfied, defining why the role of purchasing stimuli and sales bride together in consumers mind, altered by digitalization, which has affected the whole buying effect, going from the zero moment of truth directly to the third moment, the experience.

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FIGURE 6: Pinterest shopacholic

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS In order to achieve the stated objectives we will have to go more in depth and specify key insights and information about the topic. This will provide a clear focus to the research paper and will help to structure the research proposal and the final dissertation. This section has been divided into three main themes; consumer respond; shopping and “shopping” models; business models. From this main topics some questions have arisen, which will give a deeper understanding of each theme and will be crucial for a deeper comprehension of the whole concept. Basically the reaction of this models responds on how the see now buy now responds on instant gratification. 1.”Consumer respond (consumer behavior)” 1.1. How does stimuli and sales bridge together on consumer mind? 1.2. Why instant gratification appears along consumer behavior? 1.3. What is the new “value” chain for the fashion business industry (value = experience = gratification”) 2. Shopping and “shopping” models 2.1. Why shopping as an event (experience) responds to demands on instant gratification? 2.2. How shop-operators enhance experiential gratification 3. “Business models” 3.1. The “see now / buy now” effect: How does dynamic business

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FIGURE 7: Graphic design consumer mind


FIGURE 8: Pinterest shopping cart

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Spider diagram

Classifying buyers: nearly all the buyers follow similar patterns

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

“Consumer respond (consumer behavior)”

1. How does stimuli and sales bridge together on consumer mind?

2. Why instant gratification appears along consumer behavior?

Shopping and “shopping” models

3. What is the new “value” chain for the fashion business industry (value = experience = gratification”)?

4. Why shopping as an event (experience) responds to demands on instant gratification?

5. How shop-operators enhance experiential gratification?

Business models

See Now Buy Now Effect

OBJECTIVES

6. The “see now / buy now” effect: How does dynamic business models respond to instant gratification? 16


THEORY

DATA

Consumer Behavior, Schiffman G.L and Kanuk L.L, Prentice- Hall Dennis, C. , Merrilees, B. , Jayawardhena, C. and Wri-A comparison of the theory of re- ght, L.T. (2009), “E-consumer behaviour”, European asoned action and the theory of Journal of Marketing , Vol. 43 Nos 9/10, pp. 1121planned behaviour 1139. Hirschman, E.C. (1992), “The consciousness of addiction: toward a general theory of compulsive con-Stimulus-organism- response sumption”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 19 model (Mehrabian and Russell, 1975) No. 2, pp. 155-179. Wansink, B. (1994), “The dark side of consumer behaviour: empirical examinations of impulsive and compulsive consumption”, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 21, p. 508.

-Behavioral learning theories -Maslow’s basic needs (Maslow, 1943, 1965, 1970) -Effect of external marketing stimuli on impulsive buying behavior -VALUE AND EXPERIENCES products and services (Brakus et al., 2009; Alloza, 2008; Schmitt, 2009; Ha and Parks, 2005) -Consumer decision model

Castaneda, J.A., Fras, D.M. and Rodriguez, M.A. (2007), “The influence of the internet on destination satisfaction”, Internet Research, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 402-420.

LaRose, R. and Eastin, M.S. (2004), “A social cognitive theory of internet uses and gratifications: toward a new model of media attendance”, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Vol. 48 No. 3, pp. 358-377.

Ward, S. (1974), “Consumer socialization”, Journal of -Social-psychological theories, con- Consumer Research, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 1-14. sumer behavior and marketing Podoshen, J.S. and Andrzejewski, S.A. (2012b), “An investigation into the relationships between ma-Brand experience theories terialism, conspicuous consumption, brand loyalty and impulse buying”, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 319-334 Rubin, A.M. (2002), “The uses and gratifications perspective of media effects”, in Bryant, J. and Zillmann, D. (Eds), Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research, Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 525-548.

-Hedonic theory -‘Gamification’ (Zichermann and Linder, 2011

-Chaffey (2009) established the Ge- Constantinides, E. , Lorenzo-Romero, C. and Gomez, neric e-Business Strategy M.A. (2010), “Effects of web experience on consuProcess Model mer choice: a multicultural approach”, Internet Re-Dynamic e-business strategy mo- search , Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 188-209. del 17


FIGURE 9: Pinterest millennial mind

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LITERATURE REVIEW

1. CONSUMER RESPONSE (CONSUMER BEHAVIOR) 1.1. How does stimuli and sales bridge together on consumer mind? Applebaum (1951) stated that impulsive buying is an outcome of promotional stimuli and that buying items are not decided in advance in a consumer‘s mind before starting a shopping trip. Whereas numerous theories of consumer behavior are focussed on a rational approach, Stern deeply trusts the idea of impulse behavior. Stern believes that immediate buying impulses set beside rational purchasing decisions to draw an overall idea of the average consumer. This impulse buying is mostly directed by external stimuli and has practically no relation with traditional decision making (Stern, 1962). According to Applebaum (1951) impulsive buying is an outcome of promotional stimuli and that buying items are not decided in advance in a consumer’s mind before starting a shopping trip. According to Kollat and Reed (2007), impulsive buying behavior is realistically accidental behavior when it is associated to emotional preferences in shopping.

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FIGURE 10: Conceptual framework of brand experience

Brand-related stimuli can be associated with any inherent characteristics of a brand that signify its presence or absence (Morrison & Crane, 2007). These characteristics bring along experiences for customers and could be listed as: brand name (Srinivasan & Till, 2002); simple touch points such as order forms, application forms, invoices given to customers once a sale is made (Coomber & Poore, 2012) and physical infrastructure (Hanna & Rowley, 2013). Previous studies on the experience concept have considered brand-related stimuli crucial in managing experiences which are evoked during the entire buying process (Berry, Carbone, & Haeckel, 2002), as shown in Figure 10.

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The stimuli is generated by the experience the consumer obtains through the buying process. Brakus et al. (2009) state that with a deeper understanding of brand experience, the entire range of experiences evoked by brand-related stimuli could be understood. The Stimulus-Organism-Response model (Figure 11) posits that environmental and brand-related stimuli act as cues shaping an individual’s cognitive and affective reactions, which in return affect their responses (Mehrabian and Russell, 1975). Stimuli are related to marketing programs that are offered to support the brand, including product, advertising, salesperson attentiveness, store atmospherics and many others. The organism, on the other hand, refers to a consumer’s cognitive and affective state of mind, including feelings and thoughts. Responses, on the other hand, include variables such as trust, commitment, purchase intention and loyalty (Jacoby, 2002). The role of individual motives for purchase is only alluded to within need recognition, appearing to somewhat neglect a rich theoretical and important area of consideration (Bagozzi,Gurhan-Canli et al. 2002, Loudon and Della Bitta 1993).

