Virtuality Changes Consumer Preference: The Effect of Transaction Virtuality as Psychological Distance on Consumer Purchase Behavior

With the rapid development of information and communication technology, a variety of new industries and services are rapidly evolving based on the convergence between existing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and heterogeneous industries. In the meantime, the FinTech market, created by the convergence of financial and ICT areas, is emerging and growing rapidly. The new market of virtual transaction based on digital money is growing faster than any other FinTech area. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the perceived difference in the virtuality of a consumer’s transaction affects the consumer’s purchasing behavior and how the behavior changes. Specifically, this study revealed that consumers’ perceived virtuality differs according to the type of transaction method. Consumers felt that the money was more virtual when they had digital (virtual) currency for a service than when they had cash. This virtuality of money controls the psychological distance of the consumer’s money, which is closer to cash than virtual currency. This difference in psychological distance affects consumers’ information processing, such that when psychological distances are far (vs. close), consumers prefer products that are described as abstract (vs. concrete), and have a more favorable attitude toward products with more variety.