Value, quality, purchasing habits and repurchase intention in B2C: differences between frequent and occasional purchaser

This study proposes an integrative model for business-to-consumer (B2C) repurchase intention in electronic commerce, based on Bhattacherjee's Expectation-Confirmation Theory (ECT), which has been extended using Cronin's satisfaction marketing models -with particular focus on quality, value and satisfaction, as well as their second order effects-. The research also takes into account customers' purchasing habits, offering a comparative analysis of the behavioral differences between frequent and non-frequent online shoppers. The research model includes the conceptualization of both value and quality as formative, second order constructs, together with variables accounting for satisfaction, confirmation, perceived usefulness and purchasing habits. This model has been tested with data from telephone surveys to 536 Spanish online shoppers. The statistical technique chosen for empirical validation of the model was Partial Least Squares (PLS), and the analysis was performed for both types of buyers -frequent and non-frequent shoppers-. After the testing and validation of the model, a multi-group analysis with a parametric approach based on permutations was performed in order to assess the differences between the two groups. The results from the study confirm the validity of the proposed model, which accounts for more than seventy percent of the variance explained for repurchase intention, a larger value than the one from previous studies. The main findings stress the relevance of satisfaction and purchasing habits as main determinants of online repurchase intention, as well as the importance of the confirmation process as generator of satisfaction and as an antecedent of perceived usefulness. Other relevant findings are the non-significant path in the direct relation between quality and satisfaction for both types of consumers-which is instead mediated by the value variable-and the significant influence of perceived usefulness on repurchase intention only for the group of occasional purchasers, or "new-comers"-consumers at early adoption stages-. The study also offers important practical implications and guidelines for marketers, scholars and management, which are discussed in the final section. The main implication for practice derived from the results found in this research is the need to clearly identify and separate frequent and occasional buyers in order to correctly target those two segments using the most appropriate strategies by focusing on how to deliver value and confirmation of expectations for both types of online shoppers. Indeed, if a company's goal is to increase the number of new customers, It will have to focus on delivering perceived usefulness to their customers. If, on the other hand, the company aims towards building loyalty and developing retention strategies focused on the most profitable customers and frequent purchasers, they must direct their efforts towards maximizing satisfaction; this maximization must be achieved by maintaining both high quality standards, able to generate a perceived value for customers, and delivering an overall shopping experience which lives up or surpasses customers' expectations.