Determinants of Consumers´ E-Loyalty: A Cross-Channel Perspective

Web sites are acknowledged as essential to the marketing of brick-and-mortar companies in the maturing e-commerce marketplace. Knowledge of how to position these companies´ Websites effectively is thus regarded as essential by scholars and practitioners. By investigating consumer cross-channel behavior, the current study was designed to reveal determinants of consumers´ e-loyalty. Two hundred and eighty randomly selected consumers from a top international brick-and-mortar company´s customer database participated in an online survey, findings from which indicated that a high level of consumers´ brand loyalty in the retail channel not only directly enhances consumers´ trust of the same brand´s Website, but also directly increases consumers´ online brand familiarity and perceived brand reputation, which reinforce consumers´ trust in the same brand´s Website. Consequently, consumers´ e-loyalty toward the same brand´s Website is also enhanced. The implications should enable managers to develop Website positioning strategies that leverage their existing brand power in the retail channel.