PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify factors that may influence Chinese customers' online shopping satisfaction, including those which are ignored by prior studies, from the perspective of total online shopping experience.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the authors propose a model of the satisfaction process in the e‐commerce environment, identifying key constructs proposed by prior studies and developing hypotheses about which dimensions of online retailer constructs are significant predictors of online shopper satisfaction. The authors test the hypotheses through multiple regression analysis based on a survey of 1,001 online customers.FindingsThe analysis suggests that eight constructs – information quality, web site design, merchandise attributes, transaction capability, security/privacy, payment, delivery, and customer service – are strongly predictive of online shopping customer satisfaction, while the effect of response time is not significant.Research limitations/implicationsThis study does not control the differences across product categories; the use of self‐reported scales to measure both independent and dependent variables may imply the possibility of a common method bias for the results.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the study of online shopping customer satisfaction by: developing a model of the satisfaction process in the e‐commerce environment, and identifying factors that may influence Chinese customers' online shopping satisfaction including those which are ignored by prior studies.

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This article reports the organ distribution and bioaccumulation of hepatotoxic microcystins (MCs) in freshwater fishes at different trophic levels from the large, shallow, eutrophic Lake Chaohu in September 2003, when there were heavy surface blooms of toxic cyanobacteria. Among all fish, intestines and blood had the highest average content of MC-RR + MC-LR (22.0 and 14.5 microg g(-1) DW, respectively), followed by liver, bile, and kidney (7.77, 6.32, and 5.81 microg g(-1) DW, respectively), whereas muscle had the least (1.81 microg g(-1) DW). MC content in muscle was highest in carnivorous fish (Culter ilishaeformis, 2.22 microg g(-1) DW) and omnivorous fish (Carassius auratus, 1.96 microg g(-1) DW) and was lowest in phytoplanktivorous fish (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, 1.65 microg g(-1) DW) and herbivorous fish (Parabramis pekinensis 0.660 microg g(-1) DW). However, the amount of MC in the gut of H. molitrix (137 microg g(-1) DW) was more than 20 times that in the other fish (<6.50 microg g(-1) DW). The MCs showed a tendency to accumulate up the food chain, and piscivorous fish at the top of the food chain were at high risk of exposure to MCs in Lake Chaohu. Our study is the first to report MC concentrations in the bile and blood of wild fish. One hundred grams of fish muscle would contain 2.64-49.7 microg of MC-LR equivalent, or about 1.3-25 times the recommended tolerable daily intake of MC-LR by humans, indicating that fish are already severely contaminated by MCs and that the local authorities should warn the public of the risk of poisoning by eating the contaminated fish.

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SUMMARY1. To reveal the role of aquatic heterotrophic bacteria in the process of development of Microcystis blooms in natural waters, we cocultured unicellular Microcystis aeruginosa with a natural Microcystis-associated heterotrophic bacterial community. 2. Unicellular M. aeruginosa at different initial cell densities aggregated into colonies in the presence of heterotrophic bacteria, while axenic Microcystis continued to grow as single cells. The specific growth rate, the chl a content, the maximum electron transport rate (ETR max ) and the synthesis and secretion of extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) were higher in non-axenic M. aeruginosa than in axenic M. aeruginosa after cell aggregation, whereas axenic and non-axenic M. aeruginosa displayed the same physiological characteristic before aggregation. 3. Heterotrophic bacterial community composition was analysed by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) fingerprinting. The biomass of heterotrophic bacteria strongly increased in the coinoculated cultures, but the DGGE banding patterns in coinoculated cultures were distinctly dissimilar to those in control cultures with only heterotrophic bacteria. Sequencing of DGGE bands suggested that Porphyrobacter, Flavobacteriaceae and one uncultured bacterium could be specialist bacteria responsible for the aggregation of M. aeruginosa. 4. The production of EPS in non-axenic M. aeruginosa created microenvironments that probably served to link both cyanobacterial cells and their associated bacterial cells into mutually beneficial colonies. Microcystis colony formation facilitates the maintenance of high biomass for a long time, and the growth of heterotrophic bacteria was enhanced by EPS secretion from M. aeruginosa. 5. The results from our study suggest that natural heterotrophic bacterial communities have a role in the development of Microcystis blooms in natural waters. The mechanisms behind the changes of the bacterial community and interaction between cyanobacteria and heterotrophic bacteria need further investigations.

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