Unlocking Digital Collections: How Convenience and Personal Traits Shape Consumer Choices

ABSTRACT Digital collections are growing, yet consumers still default to physical formats. We use Goal‐Directed Behavior Theory (GDBT) to explain when this default shifts. Across five studies—a baseline survey (Study 1), an archival text analysis of online discussions (Study 2a), a field choice task (Study 2b), and three experiments (Studies 3–5)—we show that making convenience salient increases preference for digital (vs. physical) collections. Study 3 demonstrates that this effect operates through an efficiency‐driven decision policy rather than broader technology trust or innovation liking. Studies 4 and 5 establish boundary conditions: the convenience effect attenuates when physical delivery is fast and strengthens when it is slow; it is also larger among consumers higher in openness to experience. The findings extend GDBT to collecting by specifying a convenience → efficiency pathway and identifying situational and dispositional moderators. Practically, emphasizing time‐ and effort‐saving benefits can increase adoption of digital collections, especially when physical fulfillment is slower or among high‐openness segments.