A Systematic Review of the S-O-R Model Application in Consumer Purchase Behaviors
Keywords:
S-O-R model, consumer behavior, purchase decision, cenario marketing, psychological mechanismAbstract
The Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model, originating from environmental psychology, has emerged as one of the most rigorous and adaptable theoretical frameworks for explaining consumer decision-making across traditional and digital retail environments. By establishing a sequential causal chain linking external marketing and environmental stimuli, internal cognitive and affective processing, and subsequent behavioral responses, the S-O-R model effectively addresses the limitations of simplified stimulus-response paradigms that neglect subjective psychological mediation. This systematic review synthesizes contemporary international empirical studies published between 2020 and 2025 to clarify the theoretical origins, evolutionary trajectory, and canonical connotations of the S-O-R framework. It systematically compares heterogeneous S-O-R mechanisms across five dominant retail scenarios: offline physical retail, traditional web-based e-commerce, social commerce, live-streaming commerce, and immersive virtual retail. This review further elaborates multi-layered mediating pathways and multi-dimensional moderating boundary conditions prevalent in existing literature while identifying critical research gaps, including fragmented variable operationalization, imbalanced scenario research distribution, insufficient exploration of complex causal mechanisms, overreliance on static cross-sectional methodologies, and limited interdisciplinary integration. In response to evolving artificial intelligence applications, immersive retail innovation, and social-driven consumption trends, this study proposes structured future research agendas regarding standardized variable system construction, emerging technological scenario expansion, compound mechanism verification, dynamic longitudinal methodological optimization, and interdisciplinary theoretical innovation. The findings offer a systematic theoretical foundation for subsequent consumer behavior research and provide practical, actionable marketing strategies for retailers to optimize scenario design, deliver targeted stimulus marketing, and foster sustainable positive consumer purchase behaviors.References
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Copyright (c) 2025 Hongyu Ma, Muiyee Cheok
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