In-store mobile usage: Downloading and usage intention toward mobile location-based retail apps

•Perceived interactivity and compatibility were related to affective involvement.•Affective involvement was related to downloading and usage intention.•Cognitive involvement was not related to downloading and usage intention.•Experiential orientation moderated the effect of affective involvement on intention. The purposes of this study were to examine whether characteristics of mobile location-based services (LBS) retail apps—time convenience, interactivity, compatibility, and effort expectancy were related to consumers’ affective and cognitive involvement, which in turn were related to their intention to download and use mobile LBS retail apps. Also investigated was the moderating effect of experiential orientation on the links between consumers’ affective and cognitive involvements and usage intention. An online survey was administered to mobile Internet users (n=853) from a U.S. consumer panel. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the proposed model. Perceived interactivity and compatibility were influential antecedents that shaped consumers’ affective involvement with mobile LBS retail apps, which in turn influenced their intention to download and use the retail apps. The relationship between affective involvement and usage intention was greater for mobile consumers with high experiential orientation than for those with low experiential orientation.