The purpose of this study is to examine the compensatory role of instrumental (e.g., product information) and aesthetic (e.g., website background) online cues presented within apparel websites where touch is unavailable. The moderating role of two need for touch (NFT) dimensions (i.e., autotelic and instrumental NFT) between online cues and consumer responses was also investigated. Results demonstrate that personal differences in autotelic and instrumental NFT moderate the relationship between online cues and affective responses. It was found that consumers high in autotelic NFT (i.e., who need to touch for fun) seek more instrumental cues to compensate for lack of touch when shopping apparel products online. Surprisingly, consumers high in instrumental NFT (i.e., who need to touch for product evaluation) use aesthetic as well as instrumental cues to supplement the absence of touch. In contrast, for the low NFT groups, only aesthetic online cues showed significant effects on consumer arousal. Further analysis shows that instrumental NFT is negatively related to purchase intention while autotelic NFT has a positive effect on purchase intention. This implies that need for hedonic-oriented touch is no longer a barrier for online apparel shopping. However, the instrumental NFT seems a significant obstacle for the adoption of online apparel purchasing.

The current study examined the influence of individual trait such as Need-For-Touch level (NFT; high vs. low) and swiping orientation (vertical vs. horizontal) on product evaluation and preference when using touch-screen interface like a smart phone and a tablet. Swiping is one of the most common interaction techniques for changing pages or searching some aligned pictures on touch-screen interface and it can be used in vertical and horizontal orientations. The experiment revealed a significant interaction between swiping orientation and NFT on preference, however the interaction on change-in-price of given products was only marginally significant. To be specific, high NFT participants reported higher preference for horizontal-swipe than vertical-swipe products, but such difference did not occur with low NFT participants. The current study illustrates the influence of swiping orientation and NFT on product preference and it provides a new perspective of design principles especially for online shopping websites.