E-loyalty Is Not All about Trust, Price Also Matters: Extending Expectation-confirmation Theory in Bookselling Websites

Identifying factors that influence customers’ e-loyalty is paramount for practitioners and academics to develop successful marketing strategies and behavioral models. Online bookselling is a rapid growing industry in the UK, where e-loyalty models have yet to reach a conclusive argument. This paper aims to explore factors influencing customers’ e-loyalty to five online bookselling websites in the UK by testing a theoretical model, based on expectation-confirmation theory. A quantitative approach was employed using questionnaires; the sample consisted of 290 respondents (50% males, age range: 18 to over 54). The questionnaire was pretested and confirmatory factor analysis was performed to assess the measurement model. Structural equation modeling and MANOVA were employed to examine the association between latent constructs. Eleven hypotheses were formulated examining different independent variables in the theoretical model; results showed a significant direct and positive association between satisfaction and e-loyalty. Web design affected e-loyalty significantly on all bookselling websites, perceived value was a significant predictor of satisfaction while price notably influenced e-trust development. Etrust was not associated with e-loyalty. This study introduces new variables that affect e-loyalty as well as illuminates new associations between existing factors – perceived value, price, and trust are new aspects which practitioners and academics should take into account for marketing strategies and behavioral models, respectively. Hence, managers will likely increase customer satisfaction and loyalty by improving web design and balancing quality with price, predisposing positively customer’s attitudes towards the website.