Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 1436–1447

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Journal of Business Research

Customer loyalty to a commercial website: Descriptive meta-analysis of the empirical

literature and proposal of an integrative model
Elissar Toufaily a,⁎, Line Ricard b,⁎⁎, Jean Perrien b, 1
a
Department of Marketing, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada G1V 0A6
b
Department of Marketing, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Canada H2X 3X2

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The growing number of academic studies about online customer loyalty shows that diversity, if not divergence,
Received 1 May 2011 exists regarding the measurement and conceptualization of online loyalty. By multiplying the theoretical foun-
Received in revised form 1 December 2011 dations for the study of online loyalty, researchers have identified different determinants of online loyalty and
Accepted 1 January 2012
different impacts on business relationships. Considering this theoretical and conceptual diversity, the purpose
Available online 11 July 2012
of this paper is to systematically review and summarize the literature dealing with loyalty to a commercial
Keywords:
website. Specifically, the goal is to realize a descriptive meta-analysis of the empirical literature focusing on
Online loyalty the conceptualization, measurement, antecedents, and consequences of e-loyalty, and to provide an integrative
Online retention model for these antecedents and consequences. This framework provides us with a cohesive view of online cus-
Customer loyalty tomer loyalty and helps identify potential unexplored research opportunities in this area. The paper ends with a
Descriptive meta-analysis research agenda for future studies.
© 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The concept of customer loyalty occupies a central place in marketing.
Customer loyalty, as a field of research, remains a primary interest in the
academic community. Review of the literature shows that research in
customer loyalty focuses primarily on loyalty to a brand or product
(e.g., Aaker, 1996; Uncles, Dowling, & Hammond, 2003), loyalty to a
store (e.g., Corstjens & Lal, 2000) and loyalty to an organization (Brown
& Peterson, 1993). Loyalty in the context of services constitutes a more
specific area of research, particularly in terms of operationalization
(e.g., Rundle-Thiele & Bennett, 2001).
The conceptualization of loyalty evolves from a behavioral ap-
proach, defining and measuring loyalty by repeat purchase behaviors
(Frank, 1967; McConnell, 1968), to a cognitive approach, focusing pri-
marily on the attitudinal dimensions of loyalty (Day, 1969; Lalaberba
& Marzusky, 1973), to a composite approach, which shows that
⁎ Correspondence to: E. Toufaily, Université Laval, Department of Marketing, 2325
street de la Terrasse, Quebec, Canada G1V 0A6. Tel.: + 1 418 656 213x3513.
⁎⁎ Correspondence to: L. Ricard, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM), Department
of Marketing, 315 Sainte-Catherine East, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2X 3X2. Tel.: +1 514
987 3000x6809.
E-mail addresses: Elissar.toufaily@fsa.ulaval.ca (E. Toufaily), Ricard.line@uqam.ca
(L. Ricard).
1
Professor Perrien sadly passed away in November of 2007. He was an inspiring col-
laborator in the process of the authors. The authors sincerely acknowledge the anony-
mous reviewers for their constructive recommendations that enhanced the first
version of the paper, and also acknowledge the Chair of Financial Services Management
(UQÀM) for its financial support that made this study possible.
attitudinal preference and repeat purchase behavior are two conditions
essential to the concept of loyalty (Dick & Basu, 1994; Jacoby & Kyner,
1973). From this latter approach, Jacoby and Kyner (1973) define
brand loyalty using six necessary and collectively sufficient conditions.
According to the authors, brand loyalty is: a biased (i.e., nonrandom) re-
sponse; a behavioral response (i.e., purchase); expressed over time; by
one or more decision-making units; where several alternatives are pos-
sible; and brand loyalty is a function of a psychological process (evalua-
tion of alternatives, decision-making, etc.). True brand loyalty means
meeting these six conditions (Jacoby & Kyner, 1973). Recently, investi-
gators adopted a processual approach (McMullan & Gilmore, 2003;
Oliver, 1999) to conceptualize loyalty. The basic principle of this concep-
tualization is that loyalty develops in a sequential manner following a
process consisting of four phases (i.e., cognition, affection, conation
and action) and this occurs despite the influence of situational factors
and marketing actions.
On the other hand, the emergence of the paradigm of exchange via
the Internet increases the need to develop a theoretical and empirical
corpus that leads to a better understanding of the scale of trading within
this evolving context (Allagui & Temessek, 2004). Increasingly, more re-
search focuses on the concept of loyalty within the context of electronic
commerce, or e-loyalty. These studies appear as articles in a variety of
journals and conference proceedings in the fields of marketing, informa-
tion systems, management and psychology. The review of these articles
shows that diversity, if not divergence, exists regarding the measurement
and conceptualization of online loyalty. By multiplying the theoretical
foundations to study online loyalty, researchers identify different deter-
minants of online loyalty and different impacts on business relationships
(Luarn & Lin, 2003; Ribbink, Van Riel, Liljander, & Streukens, 2004).