FIGURE 11: Stimulus-Organism-Response model

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1.2. Why instant gratification appears throughout consumer behavior? Impulsive buyers are unreflective in nature. It is immediate gratification that presides over all the competing factors of rationality and satisfaction of the immediate pleasure is the bone of contention embedded in impulsive buyers. For this reason, impulse buying behavior is a means of satisfying the short lived desires (Jones et al., 2003; Rook, 1987). The nature of predisposition to give importance to contiguous rewards above distal rewards has been studied in the cognitive framework of willpower (Thaler & Shefrin, 1981). In behavioural sciences, impulsivity is conceptualized as the selection of immediate but smaller rewards over larger and delayed ones (Ainslie, 1975; Navarick, 1987). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a macro theory that emphasizes how human needs can be the underlying factor of consumption. (Jansson-Boyd, 2010). Maslow’s basic needs (Maslow, 1943, 1965, 1970) are thought to be structured in such a way that the satisfaction or gratification of the lower-order needs leads to the activation of the next higher-order need in the hierarchy. This is the gratification/activation principle. Maslow’s approach is a theory of motivation, in that it links basic needs-motives to general behavior (Wahba and Bridwell, 1976). The basic needs/motives are linked to behavior through a theory of motivation which asserts that (i) deprivation is followed by gratification; (ii) less potent needs emerge upon the gratification of the more preponderant ones (Maslow, 1970); (iii) and it is a dynamic process where deprivation is hypothesized to lead to domination, which leads to gratification that culminates in the activation of the next higher order need in the echelon. Maslow’s theory proposed a new and innovative way of analyzing the motivation of human behavior. Consumer decisions are often led by the need for self-actualisation and can be used to explain the reason some items are purchased. (Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

FIGURE 12: Consumer brain

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On the other hand, Karbasivar & Yarahmadi (2011) investigate the effect of external marketing stimuli on impulsive buying behavior, stating that impulsive purchases are situations where the consumer does not evaluate or even identify all the shopping alternatives, nor does he evaluate the consequences of his/her decision. Consumers are only focussed on instant gratification of their strong need, not thinking of the real problem, which is to be resolved in a higher-quality manner. Impulsive purchases are always instant, affective and hedonic. However, Coley & Burgess (2003, p. 283) claim that simultaneous effect of external and internal stimuli results in positive shopping emotions and guides consumers’ moods, followed by strong urge and desire to buy that the consumer cannot resist, resulting in the emergence of impulse-driven behavior and, eventually purchase, as seen in Figure 13. Factors with a stronger experiential, entertaining and hedonic effect also have a comparatively stronger effect on the consumers’ impulsive buying behavior. Chen (2008) deems that impulsive purchase add hedonic value to the act of shopping itself, and consequently, products and services with a high level of hedonic dimension provoke higher level of emotion and the consumer affective response, eventually resulting in impulsive purchase.

FIGURE 13: Consumer Impulse buying desire

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2. Shopping and “shopping” models

2.1. What is the new “value” chain for the fashion business industry (value = experience = gratification”) The See Now, Buy Now principle primarily originates from the business to consumer (B2C) strategy, in which a product or service is exchanged directly from the business to the consumer, either via online or offline channels (Hom, 2013).

Most recently, there has been a dramatic increase in terms of recognition of the value of experience; companies have begun to move away from their traditional commercial approach towards developing brand experience and by doing so adding value to their products and services (Brakus et al., 2009; Alloza, 2008; Schmitt, 2009; Ha and Parks, 2005). Today’s business environments are not static but rather exposed to continuous changes, increasing complexities and higher performance pressures than ever before (Al-Debei & Avison, 2010; Weiller & Neely, 2013). According to Holbrook (1996), customer value can be defined as ‘an interactive realistic preference experience’.

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Addis and Holbrook (2001) described experience as a key element in understanding consumer behavior; in 1999 Pine and Gilmore studied experience in the economy; and most recently, experience has been adapted in marketing studies (Schmitt, 1999; LaSalle and Britton, 2003; Brakus et al., 2009). Recently, the phenomenon of service experience has been found to be vital in the consumer behavior area, and most notably in satisfaction/dissatisfaction theory (Brakus et al., 2009; Hui and Bateson, 1991). Satisfaction is highly related to cognitive and affective responses to a purchase decision (Griffin, 1998; Bagozzi et al. (1999), being the main aspect of gratification, as shown in Figure 14, while Figure 16 represents the old purchase path. Howard developed the first consumer decision-model in 1963 (Du Plessis,Rousseau et al. 1991). It provides “a sophisticated integration of the various social, psychological and marketing influences on consumer choice into a coherent sequence of information processing� (Foxall 1990 p.10). Figure 15 showcases the consumer choice/decision journey 2015.

FIGURE 14: Purchase decision

FIGURE 15: Streamlining the decision journey (Edelman & Singer, 2015)

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FIGURE 16: Traditional purchase funnel (Lewis, 1903)

FIGURE 17: The new consumer decision model

The writer assumes that self-reported gratifications provide an incomplete picture of what motivates people’s media choices. Emotions can be gratifying and motivate selective media use regardless of whether the person is consciously aware of that fact or not (cf. Vorderer, 1992; Suckfßll, 2004), being a very important part on the new value business chain, as seen in Figure 17.

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“The current system is interesting. Fragments of it are changing to be more responsive to the customer demands (quick response, see now buy now) whilst other areas are being stub-born and not changing� -Susie Breuer 27


FIGURE 18: Pinterest futuristic shoppers

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From the information processing perspective, the consequences of consumer choice typically are viewed in terms of the product’s useful function, meaning that the criteria for evaluating the success of a purchasing decision are therefore primarily utilitarian in nature—as, when judging a “craft,” one asks how well it serves its intended purpose or performs its proper function (Becker 1978). By contrast, in the experiential view, the consequences of consumption appear in the fun that a consumer derives from a product—the enjoyment that it offers and the resulting feeling of pleasure that it evokes (Klinger 1971), where satisfaction with the purchase serves to reinforce future behavioral responses in the form of repeat purchases. This argument implies that—though satisfaction certainly constitutes one important experiential component—the stream of associations that occur during consumption (imagery, daydreams, emotions) may be equally important experiential aspects of consumer behavior.

