The smartness paradox: the moderating effect of brand quality reputation on consumers' reactions to RFID-based smart fitting rooms

With the growing prevalence among retailers to create a unique shopping experience, RFID-based smart fitting rooms are gaining popularity. These RFID-based smart fitting rooms tend to gather consumer data for a better personalized experience. Drawing from cue congruity and cue scope literature, this research explores the impact of RFID-based smart fitting rooms on consumer perceptions of the shopping experience, privacy, and purchase intentions. Results from two studies indicate that RFID-based smart fitting rooms will only have a positive effect for brands with high-quality reputations. However, in the presence of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data security disclosure, consumers react favorably towards RFID-based smart fitting rooms regardless of brand quality reputation. The findings indicate that perceived shopping satisfaction and perceived privacy will mediate these effects on purchase intention. The authors discuss implications of the findings, especially about the effective reach of RFID-based smart fitting rooms for brands with varying quality reputations.