0148-2963/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.05.011
 E. Toufaily et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 1436–1447
Considering this theoretical and conceptual diversity, this paper sys-
tematically reviews and summarizes the literature dealing with loyalty
to a commercial website. Specifically, the goal is to realize a descriptive
meta-analysis of the empirical literature focusing on the conceptualiza-
tion, measurement, antecedents and consequences of e-loyalty. This arti-
cle collects and analyzes studies dealing with the notion of online loyalty
with the following objectives: to identify the various definitions and un-
derlying theories presented by the literature and propose a more precise
definition of e-loyalty; to identify the type of scales/measurements used
to study e-loyalty; to evaluate the frequency of occurrence of the differ-
ent constructs that determine e-loyalty; and to evaluate the frequency
of occurrence of the different constructs that result from e-loyalty.
This article proposes a general model that integrates various ante-
cedents and consequences in the literature, a model that would help
improve the understanding of the academic and managerial communi-
ty of the factors that affect the development of online loyalty as well as
the consequences of that loyalty. Also, this study helps identify potential
unexplored research opportunities in this area.
To achieve these objectives, this paper first outlines the methodolo-
gy. The second section describes the results and the literature analysis.
The third section presents the integrative framework of the antecedents
and consequences of online loyalty. Finally, the last section addresses the
discussion and offers a research agenda for future studies in this field.
2. Methodology
Because the article is a descriptive meta-analysis (Glass, 1978), the
investigation begins by specifying the procedure used in the selection
of the relevant references. This allows the reader to correctly position
the magnitude of the results.
The validity of a meta-analysis depends on the integration of the
findings of individual researchers (Swan, Bowers, & Richardson, 1999).
To accomplish this meta-analysis, this study conducted an exhaustive
and systematic electronic search, using ABI/Inform database (a database
of 1800 journals), based on the themes appropriate to the thematic of
this research: online loyalty, electronic loyalty, Internet loyalty, website
loyalty and online retention. Sixty-nine references appeared, and each
one analyzed to ensure the relevance of the study. This study eliminated
those references that did not match the objectives of the meta-analysis.
This study also searched for literature in marketing and electronic com-
merce journals including the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer
Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Electronic Commerce in
Organizations, and others. In addition, this investigation consulted and
added references from doctoral theses, master's theses, unpublished re-
search papers from digital libraries and conference proceedings from the
American Marketing Association, and the Administrative Sciences Asso-
ciation of Canada.
The investigation selected 44 scientific studies in the area of online
loyalty. All studies focus primarily on customer loyalty in the context
of electronic commerce, and include information relating to the differ-
ent goals of the research (i.e., antecedents and consequences, measures
and theories).
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
2000 2001 2002 2003
Fig. 1. Number of studies per year.
1437
3. Characteristics of the studies
To present the profile of studies focused on the theme of online cus-
tomer loyalty, this investigation classifies the 44 selected studies
according to year of publication (Fig. 1); to the type of study; the type
of relationship (i.e., B2B, B2C or B2B and B2C); the dyad specifica-
tions (i.e., emphasis on the buyer, emphasis on the seller or empha-
sis on the buyer and the seller); the category of product/service; the
object of loyalty; and the geographic location of the research
(Table 1).
Fig. 1 shows that the concern for online customer loyalty began only
in the early 2000s. The relatively recent emergence of electronic com-
merce, around the mid 1990s, explains this. Since the beginning of the
21st century, customer loyalty to a website, to an online service, and/
or to a virtual seller/retailer is a primary objective for research.
Table 1 shows that among the 44 studies, 38 appeared in scientific
journals (see appendix A), two were conference proceedings, and four
were essays—two doctoral theses from two American universities and
two master's theses from a Canadian university.
To identify the different scales of measurement of e-loyalty, all are
empirical quantitative studies. The studies focus mostly on only one as-
pect of the dyad—the buyer (42/44).
Only one study analyses the vendor's perception (Lawson-Body &
O'Keefe, 2006), and one study takes both sides of the dyad into consider-
ation (Huang, 2008). For the most part, the context of the studies links
to the “B2C” relationship. Contrary to the expectations of researchers,
and despite the significant development of electronic commerce in a
business-to- business (B2B) context, few studies on electronic loyalty
were noteworthy in this sector.
With regard to the products/service categories of the studies, dura-
ble products are the most commonly chosen subject of research. In
addition, the service industry is based on new technologies, mostly
in the tourism and financial sectors. Furthermore, the studies general-
ly focus on loyalty to the online retailer, online store or online vendor
(24/44), without specifying whether the business is strictly virtual or
virtual with a physical presence. Two studies focus on customer loyalty to
a strictly virtual business, and more specifically, loyalty to a virtual bank
(Bhattacherjee, 2001; Floh & Treiblmaier, 2006). Eleven studies focus on
loyalty to a retailer's website, but not to the retailer itself. Table 1 also
shows that North American studies are the most prevalent in literature
on online loyalty (20/44), followed by East Asian studies (11/44).
A significant number of articles deal with online loyalty in recent
years, especially in the B2C context (42 studies). They are mostly North
American and focus on technological products or books, or on services
(travel or banking). The next section shows the results of the analysis
of these studies.
4. Analysis of the literature and results
Part of this analysis examines the theoretical foundations of online
loyalty studies. Then the analysis focuses on the concept of e-loyalty
based on the different conceptualizations found in various literature,
and proposes a definition of e-loyalty specific to this paper. Finally,
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
1438 E. Toufaily et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 1436–1447

