Examining Consumers’ Behavioral Intention in O2O Commerce from a Relational Perspective: an Exploratory Study

Abstract

Online-to-offline (O2O) commerce is a new e-business model that is popular among consumers and profitable for e-vendors. However, limited studies have been conducted to understand consumer behavior in this context. Based on commitment-trust theory and trust transfer theory, we conducted an exploratory study to explore consumers' repurchase intention and sharing intention in the O2O commerce context from the relational viewpoint. Two studies were conducted using a web-based survey and Partial Least Squares were used to analyze the data. In Study 1, the results indicated that various targets of trust and commitment have significant effects on repurchase intention and sharing intention. Trust can be transferred both inter-channel and intrachannel in O2O commerce. Moreover, the effect of trust in O2O platforms on commitment is mediated by trust in user community and trust in merchants. To demonstrate the generalizability and external robustness of the results, we replicated the research model in Study 2 using data from a more representative sample. The replicated study produced similar results. This research provides an initial understanding of consumer behavior in the O2O commerce context and contributes to trust transfer theory and commitment-trust theory. Further, this research benefits companies undertaking O2O business by enabling them to better understand how to improve consumer repurchasing intention and sharing intention to succeed in the e-business industry.

Are there any key factors that encourage food delivery applications use during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand and the role of HRM?

“…In terms of the food delivery context, most studies have focused on the examined factors influencing customer intention regarding new services. Examples include Online to Offline (O2O) service [5], trust transferred [6], usage transfer behavior [7], and moral obligation [8]. The most recent study on food delivery extended the UTAUT2 model with mobile application features to examine continuous use intention [9].…”

Impact of customers' interpersonal interactions in social commerce on customer relationship management performance

“…It advises that users' commitment and trust are two vital factors in controlling their attitudes and behavioral targets (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). The theory of commitment and trust has been broadly used by researchers in information systems (IS) and e-commerce (Chen and Shen, 2015;Wang et al, 2016;Xiao et al, 2019). Conversely, many studies that have implemented CTT only considered a single target of customer trust (such as their trust in a vendor website) (e.g.…”

“…Li et al, 2006;Wang et al, 2016). While in the social commerce environment, Chen and Shen (2015) used CTT, indicating that mutual trust between people and trust of in-group members can help to develop a close relationship between customers and the social group (Xiao et al, 2019). Morgan and Hunt (1994) defined the term trust as the assurance of the other party's integrity and reliability, and commitment signifies their faith in building a vital bond and guarantees the highest effort to sustain it (Curado and Vieira, 2019).…”

Cross-visiting Behaviour of Online Consumers Across Retailers’ and Comparison Sites, a Macro-Study

“…Researchers have long emphasized the importance of understanding consumer cross-channel behaviour (Montoya-Weiss et al 2003;Xiao et al 2019), focusing mainly on retailers' online and offline channels (e.g. Dholakia et al 2005;Konuş et al 2008).…”

“…The level of involvement with e-services determines consumer switching intentions (Dabholkar and Walls 1999) and can lead to different price comparison behaviour. Higher usage creates psychological attachments which can affect retention (Xiao et al 2019), hence switching intentions. Study of Keaveney and Parthasarathy (2001) is one of the very few that have investigated the relationship between level of service usage and switching behaviour.…”