Impulsive behavior is not as simplistic to be narrowed down to the physiological satiation of our wants caused by appetitive stimulus as the kind of satiation achieved could be internal or even intangible for mere observers or, in other words, the satiation achieved is psychological. In their article Giving in to feel good: the place of emotion regulation in the context of general self-control (Tice and Bratslavsky, 2000), emphasize emotional (Yoseph Dedy Pradipto et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 222, 2016) satisfaction and the reduction of anxiety as the leading factor in impulsive behavior. The emotional satisfaction and anxiety reduction then serves as a kind of reinforcement for those individuals engaged in impulsive behavior to repeat the behavior. However not forgetting that consumption experiences are readymade for an experience economy in which experience is the new currency (Pine and Gilmore, 1998).

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2.2. Why shopping as an event (experience) responds to demands on instant gratification?

Now a days customer experience has become an important factor for success in contemporary retailing, requiring firms to look beyond pricing strategies and product innovation (Rose et al. 2011). This experience is the desire to obtain a feeling of instant gratification, creating a pleasure or fulfillment, an action of wanting something now and obtaining it at the same moment. Shopping online is no longer just about purchasing a product, but rather the experience of joy and exploration during the shopping process (To et al., 2007). Within the majority of the past studies regarding online shopping motivations, entertainment has been closely associated with experiential shoppers (Lee & Overby, 2004; To et al., 2007; Wolfinbarger & Gilly, 2001). The online world is one way to expect instant gratification, having the ability to make things happen without having to wait. It has been highlighted by Youn and Faber (2000) that emotions play a part in the active and reactive experiences of consumption. Emotions have a vital role in the consumption experience arena, affecting the consumers behavior and decisions. Authors like Schmitt (1999b) explained that, at present, customers are not only looking for products, but they are also searching for a new experience. Therefore, Addis and Podesta (2005) regard experience as “the core of consumption, and at the same time the core of marketing, for one simple reason: experience is the decomposition of the individual’s life”, demonstrating that experience plays an important role especially in marketing practice.

FIGURE 19: Graphic design mythology

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On one hand, Lau and Lee (1999) observe that brand experience can be understood as consumers’ feelings after they consume particularly in the area of usage, while Davis et al. (2000) and Padgett and Allen (1997) offer evidence that brand experience is a response to brand-related stimuli and occurs during the consumption. Impulse buying is defined as relatively extraordinary and exciting consumer experience that is characterized by “sudden, often powerful and persistent urge to buy something immediately” (Rook, 1987). That shopping experience responds creates a feeling of instant gratification, which feeds the emotional need of the customer. Its a new era of instant gratification created through real time experiences driven by the massive use of the internet. Different authors, such as Hirschman and Holbrook (1982), Padgett and Allen (1997) and Brakus et al. (2009) contend that brand experience consists of subjective, internal consumer responses that can be categorized into sensory, affective, behavioral and intellectual intentions evoked by brand-related stimuli. The sensory and affective experiences are likely to generate a vision of an environment of hedonic gratification (Turley and Milliman, 2000). Consumers are searching for a faster and more efficient shopping experience in order to have constantly instant gratification. However this desire of instant gratification doesn’t stop once the customer gets something, its an ongoing wheel of always wanting more, as shown in Figure 15.

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2.3. How shop-operators enhance experiential gratification

In order to answer the question the reader has to understand what experiential gratification refers to. Experiential gratification is directed at experiential sources of pleasure, novelty, sensation, play, intellectual stimulation, satiety and emotional gratification (Hirschman, 1984; Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982; Hopkinson and Pujari, 1999). Mathwick, Malhorta and Rigdon (2010) advance the view that online shoppers are more driven by utilitarian motives and are not pleasure-seekers or motivated by escapism. Kukar-Kinney, Ridgway and Monroe (2009) found that the issue of compulsive buying was an important consideration. Such shoppers get an emotional lift or boost from shopping. Shopping effort is directed at pleasure seeking and that shoppers enjoy the expertential elements associated with the process of shopping. Brici at al. (2013) suggested that people consume goods or services for two reasons: affective gratification and instrumental utilitarianism. According to hedonic theory, shopping can bring consumers enjoyment, excitement, and pleasure; according to utilitarian theory, shopping can satisfy consumers’ practical, instrumental, and functional demands (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982). Meng and Xu (2012) discussed three types of behaviors (i.e., planned, impulsive, and experiential), explaining that planned shopping behaviors play an important role when consumers tend to be utilitarian, and impulsive shopping behaviors are highly likely when consumers seek hedonic experiences. We live in an age of instant gratification: online orders are delivered within hours and social media can keep friends in contact 24x7. One way in which retailers have begun to enhance the online customer experience is through the application of game mechanics to online shopping, a process known as ‘gamification’ (Zichermann andLinder, 2011). A general definition of gamification identifies it as “the process of adding game mechanics to processes, programs and platforms that wouldn’t traditionally use such concepts.” (Swan 2012, p13).

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Triggering memorable ‘customer experiences’ in retail environments, where multiple tangible and intangible stimuli can interact (Carù & Cova, 2003, 2007; Klingmann, 2008; Petermans & Van Cleempoel, 2010a, 2010b) When creating and directing memorable experiences, retailers must keep in mind that the retail experience needs to deliver value to customers, since perceived value is being characterized as the essential outcome of marketing activity (Mathwick et al., 2001). Companies have begun to focus on the employee experience (Heska, 2009). This shows that experience management is no longer just a marketing issue; it is also a human resources management issue. However, Hoch (2002) views experiences as “seductive”; they are intense and highly memorable. Consumers put more value on experience than they should. He writes, “Personal experience is overrated. People find it more compelling than they should. In many consumption situations, people are too trusting of what they have learned through experience, seduced by the very real nature of an ongoing stream of activity.” Similarly Sharma et al. (2010) state that both variety seeking, and impulse buying provides consumers with excitement and novelty in their purchase experiences.