Table 1
Characteristics of the studies.

Type of study Type of relationship Dyad specification Product/service category Emphasis of loyalty Geographic location
of the study

Articles from scientific journals B2C (42/44) Buyer (42/44) Durable goods (24/44) Online retailer/store/seller North-America (20/44)
(38/44) —Computers/IT/software/ (24/44) USA (15)
Master's theses (2/44) B2B (2/44) Seller (1/44) accessories (12) Strictly virtual retailer (2/44) Canada (5)
PhD theses (2/44) Buyer and seller (1/44) —Books/CDs/videos (9) Multichannel retailer (4/44)
Conference proceedings (2/44) —Sporting goods/clothing/ Website (14/44) Asia (11/44)
Taiwan (8)
cosmetics (3) South Korea (1)
India (1)
Services (17/44) Malaysia (1)
—Travel/flights/reservations (8)
—Financial services (7) Europe (6/44)
—Search engines (2) Australia (1/44)
Africa (1/44)
Consumer goods (3/44) Cross-country (3/44)
—Grocery/medicine (3) Non‐specified (2/44)

this study analyzes the measurement scales of e-loyalty and offers a
critical analysis of the antecedents and consequences of e-loyalty.
5. Underlying theories relevant to online customer loyalty
Researchers use different theoretical foundations to study online
loyalty. Table 2 shows research on customer loyalty in the context of
electronic commerce divided into five main theoretical foundations.
However, the dominant theories in the field are those related to rela-
tionship marketing, such as Morgan and Hunt's (1994) commitment‐
trust theory, Oliver's (1997, 1999) satisfaction and loyalty models, the
quality-satisfaction-loyalty chain (Anderson & Mittal, 2000; Oliver,
1997), and Rusbult and Farrell's (1983) investment model in social
psychology.
This combination of theories and orientations suggests various ways
of approaching online loyalty. However, analysis of Table 2 shows that

Table 2
Underlying theories and references to online customer loyalty.

