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

– 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. , – 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. , – 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. Satisfied consumers can be either loyal or not loyal to a service provider depending on their level of switching cost, but unsatisfied 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. , – 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 determining e-service satisfaction–loyalty relationship based on studying consumers in a highly competitive market.

[1]  Hsin-Hui Lin,et al.  The relationship of service failure severity, service recovery justice and perceived switching costs with customer loyalty in the context of e-tailing , 2011, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[2]  Yu-Hern Chang,et al.  Relational benefits, switching barriers and loyalty: A study of airline customers in Taiwan , 2007 .

[3]  Sung S. Kim,et al.  Out of Dedication or Constraint? A Dual Model of Post-Adoption Phenomena and its Empirical Test in the Context of Online Services , 2009, MIS Q..

[4]  Ching-Chin Chern,et al.  'Migrating to a new virtual world': Exploring MMORPG switching through human migration theory , 2011, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[5]  B. Verplanken,et al.  Habit, information acquisition, and the process of making travel mode choices , 1997 .

[6]  Drazen Prelec,et al.  A Theory of Addiction , 1992 .

[7]  Zhilin Yang,et al.  Customer perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty: The role of switching costs , 2004 .

[8]  J. R. Moore,et al.  The theory of the growth of the firm twenty-five years after , 1960 .

[9]  Wendy Wood,et al.  Habit and intention in everyday life: The multiple processes by which past behavior predicts future behavior. , 1998 .

[10]  B. Knutson.  Frequent Travelers , 1988 .

[11]  J. Steenkamp,et al.  The Role of Optimum Stimulation Level in Exploratory Consumer Behavior , 1992 .

[12]  Vishnu Vinekar,et al.  Towards a Unified Model of Information Technology Business Value , 2006, AMCIS.

[13]  Moez Limayem,et al.  User switching of information technology: A theoretical synthesis and empirical test , 2012, Inf. Manag..

[14]  Wann-Yih Wu,et al.  Moderating effects of technology acceptance perspectives on e-service quality formation: Evidence from airline websites in Taiwan , 2011, Expert Syst. Appl..

[15]  M. Eid.  Determinants of E-Commerce Customer Satisfaction, Trust, and Loyalty in Saudi Arabia , 2011 .

[16]  Salvatore R. Maddi,et al.  Functions of Varied Experience , 2012 .

[17]  Rolph E. Anderson,et al.  E‐satisfaction and e‐loyalty: A contingency framework , 2003 .

[18]  A. Rangaswamy,et al.  Customer satisfaction and loyalty in online and offline environments , 2003 .

[19]  B. Sparks,et al.  Evaluative and relational influences on service loyalty , 2001 .

[20]  Martin Wetzels,et al.  Linking perceived service quality and service loyalty: a multi‐dimensional perspective , 1999 .

[21]  Chyan Yang,et al.  International Journal of Information Management the Intellectual Development of the Technology Acceptance Model: a Co-citation Analysis , 2022 .

[22]  P. S. Raju.  Optimum Stimulation Level: Its Relationship to Personality, Demographics, and Exploratory Behavior , 1980 .

[23]  D. Allen.  New telecommunications services: Network externalities and critical mass☆ , 1988 .

[24]  D. Teece,et al.  DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT , 1997 .

[25]  L. Feick,et al.  The impact of switching costs on the customer satisfaction‐loyalty link: mobile phone service in France , 2001 .

[26]  J. Barney.  Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage , 1991 .

[27]  Thomas O. Jones,et al.  Why Satisfied Customers Defect , 1996 .

[28]  G. Marwell,et al.  A Theory of the Critical Mass. I. Interdependence, Group Heterogeneity, and the Production of Collective Action , 1985, American Journal of Sociology.

[29]  Janjaap Semeijn,et al.  E‐services and offline fulfilment: how e‐loyalty is created , 2005 .

[30]  V. Zeithaml,et al.  E-S-QUAL A Multiple-Item Scale for Assessing Electronic Service Quality , 2004 .

[31]  Hua Dai,et al.  Antecedents of Online Service Quality, Commitment and Loyalty , 2011, J. Comput. Inf. Syst..

[32]  Moez Limayem,et al.  Habit in the context of IS continuance: theory extension and scale development , 2003, ECIS.

[33]  Anol Bhattacherjee,et al.  Understanding Post-Adoption Behavior in the Context of Online Services , 1998, Inf. Syst. Res..

[34]  Chin-Yuan Ho,et al.  Understanding Mobile Apps Continuance Usage Behavior and Habit: An Expectance-Confirmation Theory , 2013, PACIS.

[35]  Yi-Chang Chiu,et al.  Determinants of guest loyalty to international tourist hotels—a neural network approach , 2002 .

[36]  Jari Salo,et al.  Engaging consumers online through websites and social media: A gender study of Italian Generation Y clothing consumers , 2015, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[37]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  Refinement and reassessment of the SERVQUAL scale. , 1991 .

[38]  Olivia R. Liu Sheng,et al.  e-SELFQUAL: A scale for measuring online self-service quality , 2011 .

[39]  William L. Fuerst,et al.  Information technology and sustained competitive advantage: a resource-based analysis , 1995 .

[40]  Byoungho Jin,et al.  The role of etail quality, e-satisfaction and e-trust in online loyalty development process , 2009 .

[41]  Rolph E. Anderson,et al.  Customer loyalty in e-commerce: an exploration of its antecedents and consequences , 2002 .

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

[43]  Sandra Streukens,et al.  Comfort your online customer: quality, trust and loyalty on the internet , 2004 .

[44]  G. Balabanis,et al.  Bases of e-store loyalty: Perceived switching barriers and satisfaction , 2006 .

[45]  Salmiah Mohamad Amin,et al.  Factors Contributing to Customer Loyalty Towards Telecommunication Service Provider , 2012 .

[46]  Zhaohua Deng,et al.  Exploring factors affecting Chinese consumers' usage of short message service for personal communication , 2010, Inf. Syst. J..