FIGURE 20: Collage graphic design fashion

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3. BUSINESS MODELS

3.1. The “see now / buy now” effect: How does dynamic business models respond to instant gratification?

Today it is important to center in the power and importance that social media has and how it is used by businesses as a marketing tool with personality driven content. Social media is a main element to generate awareness, inspire and create purchasing desire. The see now buy now effect is linked with the buying sensations, which are the emotions associated with the impulsive buyers and it was observed that consumers who had more positive emotional responses to the retail environment were more likely to make higher impulsive purchases (Muruganantham & Bhakat, 2013). The economic importance of impulsive buying is well established in the retail world (Verplanken & Sato, 2011). Over time, our mediated culture has been consistently striving toward the goal of offering immediate gratification (Green et al., 2005). An early research on impulsive buying considered it to be “unplanned buying” (Stern, 1962); gradually, it was recognized as an emotional experience, wherein the rapidness of behaviour precluded thoughtful deliberation of alternatives or consequences (Jones, Reynolds, Weun, & Beatty, 2003). The consumer propensity for impulse buying is supposed to be induced by the belief that it is usually accompanied by a positive emotional change (Amos, Holmes, & Keneson, 2014) and may be invoked to alleviate distress (Sneath et al., 2009). Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel (2006) recognized impulsive buying as a limited problem-solving decision, stating that in the impulsive buying decision making process, the search for information and the pre-purchase evaluations were limited, meant that its explanatory scope excluded a wide range of behaviors that were spontaneous and impulsive (Bentler & Speckart, 1979; Hale, Householder, & Greene, 2002).

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FIGURE 21: New generation addictions


FIGURE 22: Dynami e-business strategy model

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Offering experience is argued to be a solution to developing a new trend of strategic marketing (Schmitt, 1999a) for every type of business that seeks to offer the consumer emotional, sensory, cognitional and behavioural experience. Schmitt (1999b) explained that, at present, customers are not only looking for products, but they are also searching for a new experience. Customer experience from a broad perspective for both online and offline environments reflects all customers responses to all direct and indirect encounters with a company (Bilgihan et al. 2015)

Brand experiences are not just associations. Brand experiences are dynamic sensations, feelings, cognitions, and behavioral responses. Like brand associations, they may be stored in consumer memory after the experience in the “here and now.” Most likely, experiences would be stored not only semantically, but episodically, thus preserving a trace, for example, of the sensations and emotions that made up the experience with the brand (Barsalou, 1999).

Brakus et al. (2009) based their work on brand experiences, in part, on the five modules distinguished by Schmitt (1999), “subjective, internal consumer responses (sensations, feelings, and cognitions) as well as behavioral responses evoked by brand-related stimuli that are part of a brand’s design and identity, packaging, communications and environments” (Brakus et al., 2009, p. 53).

Chaffey (2009) established the Generic e-Business Strategy Process Model, which defined the elements of an e-business strategy and its development in a dynamic manner and could be used as a guide for organizations to determine e-business strategic issues at a high level. However, since it is a generic model for all business sectors, industry-specific elements must be added when planning a holistic approach for organizations in the construction industry, as seen in Figure 22.

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To create a positive engagement between a customer and a brand or service, companies need to focus on understanding the stimuli that can trigger a customer’s emotions (Schmitt, 1999a). Schmitt (1999b) observes that the more a company understands moods and emotions, the more they can create and develop a strategic marketing plan. Creating customized experience that once customers get on their path, they are permanently engaged and create new value for the customer himself, creating a phase of instant gratification (Edelman and Singer 2015), as seen in Figure 23. The Value-Expressive function expresses the consumer’s central values and self-concept (Solomon, et al. 2010). Essentially attitudes are an overall statement of an individual. A consumer forms an attitude about a product based on the way it represents them as an individual not due to its objective benefits. By expressing attitudes towards products it validates a consumer’s own self- concept. This is resonated in research by Weigand (2009) which showed that in general social media is positively associated with providing instrumental value that assists consumers in making decisions about what product to buy, when to buy, and where to buy the product from making the customer reach the instant gratification level. FIGURE 23:

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It may not be a secret that a majority of the people derive greater happiness from experiential purchases compared to material purchases (Kumar & Gilovich, 2015). The experiential purchases distinguish themselves from the material ones because of the more enduring hedonic benefits (Kumar & Gilovich, 2015). This tendency was tested and confirmed in two different studies, where customers were asked about their initial and current satisfaction (Carter & Gilovich, 2010). Moreover, personal experiences are more likely to be shared with other people because they tend to be more rewarding to talk about (Kumar & Gilovich, 2015). Sharing experiences also shape parts of your identity, because our experiences become our memories and therefore are more likely than possessions to become part of ourselves (Kumar & Gilovich, 2015).

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KEY FINDINGS

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FIGURE 24: Graphic design modern times

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METHODOLOGY & LITERATURE CONSULTED The research methods will consist of the analysis and interpretation of secondary sources such as articles, published papers, research books associated with the understanding of the ‘See now buy now effect.’ The information obtained will allow the author to achieve a better understanding of the topic and an impartial angle of the theme.

thods, in this research due to the limitations of each method. As the primary aim of the paper is to understand the consumer behavior towards the see now buy now effect and how experiences lead to instant gratification the study will have to first focus on social facts and causes of social phenomena, as they are related to the research philosophy. Brand experience theories and behavioral learning theories from different decades and artists will be interpreted and tested by the author, such as the ‘Hedonic theory,’ ’Theory of reasoned action’ or ‘Theory of planned behavior.’

The primary objective of this research is to purchase a more familiar understanding of the topic and to achieve new insights into it, making use of exploratory research studies. Quantitative data (hypothesis testing investigation) has been the most used to gain a better understanding, applied by measuring large amounts of information. The paper onsets with a theory which the hypothesis are generated. Information will be gathered and evaluated by statistical tests approval to the hypothesis. As the quantitative method provide large amounts of data, the researcher will limit the number of information.

This effect is affected by addressing information that influences feelings and behavior. The literature backup the idea that the main focus of hypothesis is based on the experience the consumer lives through the buying process and the gratification that is obtained from it.

