Studying Customer E-loyalty to Online Intermediary: Case of Group Buying Site
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7903/ijecs.2120Keywords:
E-commerce, Structural Equation Modeling, Online intermediary, GrouperAbstract
The online intermediary connects merchants whose products and services it offers, and end-customers who do online shopping through the intermediary, but consume products and services traditionally. Customer satisfaction is a prerequisite to e-loyalty, and in these models, it depends on both parties, the intermediary and the merchant. Consequently, it is important for intermediaries to know if e-loyalty can be threatened by poor service delivered by the merchants. Our goal is to identify and examine factors that determine e-loyalty towards group-buying site as an intermediary. We developed an integrative theoretical model based on expectation confirmation model positing that satisfaction with intermediary’s e-service and merchants’ service have a significant positive impact on e-loyalty towards intermediary. We use structural equation modeling for evaluating the satisfaction and intentions for loyalty to the intermediary employing collected survey data of 2.691 responses of Grouper customers. We measure intermediary’s e-service quality using IS scale and we add ‘customer support’ as an important factor for e-loyalty. The findings suggested that satisfaction from e-service quality had a significant effect on customers’ e‐loyalty towards intermediary. This study provides insights for intermediaries in identifying e‐loyalty drivers, understanding customers’ needs, and improving online performance to maintain satisfied customers who will continue using their services.
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