The effects of relational bonds on online customer satisfaction

The purpose of this empirical study is to investigate the effects of relational bonds on online customer satisfaction using gender and time horizon as moderators. The findings are three-fold. First, the financial and structural bonds have positive impacts on online shoppers’ satisfaction; however, the social bond does not. Second, the financial, social, and structural bonds have more positive impacts on female, than male, customer satisfaction. Third, the financial bond is more successful in strengthening customer satisfaction for short-term than for long-term customers; however, the structural bond is more important for long-term than for short-term customers.

[1]  Chris Sauer,et al.  Is there a place for department stores on the Internet? Lessons from an abandoned pilot , 1999, J. Inf. Technol..

[2]  W. Reinartz,et al.  On the Profitability of Long-Life Customers in a Noncontractual Setting: An Empirical Investigation and Implications for Marketing , 2000 .

[3]  G. Chow.  Tests of equality between sets of coefficients in two linear regressions (econometrics voi 28 , 1960 .

[4]  Raymond D. Frost,et al.  E-marketing , 2005 .

[5]  Monle Lee,et al.  Relationship marketing and consumer switching behavior , 2005 .

[6]  F. Gilbert,et al.  Psychographic constructs and demographic segments , 1995 .

[7]  Teck-Yong Eng,et al.  An examination of the antecedents of e-customer loyalty in a confucian culture: The case of South Korea , 2006 .

[8]  S. Kimes,et al.  Integrating customer relationship management and revenue management: A hotel perspective , 2003 .

[9]  Joan K. Myers,et al.  Gender differences in investment strategies: an information processing perspective , 2002 .

[10]  R. Oliver.  Cognitive, affective, and attribute bases of the satisfaction response. , 1993 .

[11]  Marie-Thérèse Claes,et al.  Women, men and management styles , 1999 .

[12]  Shankar Ganesan.  Determinants of Long-Term Orientation in Buyer-Seller Relationships , 1994 .

[13]  P. Danaher,et al.  Implementing a customer relationship strategy: The asymmetric impact of poor versus excellent execution , 2000 .

[14]  Joel R. Evans,et al.  The relationship marketing process: A conceptualization and application , 1994 .

[15]  S. Bahr,et al.  FAMILY INTERACTION , 1996 .

[16]  Carol T. Kulik,et al.  Customer perceptions of justice in service transactions: the effects of strong and weak ties , 2001 .

[17]  W. Qualls,et al.  A Conceptual Model and Study of Cross-Cultural Business Relationships , 1998 .

[18]  Kelly S. Ervin,et al.  Gender and the Internet: Women Communicating and Men Searching , 2001 .

[19]  Mark E. Slama,et al.  Selected Socioeconomic and Demographic Characteristics Associated with Purchasing Involvement , 1985 .

[20]  D. G. Morrison,et al.  Do We Really Need Multiple-Item Measures in Service Research? , 2001 .

[21]  G. Zaltman,et al.  Relationships between Providers and Users of Market Research: The Dynamics of Trust within and between Organizations , 1992 .

[22]  R. Gunst.  Regression analysis and its application , 1980 .

[23]  H. J. Arnold.  Moderator variables: A clarification of conceptual, analytic, and psychometric issues , 1982 .

[24]  Chiung-Ju Liang,et al.  Customer Relationship Management of the Information Education Services Industry in Taiwan: Attributes, Benefits and Relationship , 2007 .

[25]  David Ansic,et al.  Gender differences in risk behaviour in financial decision-making: An experimental analysis. , 1997 .

[26]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Relational benefits in services industries: The customer’s perspective , 1998 .

[27]  E. Wong,et al.  EXPLORING THE ORIGINS AND INFORMATION PROCESSING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN: IMPLICATIONS FOR ADVERTISERS , 2010 .

[28]  Michael H. Kutner.  Applied Linear Statistical Models , 1974 .

[29]  B. Bayus.  Brand Loyalty and Marketing Strategy: An Application to Home Appliances , 1992 .

[30]  Thomas J. Johnson,et al.  Research Methodology: Taming the Cyber Frontier , 1999 .

[31]  F. Dwyer,et al.  Developing Buyer-Seller Relationships , 1987 .

[32]  Youjae Yi.  A Critical review of consumer satisfaction , 1989 .

[33]  Mark S. Johnson,et al.  The Different Roles of Satisfaction, Trust, and Commitment in Customer Relationships , 1999 .

[34]  Charles E. Heckler,et al.  Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis , 2005, Technometrics.

[35]  Neng-Pai Lin,et al.  Relational Bonds and Customer's Trust and Commitment - A Study on the Moderating Effects of Web Site Usage , 2003 .

[36]  K. Sheehan,et al.  An investigation of gender differences in on-line privacy concerns and resultant behaviors , 1999 .

[37]  John O. Summers,et al.  Interfirm Influence Strategies and Their Application within Distribution Channels , 1984 .