The absence of knowledge of ‘consumer experience’ has been the main reason why the writer contrasts both methods to investigate the domain that is unknown or has received little attenIt is broadly trusted that diver- tion to date (Brakus et al., 2009; se methods approach minimizes Ha and Perk, 2005; Chang and methodology gaps (Freshwater, Chieng, 2006). 2007). Neuman (2003) explains that methodological triangulation is the use of two or more me43


Throughout the research, the author will contrast and compare different data to reveal connections between them. Diverse reports have been used for obtaining consistent data results and analysis. However, for being more precise, the author deeply analyzed three main reports; The state of fashion 2018 (BoF McKinsey & Company); Global retail trends 2018 (KPMG International Cooperative); and See now buy now, how ready are you? (Kurt Salmon, part of Accenture Strategy). This reports will enable the reader to gain a deeper understanding of the topic and how it affects. A simulation approach will be given, granting the observation of the dynamic behavior of a system. This will also be useful for structuring models for the comprehension of future examples. The author will analyze different theories to accomplish a full understanding of the topic. Theories such as Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory will be used to understand the new modern consumer’s behavior and way of thinking towards this effect. Preliminary research will also be overcast, observing behavioral influences in auctions. Lastly, the writer will give a fundamental analysis of what this paper aims to make the current literature and knowledge base. Especially, the theory of individualism moreover, collectivism gives essential comprehension about consumer behavior that can help the reader to achieve a broader and more complete understanding of the impulsive buying phenomenon. The significant limitations of this thesis are the requirement of limiting the quantity of information selected for this research, as it is a very new topic with little information about it and with a very different point of views.

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FIGURE 25: New consumer and new addictions

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FINDINGS & RESULTS

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FIGURE 26: Fashion moodboard tumblr

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FASHION GETTING FASTER

Consumers live in an era of instant gratification: online orders are delivered within hours, and social media can keep friends in contact 24x7 (Kurt Salomon, Accenture strategy report). People have become more demanding, more discerning, and less predictable in their purchasing behavior, which is being radically reshaped by new technologies. Fashion houses have also been looking inward, implementing changes to their core operations—from shortening the length of the fashion cycle to integrating sustainable innovation into their core product design and manufacturing processes— re-evaluating the entire fashion system itself. The “See-now, buy-now” adds to channel pressures: New cycle models are promising immediate consumer gratification, from off-the-runway fashion to instant delivery, as stated in Figure 27. Lead time reduction from 6 months to 0. Lead time from the catwalk to shopping bag eliminated.

FIGURE 27: Going the last mile SOURCE: Kurt Salmon - Accenture Strategy

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Whether feeding instant gratification or building out delivery channels, brands have pushed boldly into the digital era where customers globally have virtual access to fashion shows and buy collections at the click of a button. Several luxury companies, led by Burberry, Tom Ford, and Tommy Hilfiger, have adopted the “see-now, buy-now” effect, extending it all the way to the runways of September’s fashion shows. Others—both luxury and mass-market brands—are experimenting with same-day, or in specific markets, even one-hour delivery. This effect is due by the desire for instant gratification: in the rapid world of fast fashion, it also wears the message “buy now – because when it’s gone, it’s gone,” as explained in Figure 28.

FIGURE 28: Consumer revolution SOURCE: Forrester Predictions 2016

“Formerly, it was all about in-store service, product and price; now the overall customer experience, the delivery proposition is wrapped around this, and that contributes to the value. You can see customers working out whether the delivery/ price/time offers them value or not.” (UK department store Kurt Salmon, 2015)

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CHANGING CONSUMER

The overall fashion industry is moving into a decisive phase of digital adoption (Figure 29) by the mainstream consumer, and online sales are projected to increase. The modern shopper’s comfort with digital channels and content has changed a new value chain for fashion business industries, from a traditional linear model to a complicated journey across online and offline touch points. But regardless of touchpoint, consumers expect a consistent brand experience at all times responding to their demands on instant gratification.

FIGURE 29: The new digital toolkit SOURCE: Accenture Shift to Digital

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Digital-first e-commerce companies from Amazon to Zappos and Alibaba to Net-a-Porter are some of the fashion companies aspiring to provide an even-more-premium experience. They are becoming habituated to rapid delivery times as players are always competing to expedite products more quickly, as Farfetch and Gucci, which offers delivery in selected cities from the shop to a customer’s house in 90 minutes or less, providing the consumer with instant gratification. With data and the facility of contrast at their fingertips customers are becoming less brand loyal: a mid millennial, two-thirds say they are willing to switch brands for a discount of 30% or more. This is a generation that has more significant expectations of what a company should be able to deliver: convenience, quality, values orientation, newness, and price.

FIGURE 30: Pinterest collage consumer mind

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ITS ALL ABOUT EXPERIENCES

Brands will likely need to reexamine the future of the store and focus on a customer-experience redesign, mainly by leveraging the omnichannel purchase decision journey to build a seamless buyer experience. This may take the form of boutiques being reshaped to resemble the online experience more closely, or amplifying the mobile and digital connections available in-store, and introducing the notion of community-based retail, as shopping as an events respond to their demands on instant gratification.

“Consumer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator by the year 2020” (According to the ‘Customers 2020 study by Walker, a customer intelligence consulting firm), as seen in the case study of Figure 31.

Brands that are doing well offer a customer experience that meets or exceeds customer expectations. Joe Mach, the President of North America at Verifone predicts customers will purchase where they enjoy their experience, this could be on an individual channel or a combination of channels. The see now buy now effect has created a new type of consumer. They are looking for new experiences in different ways to satisfy their demands on instant gratification. FIGURE 31: Case study SOURCE: Retail Trends 2018

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Personalisation and curation will become more critical to the customer. As consumer values coalesce around authenticity and individuality, brands will value data even more to tailor recommendations, engage influencers and personalize experiences. Respondents to the BoF-McKinseyGlobal Fashion Survey identified personalization as the number one trend in 2018. This is coherent given that more than 70% of consumers in the US now expect personalization from online companies, according to a survey by SEO platform Linkdex. Many consumers– in particular, younger generations like millennials and Gen-Zers – share close to everything on social media. To connect with this customer’s brands offer unique experiences and products, “More and more people are looking for niche brands or niche SKUs.” (Richard Liu of JD.com). More fashion brands are starting to use data to provide personalized curation, as shown by Adidas’s “Knit for you” pop-up store that produces bespoke products in just a few hours or as Mytheresa.com offer customers the opportunity to personalize Gucci trainers online. Customisation will range from smaller adaptions to pre-designed items, designed almost entirely by the customer. Fashion business respond to instant gratification by implementing digital, data analytics, and mass-customization in production, the prerequisites for delivering personalization at scale. The leaders of the business will leverage data and technology like machine learning for consumers that takes into account purchase journeys and customer feedback. Consumers will progressively look to online platforms as the first point of search, attracted by their convenience, relevance, and breadth of offering. The predominance of online platforms in fashion will be among the top three trends in 2018.

