How Can the Retail Web Site Enhance Customers loyalty? An Exploration of Web Site Attachment

The adoption of attachment construct in marketing literature is relatively recent. There have been some research efforts in the marketing literature that investigate whether and how individuals form close relationships with possessions, goods and brands. However, the role of attachment in marketing relationships developed via Internet remains an unexplored area. In the web site context, there is evidence that satisfaction leads to brand loyalty and an emotional connection between the web site users with the web site. This study aims to understand the meaning of web site attachment from the consumer's point of view, and uncover the effects of consumers' web site attachment on web site loyalty. We propose to investigate the antecedents of web site attachment and the moderating role of attachment anxiety (i.e. a personality trait) in the attachment-loyalty link. This study synthesizes the existing psychological and marketing theories on attachment and e-loyalty research and illuminates a new way to understand the emotional connection between consumers and the retail web sites.