The Effect of Third Party Seals on Consumers' Repurchase Process in Online Shopping: A Multi-Group Analysis

This research explores the mechanism underlying the relationship between online vendor’s service efforts and consumers’ intention to repurchase with third party assurance seals. The current study examines the influence of the third party assurance seals on repurchase process from online vendor attributes. Drawing on the disconfirmation paradigm, we argue that a repurchase process is affected by the existence of assurance seals. Concerning the effect of online vendor’s attributes (service quality and satisfaction) on repurchase intention, we investigated assurance seals in affecting individual evaluation of repurchase process in the online marketplace. The conceptual model that incorporated factors representing elements of a repurchase mechanism was tested with data gathered from 544 vendors evaluated by consumers. A multi-group analysis was conducted to test the conceptual model using Partial Least Square (PLS). The study uncovers that the process of repurchase intention from vendors’ service performances was affected by assurance seals. Consumers' intention to repurchase was appeared in a different pattern depending on the presence of assurance seals by vendors. Implications for the theory and practice for assurance seals and future research directions are discussed.