FIGURE 32: Inspirational collage

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Alibaba’s Single’s Day is the most significant online shopping day on the planet. Online platforms are growing fast and reaching unprecedented scale, showcased in Figure 33. Some online platforms are predicted to build their fashion talent pool, and others will make acquisitions to get hold of such capabilities. Others might focus on growing their customer base or obtaining access to new customer segments employing assets, as, JD.com’s launch of Toplife, a luxury platform that features a premium delivery service “JD Luxury Express.” Online platforms are foreseen to expand into premium and luxury segments. Induced by artificial intelligence and big data, the world’s massive e-commerce platforms can make a cold environment seem highly personal.

FIGURE 33: Alibaba redefines the value chain SOURCE: Accenture Analysis, Euromonitor

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FIGURE 34: Google image fashion

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New value journey/chain

The growth of online platforms — Amazon, Alibaba, JD.com, and Zalando, among others — has put fashion brands in a problem. Amazon — which retail analysts anticipate will be one of the first-ever $1 trillion business by the end of 2018 — is a significant platform offering a vast selection of companies in one place, making it an incredibly powerful system (State of Fashion 2018)

“If I go on Amazon now and search for running shoes, I’ll get over 1.3 million recommendations from different brands. Retailers are now able to merchandise an amazing assortment of products online, and they can transact consumers in one click”. (Doug Stephens, a retail industry futurist and author of “(Reengineering Retail: The Future of Selling in a Post-Digital World).

Amazon knows what shoppers have bought in the past, are buying now, and are likely to invest in the future — with the insights derived from people’s purchases and searches. What artificial intelligence (AI) can do is help turn large and diverse data sets into improved information that can be used to boost the entire supply chain, from design and manufacturing to sales, marketing, and customer service. Figure 35 shows important statements.

“Access to customer data is the holy grail for platform companies because exclusive ownership of information authorizes them to exert control over the rest of the ecosystem and makes it interesting for third parties to come onboard the platform” (Sangeet Paul Choudary 2018).

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FIGURE 35: Artificial Intelligenge chart


Regardless of the type of retailer, the customer journey is changing. It is gaining more touch points, and consumers are treating different channels as shortstops on their way to making a purchase. Retailers that collect customer data on every step of the journey have a competitive advantage. Doing so can increase their ability to identify and fix problems that prevent customers from making purchases. Customers are now demanding better, faster and personalized experiences, as we see in Figure 36. FIGURE 36:

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FIGURE 37: Fashion collage from pinterest

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Major e-commerce players like Amazon continue to grow because they can continually transform themselves to adapt to unpredictable consumers and the rapidly evolving retail environment (Figure 38). Amazon uses big data and analytics solutions to make smart merchandising decisions, enhance demand forecasting capabilities, increment operational efficiency, gain valuable social media insights, like many other things. They become part and parcel of the consumer’s path to purchase. They are where their consumers want them and need them to be. In-store consumers initiate 2.7 activities on average before completing a purchase (Source: WisePlum, 2017).

FIGURE 38: Case study Amazon SOURCE: RETAIL TRENDS 2018

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TECHNOLOGY IS LIFE

Consumers have been mobile-first: mobile data traffic has surpassed that of desktop, and half of the millennials consume more than three hours every day on their devices. Tommy Hilfiger and Farfetch have conceived “stores of the future” that allow for deep consumer engagement through mobile, taking entire advantage of digital wardrobes, pay-by-app, and link to social media accounts (Figure 39). In South Korea and Japan, on top of 50% of e-commerce is done by smartphone or tablet. In China, more than 80% of online shopping is done on mobile; leading players like Alipay and WeChat are gaining global reach as consumers increasingly use these apps to buy goods in stores abroad. Adoption in the US and Europe has been low– only about 15% of smartphone owners use mobile payment technologies to pay for purchases. In Western Europe, they are expected to rise by about 23% each year for the next three years, reaching €148 billion by 2021 (The state of fashion 2018).

“Technology has become so embedded in our daily lives that customers now view instant access as the norm” (Paul Wissmann Sector Leader for Media & Telecommunications at KPMG in the US).

FIGURE 39: Stores of the Future SOURCE: The future of retail

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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip technology could help bring about a new stage of mobile transactions, with RFID-enabled scanners facilitating self- or auto-checkout. Chinese social media giant WeChat’s payment solution, WeChat Pay, has 600 million active users. They will use mobile transactions to integrate social media and call-to-action buttons better.

“The customer expects a seamless transaction between channels – if I leave something in my shopping basket on my laptop, I expect it to be on the mobile webpage when I look for it on my phone – and [they] are increasingly expecting a 24–36 hour window from seeing the pro“Over the last ten years, technology has duct online and wanting it, to having it” opened the floodgates to a wave of un(UK fashion retailer, Accenture Strategy regulated new entrants that have both 2017 ). altered the way in which we manage the flows in and out of our wallet, while also dramatically raising our expectations” ASOS does it very well with 6.5million Fa(Me, my life, my wallet – KPMG Customer Insights Program).

cebook followers, 7.4million linked via Instagram and 1.5million engaging via Twitter. The 4,000 new styles added to its website each week also help, as does the ASOS app This just in time gratification puts a signifi- with 10million active users. This high level cant strain on retailers. In a Salesforce.com of customer engagement has built the comreport, 64% of consumers said they expect pany into a global brand for the ‘20-somecompanies to respond to and interact with thing’ shopper, with 12.4million active custhem in real time. The need for speed will tomers in 240 countries. Understanding the only raise as technology enables and ad- customer’s preferred social media activities vances. The point of engagement and the is the easiest way to increase engagement, location of the transaction are converging, gain insights into developing trends, encoumeaning brands that can offer immediacy, rage brand advocacy and drive revenue. instant gratification, personalization, authenticity, and accessibility will win.

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Customer engagement may be essential for achieving more “see now buy now” sales, but those sales also deliver improved customer relationships: 84% of the managers surveyed put the two top business benefits of successful fast fashion as enhanced customer engagement and increased sales (State of fashion 2018). Meeting with the customer is an ongoing journey – it involves experiences and new offers and is not a single point of transaction anymore.

