Many consumers are buying products online but a key barrier to purchase are insufficiently detailed product demonstrations (Rose et al., 1999). Consumers have different expectations of online shopping for various product categories sold on the Internet (Hyllegard et al., 2000). The purchase of physical goods, such as sofas, wardrobes or tables, is often associated with increased risk and presents a problem for large furniture retailers, such as Habitat or IKEA. These type of goods be characterized as infrequent and expensive purchases that require extensive decision-making (Oh, Yoon and Shyu, 2008). Furthermore, almost 78% of online shoppers abandon their shopping carts because of uncertainty about the consequences of the purchase (Goldwyn, 2003). Currently, large home-furnishing retailers have only used static product presentation formats for their products online that offer basic product information. Thus, this study investigates different product presentation formats that could be used by these retailers in an experimental setting.

Quick Response (QR) code has often been employed in promotional coupon campaigns worldwide. This research addresses whether and how curiosity, visual complexity and perceived fit jointly affect consumers’ intention to scan such a code. Based on relevant theories from marketing and psychology, we posit that, while consumers with the high level of curiosity are likely to be more bound to visual complexity, consumers with the low level of curiosity tend to rely more on a good perceived fit, thus overcome the negative effects of visual complexity, forming greater scan intention. To this end, we conduct an experimental study with general consumer sample. The findings support our main prediction. In closing, we discuss theoretical and managerial implications while recognizing important limitations and suggesting future research directions.