Will consumers pay for e-fashion? A multi-study investigation

Purpose Digital clothes (DCs) are an emerging product category whose commercial success will heavily depend on consumers’ perception of their economic and symbolic value. However, existing studies have overlooked the empirical assessment of consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for such products. As a result, the factors underlying consumers’ motivation to pay for them are still a matter of debate. Design/methodology/approach We ran three quantitative studies, including one involving participants in a real consumption context that assessed: (1) whether the perceived uniqueness of DCs increases consumers’ WTP for these products and (2) whether this effect depends on consumers’ sensation-seeking tendency (SST) and the instrumental need for touch (NFT). Findings We found that the higher the perceived uniqueness of DCs, the higher the consumers’ WTP for them. This effect was stronger for consumers who exhibited high SST and NFT. Practical implications DC developers and retailers should consider uniqueness as a key driver of DC consumption. They should target sensation seekers with high instrumental NFT who perceive DCs as unique products. Originality/value This research extends the understanding of the determinants of DC consumption by developing a framework that simultaneously accounts for the effects determined by a distinctive feature of these products (i.e. their uniqueness) as well as consumers’ personal characteristics.