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Studying the relationship between the perceived value of online group-buying websites and customer loyalty: the moderating role of referral rewards

Ya-Ling Chiu (School of Economics and Management, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing, China)
Lu-Jui Chen (Department of International Business, Ming Chuan University, Taipei, Taiwan)
Jiangze Du (School of Finance, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang, China)
Yuan-Teng Hsu (Research Center of Finance, Shanghai Business School, Shanghai, China)

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

ISSN: 0885-8624

Article publication date: 4 June 2018

1988

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of perceived value on customer loyalty through affective commitment in the online group-buying (OGB) context. This paper addressed the following questions: what are the factors affecting customer loyalty (i.e. revisit intention and buy more intention); and how do referral rewards moderate the impact of affective commitment on customer loyalty?

Design/methodology/approach

All data were collected from OGB websites’ members in Taiwan. The total number of respondents to the online survey was 403. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test a perceived value–commitment–loyalty model.

Findings

This study shows that three proposed antecedents (i.e. OGB scheme value, hedonic value and social value) can trigger customer loyalty through affective commitment. Monetary savings, a variety of merchandise and aspirational products are all critical OGB scheme value components. The results also show that referral reward importance positively moderates the relationship between affective commitment and revisit intention.

Practical implications

The findings have implications for managing people and work tasks in OGB websites. First, understanding the importance of dimensions of value should enable OGB managers to develop more accurate targeting strategies. This study provides guidance on the design of the platform and the OGB scheme, for the effective allocating of marketing resources. Second, a referral reward mechanism can be a critical CRM tool; in addition to the potential to attract new customers, they can also help to retain existing customers. This mechanism is a very effective method to enhance customer stickiness.

Originality/value

The marketing literature generally recognizes the importance of developing and maintaining long-term relationships with customers. This study is the first one to explore the importance of affective commitment in developing and sustaining loyal relationships in the OGB context. Referral rewards are an important moderator variable: affective commitment has a stronger effect on the revisit intention when the referral rewards are high. The findings of this study provide insights into how OGB website developers can create customer commitment and more effectively retain existing customers through the use of referral rewards.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere appreciation to the editor and the anonymous referees for their valuable comments and suggestions, which helped improve the quality of the paper tremendously. These authors contribute equally to this work and are listed in alphabetical order of the first letter of surname. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC No. 71471029, 71561012 and 71661011).

Citation

Chiu, Y.-L., Chen, L.-J., Du, J. and Hsu, Y.-T. (2018), "Studying the relationship between the perceived value of online group-buying websites and customer loyalty: the moderating role of referral rewards", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 33 No. 5, pp. 665-679. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-03-2017-0083

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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