[38]  C. Fornell,et al.  Customer Satisfaction, Market Share, and Profitability: Findings from Sweden , 1994 .

[39]  M. M. Espinoza.  Assessing the cross‐cultural applicability of a service quality measure A comparative study between Quebec and Peru , 1999 .

[40]  J. Neter,et al.  Applied Linear Statistical Models (3rd ed.). , 1992 .

[41]  P. Berthon,et al.  Analysing and reducing customer defections , 1996 .

[42]  L. Ryals.  Making Customer Relationship Management Work: The Measurement and Profitable Management of Customer Relationships , 2005 .

[43]  K. Palan.  Exploring the Origins and Information Processing Differences Between Men and Women: Implications for Advertisers , 2003 .

[44]  D. Griffith,et al.  Drivers of local merchant loyalty: Understanding the influence of gender and shopping motives , 2006 .

[45]  J. Sheth,et al.  Relationship marketing in consumer markets: Antecedents and consequences , 1995 .

[46]  Barton A. Weitz,et al.  Determinants of Continuity in Conventional Industrial Channel Dyads , 1989 .

[47]  Hokey Min.  Developing the profiles of supermarket customers through data mining , 2006 .

[48]  Melanie A. Howard,et al.  Self‐service – a contradiction in terms or customer‐led choice? , 2003 .

[49]  J. Johanson,et al.  Interorganizational relations in industrial systems: a network approach compared with the transaction cost approach , 1987 .

[50]  S. Hunt,et al.  The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing , 1994 .

[51]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[52]  M. Gilly,et al.  Shopping Online for Freedom, Control, and Fun , 2001 .

[53]  Paula J. Haynes,et al.  Financial Service Strategies: Neglected Niches , 1992 .

[54]  L. Berry.  Relationship marketing of services—growing interest, emerging perspectives , 1995 .

[55]  Claire Payne,et al.  Engendering trust in e‐commerce: a study of gender‐based concerns , 2002 .

[56]  Chad Perry,et al.  Thinking about relationship marketing: where are we now? , 2002 .

[57]  Neng-Pai Lin,et al.  Virtual factory and relationship marketing - a case study of a Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company , 2002, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[58]  Robert A. Peterson,et al.  Relationship marketing and the consumer , 1995 .

[59]  David Mazursky,et al.  A Longitudinal Assessment of Consumer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction: The Dynamic Aspect of the Cognitive Process , 1983 .

[60]  J W Peltier,et al.  Dissecting the HMO-benefits managers relationship: what to measure and why. , 2000, Marketing health services.

[61]  C. Grönroos,et al.  Managing Customer Relationships for Profit: The Dynamics of Relationship Quality , 1994 .

[62]  K. Reynolds,et al.  Customer-sales associate retail relationships , 1996 .

[63]  Herbjørn Nysveen,et al.  Building brand relationships online: A comparison of two interactive applications , 2002 .

[64]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  Marketing Services: Competing Through Quality , 1991 .

[65]  Peter H. Bloch,et al.  After the New Wears Off: The Temporal Context of Product Involvement , 1986 .

[66]  K. Reynolds,et al.  Customer benefits and company consequences of customer-salesperson relationships in retailing , 1999 .

[67]  David M. Szymanski,et al.  E-satisfaction: an initial examination , 2000 .

[68]  S. Cross,et al.  Models of the self: self-construals and gender. , 1997, Psychological bulletin.

[69]  David Bejou,et al.  The effects of gender on the development of relationships between clients and financial advisers , 1995 .

[70]  William T. Ross,et al.  The Asymmetric Impact of Negative and Positive Attribute-Level Performance on Overall Satisfaction and Repurchase Intentions , 1998 .

[71]  Robert D. Gatewood,et al.  Human Resource Selection , 1997 .

[72]  Katherine N. Lemon,et al.  Dynamic Customer Relationship Management: Incorporating Future Considerations into the Service Retention Decision , 2002 .

[73]  Shane Martin,et al.  The internet as a relationship marketing tool - some evidence from Irish companies , 1999 .

[74]  J. Nielsen.  AFDELING FOR VIRKSOMHEDSLEDELSE UNIVERSITY OF AARHUS C DENMARK , 2002 .

[75]  Gilbert A. Churchill.  A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing Constructs , 1979 .

[76]  P. Korgaonkar.  A Multivariate Analysis of Web Usage , 1999 .

[77]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Building service relationships: It’s all about promises , 1995 .

[78]  V. Savicki,et al.  Gender Language Style and Group Composition in Internet Discussion Groups , 2006 .

[79]  F. F. Reichheld,et al.  Zero defections: quality comes to services. , 1990, Harvard business review.

[80]  G. Day.  Managing market relationships , 2000 .

[81]  F. Wangenheim.  Situational Characteristics as Moderators of the Satisfaction-Loyalty Link: An Investigation in a Business-to-Business Context , 2003 .

[82]  Yi-Ching Hsieh,et al.  Maintaining a committed online customer: A study across search-experience-credence products , 2005 .