Lack of direct experiential information is one of the elements explaining why only a small portion of apparel sales are performed online. In order to alleviate this problem, several forms of virtual experiences are provided to assist consumer in evaluating apparel online, especially using Image Interactivity Technologies (IIT). This paper focuses on one of these IIT: the “Virtual Try-On”(VTO) - and analyzes whether and by which process using a virtual 3D model to try on clothes influences cognitive, affective and conative responses toward the retail website. By comparing personalized VTO to non-personalized VTO and Mix-and-Match technology in a laboratory controlled environment, our results show that VTO does not lead to higher influence on consumer responses per se. We underline the utmost importance of model self-congruity and body-esteem to increase the impact of VTO on these responses. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

1. THE INFLUENCE OF VIRTUAL TRY-ON ON RESPONSES TOWARD THE WEBSITE Aurélie Merle , Grenoble Ecole de Management, France Sylvain Senecal , HEC Montréal, RBC Chair of e-commerce, Canada Anik St-Onge , UQAM, Canada

2. 1. Context & objectives > Difficulty to find out how something fits without trying it (Rosa et al. 2006 ) Only 5.6% of apparel sold online 1st semester 2009 (Emarketer 2010) Work on how to increase online hedonic value 1. Context & objectives 2. Hypotheses 3. Methodology 4. Results and discussion 5. Limitations

3. 1. Context & objectives > Virtual Try-On ( Nantel 2004, Kim & Forsythe 2008) Virtual experiences and Image Interactivity Technologies (IIT - Fiore, Jin et Kim 2005) 3D visualization ( Daugherty et al.2008; Li et al. 2002; Schlosser 2003) Mix-and-Match technology ( Fiore et Jin 2003; Fiore et al. 2005a, 2005b) Product rotation (Park et al. 2008) 1. Context & objectives 2. Hypotheses 3. Methodology 4. Results and discussion 5. Limitations

10. 3. Methodology > H1 H2 H5 H4 H3 « Non personalized VTO» (n=37) « Medium personalized VTO » (n=40) 1. Context & objectives 2. Hypotheses 3. Methodology 4. Results and discussion 5. Limitations « Mix-and-Match » (n=36) « High personalized VTO » (n=39)

18. THANK YOU! THE INFLUENCE OF VIRTUAL TRY-ON ON RESPONSES TOWARD THE WEBSITE Aurélie Merle , Grenoble Ecole de Management, France Sylvain Senecal , HEC Montréal, RBC Chair of e-commerce, Canada Anik St-Onge , UQAM, Canada

19. Scales >

20. Scales >

21. Psychometric qualities of the measurement scales > Mean (S.D.) Alpha Average Variance Extracted Correlation Matrix (shared variance in parentheses) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Avatar self-congruency 2.95 (1.40) .886 .818 .203 .197 .151 .216 .173 .151 2. Confidence in Apparel Fit 65.88 (16.71) .816 .646 .450 .238 .220 .147 .255 .292 3. Utilitarian Value 3.38 (1.26) .811 .725 .444 .488 .521 .050 .598 .612 4. Hedonic value 3.65 (1.36) .810 .708 .388 .469 .722 .032 .579 .450 5. Body-Esteem 4.58 (1.33) .813 .724 .465 .384 .223 .180 .024 .013 6. Satisfaction toward the experience 3.78 (1.46) .841 .841 .416 .505 .773 .761 .154 .527 7. Buying Intentions 3.81 (1.78) .892 .839 .389 .540 .782 .671 .113 .726