Mark Lett (2015) 26:225235

DOI 10.1007/s11002-014-9334-x

Impact of satisfaction with e-retailers touch points

on purchase behavior: the moderating effect of search
and experience product type
Jeen-Su Lim & Abdulrahman Al-Aali &
John H. Heinrichs

Published online: 28 October 2014

# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Abstract This study develops and tests a consumer touch-point satisfaction model of online
purchase. The model captures the moderating effect of search and experience product type on
the relationships among the satisfaction with two of the e-retailers touch points (e-shopping
site and social media sites), loyalty intention, and purchase. Analysis results show significant
moderating effect of product type on these relationships. The results show that the effect of eshopping site satisfaction on loyalty intention and the effects of social media site satisfaction
as well as loyalty intention on purchase are stronger for search products than for experience
products. However, the effect of social media sites satisfaction on loyalty intention is
stronger for experience products than that of search products. The paper concludes with a
discussion of managerial implications, limitations, and future research directions.
Keywords E-retailers touch points . E-retailers e-shopping site satisfaction . E-retailers
social media site satisfaction . Product type . Loyalty intention . Purchase

1 Introduction
Electronic retail commerce represents an expanding and significant opportunity for eretailers e-shopping sites (Ayanso et al. 2010). The internet assists consumers in their
J.<S. Lim (*)
Marketing and e-Commerce College of Business and Innovation, The University of Toledo, Toledo,
OH 43606, USA
e-mail: jlim@utnet.utoledo.edu
A. Al-Aali
Marketing College of Business Administration, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
e-mail: alaali@ksu.edu.sa
J. H. Heinrichs
Information Systems College of Business Administration, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202,
USA
e-mail: ai2824@wayne.edu

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Mark Lett (2015) 26:225235

search process for product and/or service information and comparing prices as well as
locating products and/or services using mobile or computer-based information
searching devices. In response to this information searching behavior by consumers,
many online e-retail e-shopping sites are focusing on delivering interactive, media-rich
content hoping to achieve higher search engine rankings as well as enhancing and
simplifying the consumers e-shopping experience.
To compete effectively in increasingly competitive global online markets, e-retailers
are utilizing various touch points such as e-shopping sites, permission-based e-mail
campaigns, and online social media sites to reach and manage their relationships with
current and potential e-shoppers (Shankar et al. 2011). With the increased use of social
media, e-retailers are establishing and customizing their social media sites and facilitating the creation of virtual communities to reach, interact, and collaborate with current
and potential e-shoppers. The e-retailers social media sites are playing an increasingly
critical role as a part of the new media integrated marketing communication plan and
as a critical touch point for interacting with customers (Edelman 2010; Reinold and
Tropp 2012). For example, the e-shopping site of Teavana lists five social media site
links where e-shoppers can visit those sites to join conversation with Facebook, follow
the e-retailer with Twitter, pin with Pinterest, learn and explore with YouTube, and join
the circle with Google plus. Research studies suggest that e-retailers need to assess eshoppers reaction to the various touch points available to them (Reinold and Tropp
2012). Thus, effectively managing and coordinating multiple touch points is becoming
extremely important for e-retailers to succeed in this intensely competitive global
internet marketplace.
While the effects of e-shopping site factors on e-purchase behavior have been well
documented in the literature (Dillon and Reif 2006; Grewal and Levy 2007; Ha and
Stoel 2009), the emerging role of social media sites as an important touch point and
their impact on e-purchase behavior has received limited attention. Thus, it is important
to assess the combined effects of the two touch points: e-retailers e-shopping site and
social media sites. In addition, previous research has not fully assessed the product
contingency associated with online purchase behavior. While previous research has
identified many different online product classifications schemes (Kiang et al. 2011;
Korgaonkar et al. 2004; Nelson 1974), how product type contingencies influence the
effects of e-retailers touch points on online purchase behavior is not well established.
Therefore, this study intends to develop and test a conceptual model that captures the
relationships among satisfaction with two important touch points (the e-retailers eshopping site and social media sites), loyalty intention, and purchase. The proposed
conceptual model also posits that these relationships are contingent upon the product
type. This study empirically tests the moderating effect of the product type on these
relationships using survey data.

2 Conceptual model
This study develops and tests a user touch-point satisfaction model of online purchase.
The proposed model posits that the satisfaction with two of the e-retailer touch points
(e-shopping site and social media sites) have direct effects on loyalty intention and
purchase. The type of products purchased by individuals moderates these relationships.

