Determinants of customer repurchase intention in online shopping
| Pages | 761-784 |
| Published date | 07 August 2009 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520910985710 |
| Date | 07 August 2009 |
| Author | Chao‐Min Chiu,Chen‐Chi Chang,Hsiang‐Lan Cheng,Yu‐Hui Fang |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Determinants of customer
repurchase intention in online
shopping
Chao-Min Chiu and Chen-Chi Chang
Department of Information Management, National Central University,
Jhongli City, Taiwan
Hsiang-Lan Cheng
True Generation Hospital, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, and
Yu-Hui Fang
Department of Information Management, National Central University,
Jhongli City, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand customers’ repurchase intentions in online
shopping. This study extends the technology acceptance model (TAM) by introducing e-service
quality dimensions, trust and enjoyment in the development of a theoretical model to study customers’
repurchase intentions within the context of online shopping.
Design/methodology/approach – Data collected from 360 PCHome online shopping customers
provides strong support for the proposed research model. PLS (partial least squares, PLS-Graph
version 3.0) is used to analyse the measurement and structural models.
Findings – The study shows that trust, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and enjoyment
are significant positive predictors of customers’ repurchase intentions.
Research limitations/implications – The data are collected from a single online shopping store –
the generalisation of the model and findings to other online stores requires additional research. Our
findings imply that the five dimensions of e-service quality are possibly among the most important
antecedents of customers’ trust in online vendors.
Practical implications – Online vendors should ensure that they provide adequate utilitarian and
hedonic value for customers instead of focusing on just one of these aspects in their web site
development.
Originality/value – Customer loyalty is critical to the online vendor’s survival and success. The
study provides evidence that online trust is built through order fulfilment, privacy, responsiveness and
contact.
Keywords Internet shopping,Consumer behaviour, Customer servicesquality, Trust
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Customers’ repurchasing or loyalty is critical to the success and profitability of online
stores. A study by Mainspring and Bain & Company (2000) showed that the average
customer must shop four times at an online store before the store profits from that
customer. What, then, encourages customers to repurchase from an online store?
Understanding the belief s and motivations underlyi ng customers’ repurchase
intentions towards online shopping was the objective of this study.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
Customer
repurchase
intention
761
Refereed article received
2 September 2008
Approved for publication
10 October 2008
Online Information Review
Vol. 33 No. 4, 2009
pp. 761-784
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/14684520910985710
The technology acceptance model (TAM) (Davis, 1989) is widely used to explain
individuals’ intentions and actual use of information technology (IT). The primary
interface for customers to purchase products and services online is the web site, a form of
IT. Accordingly, online shopping behaviour can be partially explained by the TAM.
However, there are discrepancies between the use of the web site and online purchasing,
especially with respect to repurchase (Tsai and Huang, 2007). The TAM needs to be
extended by incorporating additional variables in order to adapt it to the online shopping
context and improve its explanatory power (Hu et al., 1999; Moon and Kim, 2001).
Research supports the notion that shopping can provide both hedonic and
utilitarian value (Babin et al., 1994; Babin and Darden, 1995). Utilitarian value reflects
task-related worth and is an overall assessment of functional benefits and costs, while
hedonic value reflects entertainment and emotional worth, and is an overall
assessment of experiential benefits and costs (Overby and Lee, 2006). Some studies
have modelled perceived usefulness and enjoyment as utilitarian and hedonic values
respectively, and have linked them to customer attitude and behavioural intention
towards online shopping (Ahn et al., 2007; Lee, 2005). However, the impacts of
perceived usefulness and enjoyment on repurchase intention remain unclear in the
online shopping context.
Trust in the seller is a vital key to building customer loyalty (Reichheld and Schefter,
2000) and maintaining continuity in buyer-seller relationships (Anderson and Weitz,
1989). Many researchers have argued that trust is a crucial enabling factor in online
transactions, where there is uncertainty, information asymmetry and fear of opportunism
(Gefen et al., 2003; Triandis, 1980). If trust is indeed an important aspect of online
shopping, then understanding the antecedents of trust should be a prime concern of online
vendors. Most experienced and successful online vendors are beginning to realise that the
key determinants of success or failure are not merely a web presence or low price but
rather delivering a high quality electronic service (e-service) (Zeithaml et al., 2000). The
e-service quality represents the trust cue that conveys the trustworthiness of the site and
the system to customers (Corritore et al., 2003). However, the exact nature of the
relationships between the dimensions of e-service quality and trust in the online vendor is
still unclear in the online shopping context.
To understand better the customers’ repurchase intentions, this study proposed a
theoretical model that extends the TAM by incorporating trust, enjoyment and the
dimensions of e-service quality. The research questions addressed in this study were:
RQ1. Are perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use important determinants
of repurchase intention?
RQ2. Does trust have a more influential impact on repurchase intention than
shopping value – perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and enjoyment
– in the uncertain online shoppi ng environment?
RQ3. Which of the e-service quality dimensions has the most influential effect on
trust in the online vendor?
Theoretical background
Technology acceptance model and online shopping value
The TAM (Davis, 1989; Davis et al., 1989) was originally developed to predict users’
initial adoption or use of a new IT in the workplace. It posits that user acceptance of IT
OIR
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