Head and Heart in Phygital Retail: A Cognitive–Affective Engagement Model of Purchase Intention in High-Tech Fashion

Abstract

High-tech fashion retailers increasingly blend physical stores and digital layers — smart mirrors, augmented-reality (AR) try-on, and sensor-linked displays — into unified “phygital” environments. Yet how these hybrid encounters convert shoppers’ in-the-moment experience into purchase intention remains under-theorized, particularly the relative pull of the rational “head” and the emotional “heart.” Grounded in the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) framework and flow theory, this study develops a dual-pathway cognitive–affective engagement model. Two phygital stimuli — perceived interactivity and perceived immersion — are theorized to activate a cognitive route (cognitive engagement) and an affective route (affective engagement); both routes feed an integrative flow experience and, together with flow, drive purchase intention. Using a simulated dataset of 428 high-tech fashion shoppers analyzed with covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM), the measurement model showed strong reliability (composite reliability = .84–.87), convergent validity (average variance extracted = .58–.62), and discriminant validity (all heterotrait-monotrait ratios ≤ .70). The structural model fit well (χ²/df = 1.23; CFI = .990; TLI = .988; RMSEA = .023; SRMR = .034), and all nine hypotheses were supported. Interactivity was the dominant driver of the head (β = .50), whereas immersion most powerfully fed the heart (β = .47). Flow was the strongest proximal antecedent of purchase intention (β = .42), and the affective route exerted a slightly larger total influence than the cognitive route. The model explained 65% of the variance in purchase intention. Findings show that phygital fashion sells through balanced engagement of head and heart, converging on a state of flow. Theoretical and managerial implications for immersive retail design are discussed.