Diagnosticity of Product Names and Product Evaluations in M-Shopping

With the limited product information available in the m-shopping context, product-naming strategies affect consumer choices by expressing the key product features or the brand’s images. Given the increasing dominance of the mobile commerce in consumption across various product categories, few studies have examined the role of product naming in consumer choices in the m-shopping. In filling the research gap, this study empirically analyzes the influence of the perceived diagnosticity of product names in m-shopping on consumer attitude towards the product. Moreover, the study tests the moderating influences of the individual characteristics of consumers (i.e., age, gender, and m-shopping experience) in the dynamics of the perceived diagnosticity impacting the product evaluations. The results of the study using an online survey reveal that the perceived diagnosticity of the product names significantly increases consumer attitude towards the product. Additionally, the moderating effects of gender, age, and m-shopping experience are all found significant: (1) The positive influence of the perceived diagnosticity of the product names is greater for males than for females. (2) The older the respondent, the more statistically significant the positive influence on diagnosticity. (3) The more respondents having m-shopping experience, the more positive the impact of the diagnosticity. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.