The antecedents and consequences of online relationship quality in internet purchases

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to suggest a model for predicting antecedents and consequences of relationship quality in online purchase of physical goods. Design/methodology/approach A total of 462 online buyers in Iran participated in the research by completing questionnaires. The research hypotheses were tested using structural modeling technique. Findings The results showed that website quality, online relationship bonds and reputation of seller have positive effect on online relationship quality. The results also showed that online relationship quality has positive effect on electronic word of mouth, online customer share, online customer loyalty and online customer reviews. Research limitations/implications - In this research, online relationship quality was considered as a higher-order construct including trust, commitment and satisfaction with the relationship. However, to achieve more accurate results, future researchers can investigate the separate impact of each of the relationship quality dimensions (commitment, trust and satisfaction) on the consequences of online relationship quality. Practical implications - This research provides a wide series of antecedents and consequences of online relationship quality for online stores community so that, through being aware of them, internet stores could choose a suitable guideline to sustain their relationship with online customers and, ultimately, obtain customers' participation in creating value and strengthening their competitive status. Originality/value This paper proposes a more comprehensive model of the antecedents and consequences of relationship quality in online purchases for the first time, and it demonstrates which factors strengthen online relationship quality as well as indicates which customer reactions online relationship quality can reinforce and which consequences it can provide for internet shops.