FIGURE 40: The disrupted path to purchase

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FIGURE 41: Moodboard fashion dreams


ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RAISES

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has long held out the promise of transforming the economy and society. From 2013-16, external investment in AI technologies grew at a compound annual rate of almost 40%. These investments are highly concentrated. Amazon’s $775 million acquisition of Kiva reduced “Click to ship” cycle time from over 60 minutes (human handling) to 15 minutes, and increased inventory capacity by 50% – all of which gave Amazon an ROI of close to 40%. In fashion, Topman works with AI company Granify to help optimize the menswear store’s e-commerce conversion rates by serving different messages to shoppers when they are a flight risk. This has given the retailer a 3% to 5% uplift in conversions. And flash sales site BrandAlley works with marketing automation company Emarsys for persona-based targeting in its email campaigns: from this, BrandAlley has seen a 16% conversion lift. US retailer Rue La La collaborated with MIT to experiment with AI technologies to improve demand forecasting. They developed a system that helped them predict the demand for products in their flash sales and accounted for data sources including brand information, product type, color, price and a range of other factors. This enabled them to optimize expenses and generate a 10% increase in revenue without the extra burden of unused inventory or supplier costs. Looking ahead, further developments in AI have the potential to change the way we shop and disrupt business models.

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FIGURE 42: Pinterest fashion


FIGURE 43: Chanel FS

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DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION This paper shows the reader a detailed literature review about the ‘See now buy now effect’; it gives an impression of the emergence of this effect as well as the current uses illustrated by recent examples. This study is construed by comprehensive models, based on different theories, to determine the motivations and causes of this effect. The literature review gives an overview of previous studies on impulsive shopping, consumer behavior, as many others. A few keynotes can be drawn. Three main topics are named as the pillars of this study, from which six questions have been developed. Namely; ‘How does stimuli and sales bridge together on consumer mind?’; ‘Why does instant gratification appear along consumer behavior?; ‘ What is the new “value” chain for the fashion business industry (value = experience = gratification”)?’; ‘Why does shopping as an event (experience) respond to demands on instant gratification?’; ‘ How do shop-operators enhance experiential gratification’ and ‘The “see now / buy now” effect: How do dynamic business models respond to instant gratification?’. Creating a superior customer experience to respond to demands on instant gratification has been gaining increasing attention from retailers. However, there has been a shortage of a comparable level of scholarly research on this topic. This paper provides a holistic portrayal of the customer experience. Subsequently, the research discusses specific determinants in the different models, highlighting those that are especially in need of further 68

research. The writer also outlines a broad strategic issues from a customer experience management perspective that are worth investigating. The domain of customer experience management offers a rich agenda for future research. The obtained material can be used to inform future e-commerce marketplaces and marketers of how to best target shoppers responding to their urge to buy, creating this effect. This study provides valuable information to online retailers and marketers on how to attract different types of shoppers, regardless if they identify more as a utilitarian shopper or an experiential shopper. Future research should focus more on the entertainment variable to conclude if there is, in fact, a significant relationship that could not be verified by this study. The diverse themes covered in this text define the many ways consumption affects individuals and their purchasing behavior. The topics analyzed in this text also established a broader understanding of the reasons why consumers behave and think in a particular manner. This research paper aimes to conceptualize the reason behind instant gratification and how consumers have changed. It is appealing for a consumer to know the ways marketing and individual differences affect information processing and decision making.


FIGURE 44: Pinterest fashion dreams

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FIGURE 45: Pinterest minimalism

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The web 2.0 compared with the web 1.0, has given companies a greater variety of opportunities to create an online experience which fits their purpose and engages with the real need of customers. Key to this model is to create unbreakable bonds with customers, understand their behavior to create a customized journey and respond immediately and in real time by personal engagement. Overall, this paper presents inspiration as a useful new marketing discipline to overcome the challenges marketing professionals face. Given the limited research on this topic, opposing views could not be detected within the scope of this review. Nonetheless, this paper serves the critical purpose of aligning the function of inspiration in marketing to existing concepts, theories, and developments, such as the satisfaction/dissatisfaction theory. Rather than conflicting with the opinions, motivation in marketing seems to fall right in the center of existing consumer research, filling a gap not only in emotional marketing but also in consumer behavior research. Due to a changed customer behavior and new technologies, customers have become more empowered, and this is affecting brand consideration, having a response positive and negative effects towards the fashion industry. For researchers in a marketing environment, there is still a significant field of possibilities to explore to eventually find a satisfying balance between digital marketing activities on the one hand and privacy issues for the user on the other. Digital and technological developments in the past decades have influenced consumer shopping behavior. From traditionally shopping in the physical store to nowadays using multiple channels for information search and purchase (Alexander & Alvarez, 2011). It has affected every step of the customer journey. This has somewhat forced retailers to apply an Omnichannel retailing strategy, which means that they are expected to not only have multiple channels but also to deliver a seamless experience across all touch-points (Lee, 2016; Pratt, 2012). The millennial generation is powerful. They demand the same levels of instant gratification and possess the same preoccupation with image and social media as today’s fast fashion buyers. Retailers should endeavour to deliver one holistic experience (Gentile et al. 2007), through the static designs in line with the brand (Pine & Gilmore, 1998), sensory stimuli in line with the brand (Hultèn, 2011; Kotler, 1973), and integration of all touch-points into one entertaining, exciting, and emotionally engaging experience (Rigby, 2011). Servicing this demanding market successfully will require rapid decision making, flexible technology, strategic partnerships with suppliers, excellent customer engagement, and a presence in as many channels as those target customers choose to visit. Finally, through the paper a diverse number of debates have been discussed, embracing themes such as experiential marketing and the see now buy now model, as they are crucial for the fashion industry to move forward, as without debate problems would not be addressed and concluding that this model needs to allow for “agility”, so that businesses can remain responsive: the pace of change is not about to slow down.