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2.1 Satisfaction with e-retailers touch points

This study selected two important e-retailers touch points, that is, the e-retailers eshopping site and social media sites. Satisfaction with these two touch points and their
combined effects is critical in understanding e-user behavior and purchase decisions.
Researchers report that satisfaction positively affects the individuals intention to shop
online (Chiu et al. 2009), to acquire products and/or services from an e-retailer and to
repurchase products and/or services (Belanche et al. 2012; Bourlakis et al. 2008).
Research provides evidence that a direct relationship exists between consumers
satisfaction with an e-retailer site and the various intentions and usage of that site such
as revisiting, additional purchases, continued dependence and usage, and providing a
recommendation for the e-retailer (Carlson and OCass 2010; Ha 2012; Wolfinbarger
and Gilly 2003). Thus, consumers satisfaction with an e-retailers e-shopping site will
influence the intention to use the e-retailers sites, usage, and repeated purchase.
To establish an engaging social presence, e-retailers need to develop social media
sites containing interesting and informative content, attracting individuals to become
fans of their social media sites, and interacting with these individuals in a myriad of
ways (Qin et al. 2011). Dennis et al. (2010) suggest that major opportunities exist for eretailers if they combine social media sites with e-retail e-shopping sites. Firms
incorporate social commerce by using and maintaining an active presence in various
social networking sites (Zhou et al. 2013) and establishing content-related social
experiences (Oestreicher-Singer and Zalmanson 2013). E-retailers who can satisfy eshoppers with effective applications and features of various social media sites can
increase online retail sales (Ayanso et al. 2010). It is expected that satisfaction with eretailers two important touch points, that is, e-shopping site satisfaction and social
media site satisfaction, can positively influence repurchase intention and purchase.
2.2 Loyalty intention
Previous research suggests that e-retail site loyalty results from a customers commitment to the e-store through an explicit decision-making process (Bloemer and Ruyter
1998). As such, loyalty intention is defined as consumers intention to continue doing
business with and purchase products and services from the e-retailer in the future (Cyr
2008). Previous research theorizes that conation representing loyalty intention leads to
action in the loyalty flow (Oliver 1999; 2010). Loyalty intention positively influences
actual repeat purchase of products that include purchasing more and different products
from the same e-retailer and not switching to another e-retailer (Feick and Lee 2001;
Flavin et al. 2006). Others also found significant effect of intention to buy on actual
buying in internet shopping (Sia et al. 2009; Valvi and Fragkos 2012). Thus, consumers
would visit the e-retail site more frequently and purchase more if they have higher
loyalty intention to a specific e-retailer.
2.3 Moderating effect of product type
The proposed model posits that the type of product purchased moderates the relationships among the e-retailers e-shopping site satisfaction, the e-retailers social media
site satisfaction, loyalty intention, and purchase. The type of purchased product can

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influence consumers information search, purchase strategy, and purchase decisions on

the internet (Ha and Stoel 2009). While many product classification schemes have been
proposed in the literature (Degeratu et al. 2000; de Figueiredo 2000; Kiang et al. 2011),
this study adopts the classification schemes of search and experience (Korgaonkar et al.
2004; Nelson 1974).
This classification scheme involving search versus experience product types has
been widely discussed and accepted in the literature (Korgaonkar et al. 2004; Weathers
et al. 2007) to the point that researchers have suggested that all products actually
involve a combination of search and experience attributes (Lynch and Ariely 2000).
While search products are those where the individual does not have to interact with the
product directly to assess the products most important attributes, experience products
are those for which the important attributes associated with the products involve both
the mind and body and are not known or difficult to obtain without direct experience
with the products (Girad and Dion 2010; Huang et al. 2009).
Huang et al. (2009) found significant difference between search and experience
products in e-shopping information search and quality evaluation processes. Because
features of search products are standardized and communicated through the internet more
effectively, the satisfaction with e-shopping sites would lead to greater loyalty intention for
search products than for experience products. On the other hand, social media sites can
provide more personalized information such as product reviews and usage experiences for
experience products through social media brand communities. Purchasing experience
products requires consumers to search more broadly and gather more personal and
customized information about the products. As a result, satisfaction with social media
sites would have more positive effect on loyalty intention for experience products than
search products. These discussions lead to the following hypotheses:
H1 The relationship between e-shopping site satisfaction and loyalty intention will be
stronger for search products than for experience products.
H2 The relationship between e-retailers social media site satisfaction and loyalty
intention will be stronger for experience products than for search products.
As experience products require physical inspection and experience of the products
before consumers purchase those products, it is more difficult to evaluate quality online
for experience products (Chung and Rao 2012). Even though consumers are satisfied
with e-retailers e-shopping sites for experience products, they are less likely to make
actual purchases from those e-shopping sites as experience products are less standardized. The positive effect of e-shopping site satisfaction on purchase will be greater for
search products than experience products. Social media site satisfaction can also have
greater impact on purchase for search products than experience products as the reviews
and comments in social media sites can be used by e-shoppers directly as search
products are standardized and easy to compare and evaluate.
In addition, for experience products, consumers will continue to search for more
variety in other e-retailers e-shopping site or social media sites as experience products
may change in style (Bock et al. 2012). Moreover, consumers will have less confidence
in their repurchase decision from previous e-retailers in whom they were satisfied
because assessing the quality of experience products online is more difficult. Further,
evaluating variations in the quality of each product and judging the exact fit of the

