Customer Loyalty Development in Online Shopping: An Integration of E-Service Quality Model and the Commitment-Trust Theory

Abstract

The success of the Business to Consumer (B2C) online shopping websites relies profoundly on customer’s relationship with the online shopping website. Rapid development in science and technology, as well as quick growth in internet penetration, has made things easy. Buying online has become one of the most preferred channels in the 21st century business world. The success of online shopping websites depends primarily not only on such customers who are willing to revisit the same website for repurchase, but also on those who spread positive word of mouth. Hence, it is very important to understand the factors influencing the loyalty development in this digital marketing war. This topic has been relatively under-examined in the purview of the Indian context. The present study examines the determinants of customer loyalty in the context of online shopping by integrating EService Quality Model (E-S-QUAL Model) proposed by Parasuraman et al. (2005a) and The Commitment-Trust Theory Developed by Morgan & Hunt (1994) in B2C Electronic Commerce settings in India. These two models have been the backbone of this study. All the measurement items have been adapted from the previous studies. For the purpose of the present study, data was collected from 937 online shoppers. This study uses Structural Equation Modeling (SEM-AMOS) to determine the measurement model, and the structural model to test the formulated hypotheses. The study results revealed that E-service quality and perceived value are the major predictors of E-satisfaction, E-trust, and E-commitment. Esatisfaction has a positive and significant influence on E-trust; consequently, E-trust has a direct effect on E-commitment. Further, only E-satisfaction has a positive impact on affective loyalty. However, other factors, such as perceived value, E-trust, and E- commitment do not influence affective loyalty. Finally, E-Service Quality, Perceived Value, E-trust, and Ecommitment play a pivotal role in developing cognitive loyalty among online shoppers in India. However, E-satisfaction fails to develop cognitive loyalty in B2C E-commerce context in India. The current study findings help to understand the determinants which form the loyalty dimensions among Indian online shoppers in a B2C E-commerce context.