Critical review of the e-loyalty literature: a purchase-centred framework

Over the last few years, the concept of online loyalty has been examined extensively in the literature, and it remains a topic of constant inquiry for both academics and marketing managers. The tremendous development of the Internet for both marketing and e-commerce settings, in conjunction with the growing desire of consumers to purchase online, has promoted two main outcomes: (a) increasing numbers of Business-to-Customer companies running businesses online and (b) the development of a variety of different e-loyalty research models. However, current research lacks a systematic review of the literature that provides a general conceptual framework on e-loyalty, which would help managers to understand their customers better, to take advantage of industry-related factors, and to improve their service quality. The present study is an attempt to critically synthesize results from multiple empirical studies on e-loyalty. Our findings illustrate that 62 instruments for measuring e-loyalty are currently in use, influenced predominantly by Zeithaml et al. (J Marketing. 1996;60(2):31-46) and Oliver (1997; Satisfaction: a behavioral perspective on the consumer. New York: McGraw Hill). Additionally, we propose a new general conceptual framework, which leads to antecedents dividing e-loyalty on the basis of the action of purchase into pre-purchase, during-purchase and after-purchase factors. To conclude, a number of managerial implementations are suggested in order to help marketing managers increase their customers’ e-loyalty by making crucial changes in each purchase stage

e-Consumer Behaviour

Purpose – The primary purpose of this article is to bring together apparently disparate and yet interconnected strands of research and present an integrated model of e-consumer behaviour. It has a secondary objective of stimulating more research in areas identified as still being underexplored. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is discursive, based on analysis and synthesis of econsumer literature. Findings – Despite a broad spectrum of disciplines that investigate e-consumer behaviour and despite this special issue in the area of marketing, there are still areas open for research into econsumer behaviour in marketing, for example the role of image, trust and e-interactivity. The paper develops a model to explain e-consumer behaviour. Research limitations/implications – As a conceptual paper, this study is limited to literature and prior empirical research. It offers the benefit of new research directions for e-retailers in understanding and satisfying e-consumers. The paper provides researchers with a proposed integrated model of e-consumer behaviour. Originality/value – The value of the paper lies in linking a significant body of literature within a unifying theoretical framework and the identification of under-researched areas of e-consumer behaviour in a marketing context

How about integration: the impact of online activities on store satisfaction and loyalty

Although there has been widespread support for the concept of integrating the Internet with other channels, relatively little empirical research has been conducted in this area. This paper examines the effects of integrated online activities on customer perceptions, i.e., satisfaction and loyalty, as well as customer behavior, i.e., purchases. As this study focuses on a nontransaction site, the purchases only take place in the store. Through structural equation modeling, we test a model that determines the relationships between loyalty and satisfaction in two channels – the store and the web site –, as well as the antecedents of both store and site satisfaction. The results provide evidence for synergy effects between the store and the site. Site satisfaction and site loyalty are both positively and significantly related to their offline counterparts. Store loyalty and site loyalty are also positively and significantly related to each other, but the relationship between store satisfaction and site satisfaction is not significant. The online activities do not directly influence offline purchases, but there is an indirect effect via store loyalty. However, the magnitude of this effect is rather small.

Building brands through experiential events: when entertainment meets education

Experiential marketing is increasingly getting companies’ attention as a strategy to interact with consumers and engage them to better convey their brand image and positioning. However, its effects are still unclear both at the aggregate and at the individual levels. This paper addresses this topic and presents a field experiment investigating the effects of experiential marketing on brand image in retailing. Two similar consumer electronics stores with different strategies – traditional vs. experiential – constitutes the setting in which a field experiment has been run. Two similar samples of consumers took part in our study by visiting one of these two stores, and answering a questionnaire before and after the visit with the primary goal to investigate the brand image and its changes due to the shopping visit. Brand image was measured as the overall brand attitude – via four items – and five specific desired brand claims that the company wanted to convey to consumers. Findings show that engaged consumers through the multisensory and interactive event arranged in the experiential store register higher levels of both brand attitude and all brand claims than those visiting the traditional store, and that the increase in both the dependent variables after the visit of the experiential store is higher than the increase in the traditional store. Thus, experiential stores are not only able to entertain consumers, but they are also able to educate them, by conveying them a set of brand claims more effectively than the traditional stor

