An empirical study of online shopping customer satisfaction in China: a holistic perspective

Abstract

Purpose

The 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/approach

In 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.

Findings

The 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/implications

This 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/value

This 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.

Citation

Liu, X., He, M., Gao, F. and Xie, P. (2008), "An empirical study of online shopping customer satisfaction in China: a holistic perspective", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 36 No. 11, pp. 919-940. https://doi.org/10.1108/09590550810911683