Theories Frequency Studies

Relationship marketing and social psychology theories 20 Anderson and Srinivasan (2003); Balabanis et al. (2006); Doong et al. (2008); Floh and Treiblmaier (2006);
Gefen (2002); Grondin (2003); Harris and Goode (2004); Horppu et al. (2008); Liang and al. (2008);
Ribbink et al. (2004); Shankar et al. (2003); Srinivasan et al. (2002); Wallace et al. (2004); Yang and
Peterson (2004)
Trust-Commitment Model (Morgan & Hunt, 1994) Li et al. (2006); Luarn and Lin (2003)
Quality-satisfaction-loyalty chain (Anderson & Mittal, Gummerus et al. (2004)
2000; Oliver, 1997)
Quality-value-loyalty model (Parasuraman & Grewal, Bergeron (2001)
2000)
Costabile's (2001) model Donio et al. (2006)
The development of interpersonal relations investment Li et al. (2006)
model (Rusbult & Farrell, 1983)

Electronic commerce 11 Floh and Treiblmaier (2006); Harris and Goode (2004); Huang (2008); Ponnavolu (2000); Ribbink et al.
(2004); Sultani and Gharbi (2008); Srinivasan et al. (2002)
Telepresence (Hoffman & Novak, 1996) Tarafdar and Zhang (2008)
SERVQUAL scale (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1994) Gefen (2002); Kassim and Abdullah (2008); Van Riel et al. (2001)
Consumer behavior 8
Bagozzi's (1992) model Chiou (2004)
Post-purchase behavior (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974) Yun and Good, (2007)
Expectation–confirmation theory (Oliver, 1997) Bhattacherjee (2001); Hsu et al. (2006); Wallace et al. (2004)
Consumer life cycle theory (Cutler & Sterne, 2000) Van Meer (2006)
Means-end chain theory (Gutman, 1982) Chen (2003)
The consumer experience concept (Carù & Cova, 2003) Lavigne and Graf (2007)
Service theories (Gronroos, 1990; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & 5 Allagui and Temessek (2004); Jiang and Rosenbloom (2005); Semeijn et al. (2005); Van Riel et al.
Berry, 1991) (2001); Wallace et al. (2004)
Information system theories 3
Theory of reasoned action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; Luarn and Lin (2003)
Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980)
Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989) Bhattacherjee (2001)
Theory of planned behaviour (Taylor & Todd, 1995) Hsu et al. (2006)
Cognitive models (Foxall, 1995) 2 Wang et al. (2006a, 2006b)
Organizational theories 2
Inter-organizational relations and networks theories Lawson-Body and O'Keefe (2006)
(Christiansen, Andrews, & Bower, 1978)
Organizational behavior (Hertzberg, Mausner, & Choi et al. (2006)
Snyderman, 1959)
International marketing 2 Cyr et al. (2005); Cyr et al. (2008)
Culture (Hofstede, 1984)