Respuestas de los consumidores a los hoteles certificados medioambientalmente: el efecto moderador de la conciencia medioambiental sobre la formación de intenciones comportamentales

Este estudio desarrolla un modelo que explora la relación entre las prácticas verdes, la imagen verde, la conciencia medioambiental y las intenciones comportamentales de los clientes en un contexto hotelero certificado. Para testar empíricamente el modelo propuesto se realizaron 502 encuestas personales a clientes hoteleros en España. Los resultados muestran como las percepciones de los clientes sobre las prácticas verdes tienen un efecto directo y positivo en la imagen verde de las compañías hoteleras. Al mismo tiempo, esta imagen influye directa y positivamente sobre las intenciones de comportamiento de los clientes hacia los hoteles certificados medioambientalmente. También se demuestra que cuanto mayor sea la conciencia medioambiental de los consumidores, mayor será su intención de hospedarse, realizar comentarios positivos y pagar una prima por alojarse en hoteles certificados. Por último, la conciencia medioambiental ejerce un efecto moderador sobre la relación causal entre la imagen verde y las intenciones comportamentales.This study develops a model that investigates the relationship among green practices, green image, environmental consciousness and the behavioral intentions of customers in a certified hotel context. The study examines the direct and the moderating role of environmental consciousness in the formation of behavioral intentions based on green initiatives. To test the proposed model empirically, 502 personal surveys of hotel customers were conducted in Spain. The findings show that customer perceptions of green practices have a positive direct effect on a hotel´s green image. At the same time, this environmental image has positive direct effects on customer behavioral intentions towards certified hotels. The authors also found that the higher the environmental consciousness of consumers, the greater their intention to stay, to spread positive word-of-mouth and pay a premium for environmentally-certified hotels. Finally, consumer environmental consciousness also exerts a moderating effect on the causal relationship between green image and behavioral intentions

THE CONSUMER CHOICE OF E-CHANNELS AS A PURCHASING AVENUE: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE COMMUNICATIVE ASPECTS OF INFORMATION QUALTIY

A conspicuous paradox is evident in the statistics concerning purchases over the internet. While a majority of the US population uses the internet to seek product information for purchasing decisions, less than two percent of actual retail sales occur on the Internet. To explain this small ratio of e-channel choice for purchase, a comprehensive model that extends DeLone and McLean\u27s (2004) e-commerce success model was developed. The model centers on the importance of perceived information quality and its relationship to e-channel choice as a purchasing channel. Using the overarching theoretical frame of motivation, two questions were examined: (a) what influences consumers\u27 perception of the quality of information in e-channels, and (b) how information quality influences the consumers\u27 choice of e-channels in purchasing products. Four constructs, based on dimensions of communication theories, are put forward to be important determinants in consumers\u27 perception of information quality in e-channels, which ultimately shape their decision to purchase over the internet. Telepresence and screening capability in the message dimension, and channel trust in receiver dimension are theorized to positively affect perceived information quality. It is also hypothesized that as consumers experience higher levels of cognitive overhead as they use the internet, this will negatively impact perceived information quality in e-channels. Since telepresence is potentially the most manipulative among these factors through current web technologies, this study further investigates its antecedents. Based on human information processing styles, standardization of specification, sensory descriptiveness, feedback quality, and interactivity are presented as technological design elements to increase telepresence. The methodology used combined survey and a quasi-experiment, where several important parameters of the experiment were controlled to measure the research model. Several pilot studies were conducted to validate the quasi-experimental design and construct measurement. Analysis using structured equation modeling on a useable sample frame of 309 students provided support that perceived information quality has a positive effect on consumers\u27 choice of e-channels over physical channels for product purchase. Support was found for all factors to information quality and telepresence except feedback quality\u27s effect on telepresence. Overall, this study presents a framework of e-channel choice that combines motivation theory with the e-commerce success model, and enables better understanding of online consumer behavior. A common belief about the inadequacy of experience goods for electronic transaction is challenged. The results of this study provide insight into the pivotal role of information quality in addressing performance risk, thereby shedding a light on what makes consumers to use e-channels mostly as an information source rather than a purchasing point. Information quality is revealed as a key link between the evaluation aspects of the information search stage and the purchasing aspects of the choice stage. Four effective levers to increase information quality are identified, and telepresence is identified as the most promising tool to increase perceived information quality