Abstract
Abstract : Showrooming as consumer behaviour phenomenon in multichannel retailing has grown in importance in South Africa. In showrooming, consumers visit an offline retail store (“brick”) for product information gathering purposes and consequently purchase online (“click”) at a competing retailer. This study draws on Daunt and Harris’ (2017) research, employing a value‐based service‐dominant theoretical lens. Showrooming is conceptualised as a two‐stage process of in‐store value taking and online value co‐creation/co‐destruction. Utilising survey data from 225 South African showroomers, SPSS is employed to assess a research model, consisting of 4 hypotheses. The paper’s findings reveal that Daunt and Harris’ (2017) developed market findings are mostly aligned with the product characteristic determinants of emerging market consumers’ showrooming. However, the product speed of technological change, is not substantiated in an emerging market such. The study’s value lies in it being the first empirical investigation of consumer showrooming behaviour in an emerging market, through a service‐dominant logic lens. It appears to be the first empirical measurement of Daunt and Harris’ (2017) model of consumer showrooming, focusing on product characteristics as antecedents of showrooming behaviour. Lastly, it contributes to theoretical and managerial inquiry of in‐store value taking and online value co‐creation/co‐destruction behaviour in an emerging market.