Affect as information: The role of affect in consumer online behaviors

As E-commerce grows, obtaining further understanding of consumer online behaviors becomes an urgent issue facing both researchers and marketers. This paper focuses on consumer affect as an important construct for understanding their online behavior. Applying the Affect-as-Information model, this paper proposes that consumer affect interacts with their online purposes to influence consumer online browsing behaviors. Specifically, it is proposed that positive affect will lead to shorter browsing time and less detailed information processing when the online purpose is task oriented; and longer browsing time and more detailed information processing when the online purpose is pure entertainment. Negative affect works the opposite way. Two studies were conducted and the results supported the hypotheses. Implications of the model were discussed.