The sum of frequencies is superior to 44 since more than one theory can be used in a single research.
 E. Toufaily et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 1436–1447
the literature neglects certain potentially interesting theories, such as
Csikszentmihalyi's Flow theory in psychology, which describes the
most positive feelings and the most enjoyable experiences possible in
human lives as “the bottom line of existence” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1982,
p. 13). Only one conceptual study (Ilsever, Cyr, & Parent, 2006), inte-
grates the Flow theory and links the concept to online loyalty. Certain
researchers advocate the use of the Flow concept as a means of achieving
a better understanding of consumer behavior on the Web and e-loyalty
(Cheung, Chan, & Limayem, 2005). Furthermore, online loyalty litera-
ture could also benefit from studies relying on Roger's (1962, 1983) the-
ory of diffusion of innovations in information systems to observe which
factors influence online loyalty within each category of adopters.
Future studies also need to reflect cultural differences (i.e., Hofstede,
1984; Schwartz, 1990) and international marketing in the development
of online loyalty, especially in the B2B context where literature is limited.
Researchers should try to explore new theories and new models and in-
vestigate online customer loyalty from different perspectives and angles.
6. Definition of online customer loyalty
When applying the concept of loyalty to the virtual market, ques-
tions regarding its definition and measurement become more complex
and more sophisticated (Gommans, Krishnan, & Scheffold, 2001). De-
spite the importance of online loyalty to the success of businesses, few
publications focus on the conceptualization of online customer loyalty.
Most research studies in this area lean toward practical suggestions
about how to develop strategies to increase loyalty to a commercial
website (Reichheld & Schefter, 2000; Smith, 2000). Luarn and Lin
(2003) suggest that the theoretical foundations of loyalty are almost
identical to those of traditional loyalty to an online service provider.
The concept of online loyalty extends the traditional concept of brand
loyalty to the consumer's online behavior. For Corstjens and Lal (2000),
e-loyalty is sometimes analogous to the concept of loyalty to a store
through repeat visit behavior and the purchase of various brand items
in the store. Gefen (2002) states that customer online loyalty means con-
vincing customers to return to the website and make further purchases
on the same site.
In fact, only 13 studies out of 44 propose a definition of online loyalty
(Table 3). These definitions reflect the behavioral and attitudinal di-
mensions of loyalty as Oliver (1999) or Jacoby and Kyner (1973) define
them. Some authors define loyalty as an intention to maintain the be-
havior on the Web, such as the intention to revisit, reorder or repurchase
(Cyr, Kindra, & Dash, 2008; Doong, Wang, & Shih, 2008; Gefen, 2002;
Luarn & Lin, 2003). Others define this loyalty as an attitudinal
Table 3
Definitions of online customer loyalty.
Authors
Tarafdar and Zhang (2008)
Cyr et al. (2008)
Doong et al. (2008)
Luarn and Lin (2003)
Sultani and Gharbi (2008); Huang (2008); Anderson and Srinivasan (2003) E-loyalty is the customer's favorable attitude toward an electronic business resulting in repeat
Srinivasan, Anderson, and Ponnavolu (2002)
Liang et al. (2008)
Wallace et al. (2004)
Gefen (2002)
Grondin (2003)
Bergeron (2001)
1439
preference, or psychological attachment, accompanied by repeat behav-
ior (Anderson & Srinivasan, 2003; Bergeron, 2001; Liang, Chen, & Wang,
2008; Wallace, Giese, & Johnson, 2004).
Oliver (1999) states the importance of including the assessment of
consumers' beliefs, affections, and intentions within the attitudinal
structure of consumers in studies on loyalty. According to this belief, a
study should analyze the assessment of brand's attributes (beliefs) in re-
lation to competitive offerings; accompany this evaluation with an emo-
tional preference of the brand (favorable attitude); and the consumer
should develop a strong intention (conation) to purchase the brand
compared to other alternatives. Characterizing this intention is a deeper
level of commitment (Hennig-Thurau, Gwinner, & Gremier, 2002).
Different phases of loyalty must therefore exist. Cognitive loyalty fo-
cuses on brand performance aspects. Affective loyalty focuses on emo-
tions and brand preference. Conative loyalty is the customer's intention
to make a repeat purchase of the brand. Action loyalty, or the act of loy-
alty, relates to the conversion of intentions to action (i.e., purchase, visit),
accompanied by a willingness to overcome impediments to such action
(Oliver, 1999). Therefore, loyalty is developed in a cognitive, emotional,
and then conative sense followed by action, despite the influence of sit-
uational factors and marketing activities that competitive companies un-
dertake (e.g., promotional campaigns). However, an electronic
environment does not as clearly define the cognitive dimension (i.e.,
the belief that the website is the best in the chosen category and best
meets the customer's expectations in terms of information and offer)
within the proposed definitions of online loyalty.
This article proposes to define online customer loyalty, taking into
account Oliver's (1997, 1999) theory and basing the definition on the
relational perspective of loyalty. From a relational perspective, online
loyalty represents a force that leads the customer to resist switching
brand, even if a good reason supports change. Thus, online customer
loyalty is “the customer's willingness to maintain a stable relationship
in the future and to engage in a repeat behavior of visits and/or pur-
chases of online products/service, using the company's website as the
first choice among alternatives, supported by favorable beliefs and
positive emotions toward the online company, despite situational in-
fluences and marketing efforts that lead to transfer behavior”.
7. Measurements of online customer loyalty
Many scales measure loyalty. Some scales measure loyalty to a brand
(Aaker, 1997; Fournier, 1998), some to a store or a retailer (Cunningham,
1961) while others measure loyalty to a service (Gremler & Brown,
1996). Scales that analyze online loyalty to a website, to an online
Definition
Website loyalty is defined as the likelihood of repeated visits by the same individual (based on
Armstrong & Hagel, 1996)
E-loyalty is the intention to revisit a website or to consider purchasing from it in the future
E-loyalty is the intention to make further purchases from the same online seller in the future
(based on Johnson et al., 2006)
behavior (based on Gremler, 1995)
E-loyalty is a consumer's psychological attachment and attitudinal advocacy toward the online
service provider— accompanied with the consumer's willingness to make an effort in
maintaining the customer–firm relationship.
Customer loyalty to an online retailer is an attitudinal and behavioral preference to alternatives
offered by other suppliers.
Customer loyalty is the customer's intention to continue doing business with the same online
retailer and to recommend this retailer to other clients (Zeithaml & al., 1996)
E-loyalty is the degree to which a consumer is willing to repurchase from a preferred online
retailer.
Loyalty is a biased (i.e. due to a preference) behavior (i.e. purchase) expressed over time, by one
or more decision makers, where several alternatives are available and resulting from a
psychological process (evaluation of alternatives, decision). (Applying the definition of Jacoby &
Kyner, 1973).