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FIGURE 46: Fashion dreamers Pinterest collage

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FIGURE 47: Consumer mind

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The Business Times. (2018). The Future of Commerce has Arrived: Understanding the New Asian Consumer. [online] Available at: http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/hub/accenture/the-future-of-commerce-has-arrived-understanding-the-new-asian-consumer [Accessed 22 May 2018]. The Relationship of Happiness, Impulse Buying and Brand Loyalty. (2015). [ebook] BeataŠeinauskienė. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042815058425 [Accessed 22 May 2018]. The State of Fashion 2018. (2017). [ebook] The Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/retail/our%20insights/the%20state%20of%20 fashion/the-state-of-fashion-mck-bof-2017-report.ashx [Accessed 22 May 2018]. Think Again Before You Buy: The Relationship between Self-regulation and Impulsive Buying Behaviors among Jakarta Young Adults. (2016). [ebook] Yoseph Dedy Pradipto. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect. com/science/article/pii/S1877042816302865 [Accessed 22 May 2018]. Use of Instant Messaging Tactics to Increase Loyalty. (2018). Master. Enschede, The Netherlands. Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21st Century. (2018). [ebook] Available at: http://www.kayesweetser. com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/adpr5990_ruggerio.pdf [Accessed 22 May 2018]. What are the motivations for customers to cocreate online?. (2018). [ebook] Available at: http://essay.utwente.nl/63702/1/Kelly_Lakerink-_Final_Paper_Bachelor_Thesis_-_Group_1.pdf [Accessed 22 May 2018]. WINNING THE ZERO MOMENT OF TRUTH. (2012). [ebook] Jim Lecinski. Available at: http://file:///Users/ rebeccadepalleja/Downloads/2011-winning-zmot-ebook_research-studies.pdf [Accessed 22 May 2018].

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APPENDIX To better understand how this premium on experience is going to reshape retail and the CPG industries, three areas need to be considered: • The expanded consumer equation • Low- versus high-engagement experiences • Consumer influence on the value chain Historically, the consumer equation has had three dimensions – cost, choice and convenience – and each has comprised a small spectrum with a limited number of options. New technology is expanding this equation and making it more complex. Control and experience will be additional critical dimensions, and the cost, choice and convenience continuums will be highly expanded. Translating it into an unparalleled proliferation of permutations for customer value.

Customer value: This is defined as the sum of tangible and intangible (e.g., emotional) benefits the consumer receives from making a purchase, relative to what is given up to make the purchase. Cost: This will still be a broad spectrum. What will be new is the unprecedented level of data that connected consumers will use to compare prices across products and retailers. Choice: The choices customers expect to make are changing massively. These choices can contain the product array and selection, personalization and related services. Technology will be the motivation in companies’ ability to tailor these aspects to individual consumers, reflecting individual tastes and occasions – and spanning not just the product, but the entire consumer journey. Convenience: People now want what they want, when and where they want it. Instant gratification has now become the expectation, rather than the exception. Control: Consumers want to control, influence and shape their entire purchasing journey. Digital channels will offer a two-way channel for their voice to be heard, whether through sharing opinions via social media or making last-minute updates to order or delivery preference via an app Experience: This is the gathering of all interaction points with the customer. It will become the most critical dimension.

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// Low - versus high - engagement activities All products are not the same, and how they are acquired are also diverse. At one end of the ratio, there are low-engagement products: routine, frequent purchases that require minimum decision-making and product synergy (e.g., toothpaste, laundry detergent). At the other end, there is high-engagement products: customers have highly particular preferences, and purchases require extensive decision-making and product interaction (e.g., luxury apparel, consumer durables). As e-commerce penetration raises and the delineation amongst high and low arrangement becomes deeply pronounced, the crucial for retailers will be to tailor the correct business model to the desired customer engagement level, to optimize costs and profitability. High-engagement products will revolve around positive, personalized experiences, which mean using relevant technologies and best-in-class employees. For low engagement products, speed, efficiency, and the price will be critical, so there will be a skew to more commoditized management through automated channels.

// Consumer influence on the value chain

Crosswise the value chain, the customer has traditionally been involved in acquiring the product and follow-up servicing. That is now developing as the consumer takes on new roles, actively participating in every step of the chain. As a result, business will need to open up their value chains and find ways to ally that further enhance the dimensions of the consumer value equation.

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The report was based on data from a survey of a YouGov poll conducted in May 2017 among 2,489 US adults age 18 and older. CONSUMER RESPONSE The term consumer refers to a person that has the scope to purchase goods and services provided by marketing institutions to gratify personal needs, wants and desires. The Consumer Decision Model, developed in 1968 by Engel, Kollat, and Blackwell is based on a seven-point decision process: the desire of recognition attached by a review of information both external and internal, the appraisal of alternatives, purchase, post-purchase consideration and lastly divestment. The process is affected by two factors; Foremost the stimuli is taken and handled by the consumer, partnering with memories of prior experiences, and secondly, external factors in shapes of either environmental effects or individual differences. The environmental influences identified include Culture; social class; personal influence; family and situation. While the individual influences include: Consumer resource; motivation and involvement; knowledge; attitudes; personality; values and lifestyle (Blackwell,Miniard, et al. 2001). This model starts with the need for recognition when consumer recognizes a disagreement between their current state and some desirable alternative. This process is boost by an interaction between the processed stimuli inputs and environmental and individual variables. Information passes through five stages of processing before storage and uses exposure, attention, comprehension, acceptance, and retention (Blackwell,Miniard, et al. 2001). Consumption is followed by post-consumption evaluation which serves a feedback function into future external searches and belief formation. Divestment is depicted as the final stage in the consumption process acknowledging that the product purchased is likely to be disposed of at some point post-consumption. 82


The role of individual motives for purchase is only alluded to within need recognition, appearing to somewhat neglect a rich theoretical and essential area of consideration (Bagozzi, Gurhan-Canli et al. 2002, Loudon and Della Bitta 1993). Feedback on purchase experience is sent to the buyer who shows if the real satisfaction was equal to the expected satisfaction. Satisfaction leads to repurchase, and repeat orders indicate brand loyalty. The marketer is interested in this outcome. Buying behavior is influenced by motives (intellectual / emotional curiosity) attitudes, perception, social factors and personal factors. Customers normally go through five stages in arriving at a purchase decision. In the first stage, the customer identifies an unsatisfied need. In the second stage, consumer collect information about the product and brands. In a third stage, the consumer evaluates all the alternatives with the help of available information. Later in stage four, the customer makes a purchase decision. Moreover, finally, in the fifth stage, consumer experiences post-purchase satisfaction or dissatisfaction. A stimulus is formed when new products bear a well-known symbol of the feeling that it embodies the same aspects with the name it is related with.

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