قرارداد خوب آنلاین: اثرات کسب و ارزش معامله روی رضایت الکترونیکی و وفاداری الکترونیکی

Relying on Thaler's exchange theory, this research examines the unique effects of perceived transaction and acquisition values on consumer e-satisfaction and e-loyalty in an e-commerce setting, along with the moderating role of product/ service category. Overall, consumers' perceptions of transaction value lead to their e-dissatisfaction. Hence, obtaining a good deal does not have the same meaning and influence depending on the type of buying trip (exploratory or goal-directed). These results confirm Thaler's exchange theory's usefulness to analyzing the impact of perceived value on e-satisfaction and e-loyalty. Additionally, in a managerial perspective, this research underlines the importance of adapting promotional strategies to online contexts, since online purchase experience improves when there is an alignment between the customer's goals and the e-tailer’s online offering.

Web-based commercial transaction channels continue to grow, such that approximately 45% of Internet users in the United States and Europe purchase goods online (Kollmann et al., 2012). Modern consumers are continuously exposed to promotions and price deals through companies' websites and e-mail campaigns. Pricewaterhousecoopers estimates that in 2010, the Internet sector represented 14.9% of total advertising expenses (or $61.8 billion)1. Yet these deals also have encouraged consumers to compare real-time offers and prices on the Internet and to become “smarter shoppers”. Many consumers then have a greater tendency to invest considerable time and effort in seeking and utilizing promotion-related information in order to achieve price savings (Mano and Elliott, 1997, p. 504). In such a context, consumer loyalty is difficult to achieve, although competition online demands that companies retain their online buyers (Reichheld and Schefter, 2000). E-tailers have then two contradictory objectives: on the one hand, they must provide smart shoppers with day-to-day sales promotions to increase revenues in the short run; on the other hand, they face difficulties in making these smart shoppers loyal. Competition is just a click forward, information searching costs are very low, and consumers are used to seeking deals, discounts and bargains. Many studies have examined the role of prices in creating value and stimulating purchases (Lichtenstein et al., 1990 and Grewal et al., 1998). However, there are still not enough empirical studies in online environments which examine the potential effects of price deals on relational outcomes, such as consumer satisfaction and loyalty. An important question remains unresolved: will consumers be really satisfied and loyal to their e-tailer when they obtain good bargains online? This research aims at answering this question. There are two main objectives. First, according to Thaler's exchange theory (Thaler, 1983, Thaler, 1985 and Lichtenstein et al., 1990), we distinguish acquisition value (Utility of Purchased Product—Purchase Price) from transaction value (Internal Reference Price—Purchase Price) and investigate their respective impacts on consumer satisfaction and loyalty in an e-commerce setting. Two key cognitive processes related to prices are underlined. On the one hand, consumers assess the net gain (or tradeoff) obtained from acquiring, possessing or using a product or a service (Monroe and Krishnan, 1985). Zeithaml, 1988 (p.14) especially focuses on this acquisition value and examines “the consumer's overall assessment of the utility of a product based on perceptions of what is received and what is given”. This product/ service value influences relational outcomes, such as consumer satisfaction and loyalty (Fornell et al., 1996). On the other hand, consumers compare the purchase price to the r reference price held in their memory and obtain a transaction value (Grewal et al., 1998), which may lead to hedonic and ego-related benefits from taking advantage of a good price deal. This double aspect of transactions has been largely documented in Thaler's exchange theory (Thaler, 1983, Thaler, 1985 and Xia et al., 2010) and in smart shopping literature (Schindler, 1989 and Atkins and Kim, 2012). However, relatively few studies investigate the role of perceived transaction value on consumer satisfaction (for exception, Mano and Elliott, 1997 and Darke and Dahl, 2003) and, to the best of our knowledge, no study simultaneously tests its impact both on consumer satisfaction and loyalty in an online environment. Second, we argue that acquisition and transaction values do not have the same influence on e-satisfaction independent of the type of purchase made by consumers. In online environments, each type of product involves a specific purchase strategy and information search, which can be either goal-directed or exploratory (Moe, 2003). Previous empirical studies on transaction value or smart shopping only consider convenience or specialty products in traditional retailing, that is to say, products which imply a routine or goal-directed search (Mano and Elliott, 1997 and Darke and Dahl, 2003). A smart shopper is often viewed as a consumer who has a planned purchase in mind and who will use his/her personal knowledge and skills to buy the preferred product at the lowest price. But, with the development of the internet, information costs are much lower, price comparisons require less time, efforts and energy, and consumers are likely to browse and explore web offerings, without even considering an immediate purchase (Moe, 2003). Therefore, some purchases are not goal-directed but undirected and stimulus-driven, resulting from impulse buying. “Obtaining good deals” might not have the same meanings to consumers in this specific situation. We therefore argue that the type of online purchase (goal-directed vs. exploratory) significantly moderates the influence of acquisition and transaction values on e-satisfaction. Overall this research makes two main contributions. From a theoretical perspective, it highlights the importance of Thaler's exchange theory, which distinguishes acquisition value from transaction value, to understand the effects of price perception on online buyers' satisfaction and loyalty. Additionally, from a managerial perspective, this research underlines the importance of adapting promotional strategies to online contexts. In the next section, we specify the key concepts underlying our research and present the conceptual framework, which includes acquisition and transaction value, e-satisfaction, and e-loyalty. After we describe our research method, sample, and data analysis approach, we present the results and discuss their implications for e-commerce theory and practice. We conclude with some main limitations and directions for further research.

