Despite core product and service quality improvements and advances in shopping processes and technology, customers often report being unsatisfied with their online purchases. One plausible reason for lower customer satisfaction rates is too much or too little information that is shared with the customers about their orders. We show that when forming their perceptions about the purchases, customers form digital information satisfaction (DIS) levels as they evaluate supplementary informational services in addition to the core product being purchased. We believe that DIS is one of the dimensions of overall customer satisfaction. We also show that supplementary informational services are essential in meeting the increased informational needs of online shopping and, thus, can explain the decreased overall customer satisfaction level through the decreases in DIS.
We develop and test the Digital Information Transparency and Satisfaction (DITS) model that shows how supplemental informational services influence digital information satisfaction (DIS_ in e-commerce. By doing so, this dissertation introduces a new dimension of satisfaction in the era of online shopping. This helps close the knowledge gap in the current research on overall customer satisfaction by showing that too much information transparency can harm the overall experience of the customers, thus leading to decreases in DIS. The study results provide a platform for future research on the influence of informational services provided during online shopping. Explaining the role of information shared with the customers in their perceptions of transparency and, consequently, DIS may help provide crucial practical business insights. Thus, by proposing the DITS model, this dissertation brings contributions to both theory and praxis by enhancing the understanding of DIS, which can serve as a robust foundation for future research on decreasing levels of overall customer satisfaction in a digital setting, as well as help companies improve their customer relationships