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experience product to their preferences, size, and specific needs is difficult (Bae and
Lee 2011; Chung and Rao 2012; Girad and Dion 2010; Huang 2011). Thus, loyalty
intention may have greater influence on purchase decisions for search products than for
experience products. These discussions lead to the following hypotheses:
H3a The relationship between e-shopping site satisfaction and purchase will be
stronger for search products than for experience products.
H3b The relationship between social media site satisfaction and purchase will be
stronger for search products than for experience products.
H4 The relationship between loyalty intention and purchase will be stronger for
search products than for experience products.

3 Methodology
3.1 Sample and procedures
This study used a self-administered questionnaire method. To recruit the adult sample,
this study used individuals from a major university campus in Saudi Arabia. The
sample consisted of 210 evening MBA students. Their age groups were 1825
(22.4 %), 2635 (54.7 %), 3645 (21.0 %), and 4655 (1.9 %). The male to female
respondents of the sample was 128 (61 %) male to 82 (39 %) female. A bilingual
business professor of a Saudi Arabian university translated the original English questionnaire into Arabic and then another bilingual English professor translated the
questionnaire back into English. This study utilized the Arabic version of the questionnaire for data collection. The respondents were asked to respond to the questions
considering the e-retailer used for making their most recent online purchases. Respondents were also asked to consider the e-retailers shopping site used for making the
most recent online purchases and the directly linked e-retailers social media sites.
Using the purchased product responses, this study categorized the respondents into two
groups, that is, the search product group and the experience product group. This study
adopted Girad and Dions (2010) pretested list of search and experience products in
classifying respondents.
The respondents purchasing search products such as various types of electronics,
music CDs, and DVDs were classified under the search product group. The respondents purchasing products such as clothes, shoes, and perfume were classified under the
experience product group. There were 126 respondents placed in the search product
group and 84 respondents placed in the experience product group.
3.2 Variables
The survey instrument contained question items measuring e-retailers e-shopping site
satisfaction, e-retailers social media site satisfaction, loyalty intention, and purchase. A
three-item Likert scale captured e-retailers e-shopping site satisfaction. These three
items are: (1) I am satisfied with my decision to purchase from this e-shopping site; (2)
I did the right thing by using this e-shopping site; and (3) my choice for this e-shopping

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site is a wise one. These items were adapted from Chang and Chen (2009). E-retailer
social media site satisfaction was captured by a two-item rating scale. These two items
are: (1) overall, I am satisfied with my experience with the social media sites; and (2)
overall, the social media site experience is exactly what I needed. These two items
formed a new rating scale for this study. A three-item Likert scale measured loyalty
intention. The three items are: (1) I will make repeated purchases from this internet
retailer; (2) I recommend this internet retailer to my friends; and (3) I intend to continue
doing business with this website over the next few years. An itemized rating scale
captured purchase. The items include (1) number of items purchased, (2) frequency of
online purchases, and (3) frequency of visits. This study adopted these items from Chen
et al. (2002) and Lim et al. (2008).

