The effects of online shopping attributes on satisfaction-purchase intention link: A longitudinal study

Attributes of online satisfaction are dynamic. Specifically, it remains to be examined how online shopping attributes empirically affect changes in satisfaction that leads to repurchase behaviours over time and why. The present study develops a theoretical framework for conceptualizing satisfaction with temporal effects and empirically tests it using longitudinal data from 219 online customers. The results indicate that the relationship between attribute-level evaluations and satisfaction, which has only been examined in terms of predictors of satisfaction in prior literature, is dynamic and changes over time. Changed attributes (particularly convenience and site design) might signal an opportunity to capture the dynamics of attribute-level evaluations over time. Furthermore, the findings reveal significant temporal effects of satisfaction and purchase intention at time point T on satisfaction and purchase intention at time point T+1. The results suggest that temporal effects occur as a diagnostic function of a previous attribute rating of a subsequent satisfaction evaluation and the consumer's level of subjective knowledge.