Is in-store mobile usage a toxic to customer purchase? A multigroup analysis of customer type

•Existing research has presented inconclusive findings regarding in-store mobile usage and customer purchase, which calls for further studies on the influence mechanism.•This study provides a thorough understanding of the effect of in store-mobile usage (IMU) on customer purchase by revealing customers’ appraisal-emotion-behavior processes in omnichannel shopping.•This study identifies customer type as the boundary condition of IMU’s effect on customer purchase. The results suggested that customers searching the competitive brands in the store would perceive a stronger preference fit from IMU.