4 Analysis and results

4.1 Confirmatory factor analysis
This study utilized confirmatory factor analysis to assess the measurement properties.
Table 1 shows the confirmatory factor analysis results. The fit indices showed a good fit
of the model to the data (2 =46.60, 38 d.f., goodness-of-fit index (GFI)=0.97, normed
fit index (NFI)=0.96, and root mean square residual (RMSR)=0.038). All the items
loaded significantly on the expected constructs. The composite reliabilities (CR) for the
constructs ranged from 0.81 to 0.86 with the factor loadings from 0.52 to 0.94, and the
average variance extracted (AVE) ranged from 0.60 to 0.68. These results indicate
convergent validity of the measures. Discriminant validity was tested using chi-square
difference test for each pair of constructs. The chi-square difference tests provide
evidence of discriminant validity. The average variance extracted (AVE) from each
construct was higher than the corresponding shared variance for all possible pairs of
constructs. Thus, all constructs used in the model show adequate reliability and validity.
As this study collected data from a single informant using the same survey instrument, the Harmans single factor test was performed to verify the presence of common
method bias (Podsakoff et al. 2003). If method variance is largely responsible for the
covariation among the measures, a confirmatory factor analysis should indicate that a
single factor fits the data. A single factor model did not fit well (2 =360.97 with 38
d.f., GFI=0.77, NFI=0.80, and RMSR=0.11). Thus, these results indicate that there is
no strong common method bias present in the data.
4.2 Testing hypotheses
Structural equation modeling via LISREL was used for data analysis. To test the
hypothesized model, the summated scores of the constructs were used as indicators.
Multi-group LISREL analysis was performed to evaluate the direct effects and moderator variable effect.
Table 1 shows mean values and standard deviations for the summated scores of the
constructs. Mean values ranged from 2.17 to 3.61. Table 2 provides the multi-group analysis
results showing the path coefficient estimates for the two product types and the chi-square
difference test results between the path coefficients of the search product group and the

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Table 1 Confirmatory factor analysis results

Items

Factor loadings

e-Shopping site satisfaction

Sat1

0.79

Sat2

0.84

Sat3

0.84

Social media site satisfaction

SMsat1

0.94

SMsat2

0.69

Loyalty intention
LI1

0.82

LI2

0.67

LI3

0.82

Purchase
P1

0.90

P2

0.52

P3

0.84

Mean

SD

CR

AVE

3.61

0.77

0.86

0.68

2.95

1.08

0.81

0.68

3.50

0.81

0.82

0.60

2.17

1.03

0.81

0.60

Fit indices: 2 /d.f.=46.60/38, goodness-of-fit index (GFI)=0.97, normed fit index (NFI)=0.96, root mean
square residuals (RMSR)=0.038
All coefficients are significant at the 0.05 level
CR composite reliability, AVE average variance extracted

experience product group. Chi-square difference tests are utilized to test the moderating
effect of the product type on the relationships among satisfaction with the e-retailers eshopping site, satisfaction with the social media site, loyalty intention, and purchase.
The chi-square difference test for the relationship between satisfaction with the eretailers e-shopping site and loyalty intention is significant (2 =4.05, 1 d.f.,
p<0.05). The chi-square difference test revealed that the path coefficient for the search
products (search products =0.78, p<0.01) was significantly stronger than the path coefficient for the experience products (experience products =0.54, p<0.05). The path coefficients from e-retailers e-shopping site satisfaction to loyalty intention for both the
search and experience products were significant at the 0.05 level. These results provide
support for hypothesis 1. Similarly, the chi-square difference test for the relationship
between satisfaction with the social media site and loyalty intention is significant
(2 =4.00, 1 d.f., p<0.05). The path coefficient from social media site satisfaction
to loyalty intention was significantly larger for the experience products (experience
products =0.17, p<0.05) than for the search products (search products =0.01, p>0.05).
The path from social media site satisfaction to loyalty intention was significant at the
0.05 level for the experience product group but not significant for the search product
group. Therefore, the results support hypothesis 2. The chi-square difference test for the
relationship between e-shopping site satisfaction and purchase was not significant
(2 =0.13, 1 d.f., p>0.05) providing no support for hypothesis 3a. The path from eshopping site satisfaction to purchase was significant at the 0.05 level for the search and
experience products with path coefficients of 0.43 and 0.55, respectively.