Our results indicate that, contrary to our expectations and to prior research, perceived transaction value does not positively relate to consumer e-satisfaction. Surprisingly, obtaining good deals can lead to consumer e-dissatisfaction, especially when consumers buy shopping products/ services. Consistently with prior research, delivering a high acquisition value remains a prerequisite to enhance consumer satisfaction and loyalty in online environments as in offline ones. This research also highlights that the type of purchase matters. Obtaining a good deal does not have the same meaning and influence depending on the type of buying trip (exploratory or goal-directed). While most studies on transaction value and smart shopping concern convenience or specialty goods/ services (Mano and Elliott, 1997 and Darke and Dahl, 2003), this research assumes that shopping products/ services are specific and deserve further investigations. Though promising, this research has limitations. Firstly, it was conducted on a convenience sample, which limits the external validity of our results. Additional research with larger samples is needed to increase result validity and to further investigate the potential moderating role of the type of purchase. Another difficulty we encountered lies in the product/service classification. Depending on the consumption context, products/ services may belong to one category or another. Third, operationalizing transaction and acquisition values, we mainly focus on their underlying cognitive processes (Internal Reference Price—Purchase Price, or Utility of Purchased Product—Purchase Price). Thus, we do not capture their affective outcomes (fairness, hedonic, sense of accomplishment, pride, etc.), even though these might have a mediating effect between the cognitive processes and consumer satisfaction. This research paves the way for future investigations. Additional research should investigate which psychological processes best explain the possible boomerang effect of transaction value in e-commerce. In our discussion, we suggest different explanations regarding the negative aspect of transaction value, especially when the purchase stems from exploratory behaviors (shopping products/ services): 1) endowment effects due to the consumers' unwillingness to pay for products at the market price in e-commerce; 2) consumers' inferences about product/ service quality based on prices and discounts obtained; 3) causal attributions of responsibilities for the “good deal” to the consumer's skills, to luck or to the e-tailer; 4) consumer's regrets resulting from real-time decisions and impulse buying stimulated by e-tailers manipulative practices; 5) transactional strategies (promotional pressure, intrusion, etc.) which can be counter-productive regarding relational outcomes; 6) social comparisons between consumers who can easily share feelings and information about prices on opinion platforms and, thus, create an equity issue. This research has theoretical contributions, since it investigates the effects of both acquisition and transaction values on satisfaction and loyalty in different purchase situations (exploratory or goal-directed) and in an e-commerce setting. But the point is that it particularly urges the need for further research to better understand the possible long-term boomerang effect of discounts and price deals in online environments.