Avoiding customer cross-channel behavior in omnichannel retailing: An uncertainty reduction theory perspective

Abstract The borderless service system of omnichannel retailing enables customers to enjoy the convenience and flexibility of using interconnected channels. Consumer-switching behavior negatively affects retailers’ profits, but few studies have investigated why customers attempt to reduce uncertainty by employing various channels to search for and purchase products. This study adopts uncertainty reduction theory (URT) to investigate vendor lock-in in the context of omnichannel retailing. This study investigates how customers employ active, passive, and interactive strategies to reduce transaction uncertainty on the basis of URT. Structural equation modeling is adopted to analyze data collected from 581 customers with at least one transaction with selected retailers in the apparel industry. The findings show that customers’ diagnosis of a product, information accessibility, assortment seeking, content consistency, process consistency, and social interactions reduces transaction uncertainty, which subsequently affects vendor lock-in. In addition, social interactions moderate the influence of product diagnosis and information accessibility on transaction uncertainty. Such insights enable retail firms to implement omnichannel marketing strategies to retain customers.