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Table 2 LISREL estimates and the moderating effect of product type

Path

Search
products

Experience
products

2 Difference (with 1 d.f.)

e-Shopping site satisfaction

Loyalty intention

0.78**

0.54**

4.05 (p<0.05)

Social media site satisfaction

Loyalty intention

0.01

0.17*

4.00 (p<0.05)

e-Shopping site satisfaction

Purchase

0.43**

0.55**

0.13 (p>0.05)

Social media site satisfaction

Purchase

0.28**

0.21

7.20 (p<0.01)

Loyalty intention

Purchase

0.56*

0.13

3.11 (p<0.10)

Fit indices: 2 /d.f.=8.66/2, goodness-of-fit index (GFI)=0.97, normed fit index (NFI)=0.96, root mean
square residuals (RMSR)=0.085
*p<0.05; **p<0.01

The chi-square difference test for the relationship between social media site satisfaction and purchase is significant (2 =7.20, 1 d.f., p<0.01). The chi-square difference test revealed that the path coefficient for the search products (search products =0.28,
p<0.01) was significantly stronger than the path coefficient for the experience products
(experience products =0.21, p>0.05). The path from social media site satisfaction to
purchase was significant at the 0.05 level for the search product group but not
significant for the experience product group. These results provide support for hypothesis 3b. The chi-square difference test for the relationship between loyalty intention and
purchase is marginally significant (2 =3.11, 1 d.f., p<0.10). The chi-square difference test revealed that the path coefficient for the search products (search products =0.56,
p<0.05) was significantly stronger than the path coefficient for the experience products
(experience products =0.13, p>0.05). The path coefficient from loyalty intention to purchase was significant at the 0.05 level for the search products but was not significant for
the experience products. Therefore, the results provide support for hypothesis 4.

5 Discussion and conclusion

This study developed and tested a consumer touch-point satisfaction model of online
purchase by examining the moderating effect of search and experience product type on
the relationships among the satisfaction with two e-retailer touch points, loyalty intention, and purchase. The results show significant moderating effect of product type on the
relationships between e-retailer social media site satisfaction as well as social media site
satisfaction and loyalty intention. These results provide support for H1 and H2. Interestingly, the moderating effect of product type on the relationship between e-retail site
satisfaction and purchase is not significant providing no support for H3a. E-shopping
site satisfaction shows significant positive effect on purchase intention for both search
and experience products. This nonsignificant moderating effect may be due to the
critical role played by e-shopping site satisfaction in e-purchase process regardless of
the type of product purchased (Carlson and OCass 2010; Wolfinbarger and Gilly 2003).
This study found the moderating effect of product type on the relationships between
social media site satisfaction and purchase and between loyalty intention and purchase
providing support for H3b and H4. These results show the differential roles of social

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media as a customer touch point in e-purchase process. Thus, this study confirmed
previous findings of the moderating effect of product type on purchase behavior (Girad
and Dion 2010; Huang et al. 2009). The analysis results provide support for the direct
effects of the satisfaction with the two touch points (e-retailers e-shopping site
satisfaction and social media site satisfaction) on loyalty intention and purchase. The
findings show how satisfaction with the two important e-retailers touch points influence e-shoppers loyalty intention and purchase. The results provide support for the
contention that the internet has provided access to information and that this access has
changed at which touch-point individuals are open to being influenced (Edelman
2010).
The findings of this study have an interesting implication for e-retailers. As customer
satisfaction with touch points is found to be critical for customer retention and purchase
for even experience products, e-retailers must continually evaluate and improve their
various customer touch points. E-retailers should develop differential strategies of
utilizing various customer touch points including social media sites considering the
type of products sold in their e-shopping sites. In addition, the relationship between
loyalty intention and purchase is much weaker for experience products than for search
products, e-retailers selling experience products should put an additional emphasis on
customer retention and continue to try to attract new customers (Chung and Rao 2012;
Girad and Dion 2010). E-retailers can provide indirect experiences about dominant
attributes, multimedia of user experience, consumer-generated reviews, and online
community on their e-shopping site and social media sites for experience products.
This study has several limitations. The sample used in this study somewhat limits the
generalizability of the findings. Online shoppers with different levels of knowledge and
experience may have different perceptions of e-shopping site and social media site
satisfaction and purchase. Therefore, future research should evaluate the effect of the
individual shopper characteristics such as e-shopping experience and product knowledge on the proposed touch-point satisfaction model relationships. While this studys
results show significant moderating effects of product type, future research should
validate the findings using e-shopping sites selling other various categories of product
types operating in different cultures and countries. In addition, as this study evaluated
the effects of two customer touch points of an e-retailers e-shopping site and social
media sites, future research should evaluate the interaction effect of these two touch
points as well as the effects of other touch points and their interactions with e-shopping
and social media sites. It is important for firms to develop optimal strategy for utilizing
these multiple touch points.
Acknowledgments The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at the King
Saud University for funding the work through the Research Group Project No. RGP-011.

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