Customer engagement and e loyality investigating the mediating and moderating influences of selected relational constructs in e shopping

Abstract

Understanding, building and maintaining customer relationships newlineand customer loyalty in an e-marketplace is challenging due to the newlinecomplex nature of digital interactions and experiences (Swaminathan, newlineAnderson and Lei Song, 2018). In an e-marketplace, customer newlinerelationships are built as a result of multitude of interactions between the newlinecustomer and the firm, which include transactional as well as nontransactional newlineinteractions (Vivek, Beatty and Morgan, 2012). Customer s newlinenon-transactional interactions include: liking and sharing product newlineinformation or experiences in social media (Hollebeek et al., 2014), newlinecommenting, reviewing and rating products (Mathwick and Mosteller, newline2017) as well as associating with the firm for designing and developing new newlineproducts (Hsieh and Chang, 2016). These non-transactional interactions that newlineextend beyond purchase also play a major role in building e-loyalty (Vivek newlineet al, 2014). The literature suggests examining several new phenomena newlinewhich incorporates this new interactive customer behaviour (Hollebeek, newline2011) that will better explain the formation of e-loyalty (Toufaily et al., newline2013). newlineDrawing insights from relationship marketing (Fournier, 1998; newlineSheth et al., 2012), Service Dominant Logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; newline2008), Brodie et al. s fundamental propositions and the seminal works of newlineVivek et al. (2012; 2014), Hollebeek et al. (2011; 2014), So et al. (2016) newlineand Marbach et al. (2016), the research propose customer engagement as newlinea major contributor in enhancing e-loyalty and hypothesize two relational newlineconstructs namely; perceived experiential values and relationship quality newlineas outcomes of customer engagement that exert a strong mediating influence in the relational route to e-loyalty. The study also attempted to shed light on the influence of a host of moderating variables namely; newlineperceived online risk (situational characteristic), relationship age (relational newlinecharacteristic) as well as shopping orientation, age and gender (customer newlinecharacteristics)