A binding tie: why do customers stick to omnichannel retailers?

Abstract

PurposeThis study employed the commitment–trust theory in social psychology and relationship marketing to explore female customers' perception of channel integration quality in omnichannel retailing and its influence on their relationship commitment to and trust in the relationship with retailers, and thus on their stickiness. Channel integration quality consists of two dimensions: channel service configuration (channel choice breadth and channel service transparency) and integrated interactions (content consistency, process consistency and perceived fluency).Design/methodology/approachThe study was carried out via a questionnaire survey, to which 868 valid responses were collected. The partial least squares technique was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsChannel service transparency and perceived fluency influence relationship commitment; content consistency, process consistency and perceived fluency all have significant effects on trust. Interestingly, although less influential than integrated interactions, channel service configuration is the foundation of channel integration quality, testifying to its significant role.Originality/valueThis study provides strong evidence on how channel integration quality affects customer stickiness. Moreover, this study replicates the finding of significant relationships among relationship commitment, trust and stickiness in omnichannel retailing.

In companies we trust: consumer adoption of artificial intelligence services and the role of trust in companies and AI autonomy

“…In an empirical investigation drawing on commitment–trust theory (e.g. Lin et al. , 2023), the current research establishes evidence for the hypothesized link between consumers' AI service adoption intentions and their trust in the company offering this service.…”

“…Casidy et al, 2021). Moreover, the prospect of capitalizing consumer trust in a company for AI service adoption should encourage institutional stakeholders to endorse investments in related trustbuilding initiatives, such as enhancing transparency, streamlining processes and ensuring privacy (Fox et al, 2022;Lin et al, 2023). Second, our findings on the role of AI autonomy in consumer AI adoption raise a note of caution concerning the adverse effects of increasing capabilities of AI services, which are expected to provide value for companies and consumers (e.g.…”

“…Moreover, the prospect of capitalizing consumer trust in a company for AI service adoption should encourage institutional stakeholders to endorse investments in related trust-building initiatives, such as enhancing transparency, streamlining processes and ensuring privacy (Fox et al. , 2022; Lin et al. , 2023).…”

“…Future research would therefore benefit from experimental designs that examine how different types of trust-building mechanisms, such as transparency or brand familiarity (cf. Lin et al, 2023;Liu et al, 2021), influence consumer behavior in this context. Likewise, as the next generation of AI services might even surpass the human capabilities portrayed in our shopping scenarios, future studies should seek to further elevate AI autonomy.…”

“…As such, consumers' trust in AI services is not solely influenced by the specific characteristics of the technology (McKnight et al, 2011), but also by their relationship with the company that offers the AI service. This link between consumers' trust in a company and their decisions to use services from the company is founded on commitment-trust theory (Morgan and Hunt, 1994), according to which the same AI service offered by two different companies would likely result in different outcomes in terms of adoption intentions due to differences in customers' existing relationships with the two companies (Lin et al, 2023).…”