The impacts of unique service resources and habit on e-service loyalty in a highly competitive market

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/JSIT-06-2015-0050
Pages336-350
Date09 November 2015
Published date09 November 2015
AuthorYong Liu,Shengli Deng,Feng Hu,Xiaoyu Chen
Subject MatterInformation & knowledge management,Information systems
The impacts of unique service
resources and habit on
e-service loyalty in a highly
competitive market
Yong Liu
Department of Information and Service Economy, Aalto University,
Helsinki, Finland
Shengli Deng
Center for Study of Information Resources, Wuhan University,
Wuhan, China
Feng Hu
Xingzhi College, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China, and
Xiaoyu Chen
School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to seek to quantify how unique service resources and consumer
habit affect e-service loyalty (e-loyalty) in a highly competitive market. This study is grounded on
Chinese social networking service (SNS) industry. A resource-based view is introduced as an alternative
perspective to understand building consumer loyalty in e-service contexts.
Design/methodology/approach – A research framework is developed by reviewing prior literature.
An online survey is conducted to collect research data. Based on 221 valid responses, the research model
is tested by using partial least squares path modeling technique.
Findings The features of market environments affects the loyalty of consumers to e-service
providers. Consumers become mercenary in highly competitive and low differentiation e-service
markets like Chinese SNS industry. The interaction of satisfaction and switching cost affects loyalty.
Satised consumers can be either loyal or not loyal to a service provider depending on their level of
switching cost, but unsatised consumers will have no loyalty. In addition, users are loyal to a SNS
partly because it is their habit to use the service. Our study suggests that relying on consumer
satisfaction to build e-loyalty may be problematic and risky.
Originality/value The study represents an attempt to introduce the resource-based view to
e-loyalty research. The research highlights the importance of habit in building consumers’ e-service
satisfaction and loyalty and contributes to new insights on the importance of industry environment in
An earlier version of this paper was published at the Proceedings of the 13th IFIP Conference on
e-Business, e-Services and e-Society in Sanya, China.
This research is partly supported by Wuhan University Academic Development Plan for
Scholars after 1970s for the project Research on Internet User Behavior and the National Funds of
Social Science (No. 14BTQ044), the National Planning Ofce of Philosophy and Social Science in
China (No. 13CTQ029) and the Zhejiang Province Planning Project of Philosophy and Social
Sciences (No. 11JCGL04YB).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1328-7265.htm
JSIT
17,4
336
Received 8 June 2015
Revised 19 July 2015
Accepted 17 September 2015
Journalof Systems and
InformationTechnology
Vol.17 No. 4, 2015
pp.336-350
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1328-7265
DOI 10.1108/JSIT-06-2015-0050

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