Understanding the Repurchase Abandonment Process of Consumers in the Online Environment: Integrating Dissatisfaction and Distrust

Abstract

This study investigates the consumer repurchase abandonment mechanism in the online environment. The proposed repurchase abandonment model was built by integrating the distrust formation process into expectation-disconfirmation theory, which was based only on the dissatisfaction formation process. This study identifies that dissatisfaction and distrust are more affected by disconfirmation than pre-expectation. Therefore, it is confirmed that a recency effect is effective in the online repurchase abandonment context. This study also identifies that distrust is a trigger of dissatisfaction, which means that distrust should take precedence over dissatisfaction to prevent consumers’ repurchase abandonment behaviors. Therefore, e-vendors should regard instant trust means such as reputation and trust seals as matters of the highest priority. The proposed model could be a useful foundation for e-vendors to establish a strategy for preventing consumer exit after first purchase.

KEYWORDS:

• disconfirmation
• dissatisfaction
• distrust
• expectation
• repurchase abandonment

Notes

*Research using EDT.

*Empirical research.

*Data in Korea Internet and Security Agency (2011).