Table 4
Measurements of online customer loyalty.
Studies
Yun and Good (2007); Lee and Overby (2004)
Ponnavolu (2000); Anderson and Srinivasan (2003); Behavioral loyalty with a
Srinivasan, Anderson & Ponnavolu (2002)
Yang and Peterson (2004); Chiou (2004),
Floh and Treiblmaier (2006); Bhattacherjee (2001) (attitudinal)
Harris and Goode (2004)
Construct
Behavioral loyalty
positive attitude
Intentional loyalty
Cognitive, affective, conative, I believe that using XYZ.com is preferable to other companies
and action loyalty
1440
Items used Sources
— How many times have you made a purchase from your favorite online retailer in the last Sirgy & al., 1991
12 months?
— How much did you spend at your favorite online retailer in the last 12 months?
— How many people have you referred your favorite online retailer to?
— I rarely consider changing for another retail website. Gremler (1995); Zeithaml, Berry & Parasuraman
— As long as the present service continues, I doubt that I will change website (1996)
E. Toufaily et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 1436–1447
— I try to use the website whenever I make a purchase.
— When I need to make a purchase, this website is my first choice.
— I like to use this website
— For me; this website is the best retail website to do business with.
— I think this is my preferred retail website.
— I would say positive things about the company to other people. Mols (1998), Pritchard et al. (1992); Mathieson
— I recommend the company to those who seek my advice on such topics. (1991)
— I would encourage friends and relatives to use this company.
— I would point out positive messages about the company on certain message boards on the
Internet.
— I intend to continue doing business with the present company.
— I intend to do more business with the company.
Oliver (1997, 1999)
I believe that XYZ.com has the best offers at the moment
I believe that the features of XYZ.com are badly suited to what I like
I prefer the service of XYZ.com to the service of competitors
I have a negative attitude to XYZ.com
I dislike the XYZ.com offering
I like the features of XYZ.com services and offers
I like the performance and services of the XYZ.com
I have repeatedly found XYZ.com is better than others
I nearly always find the offer of XYZ.com inferior
I have repeatedly found the features of XYZ.com inferior
Repeatedly, the performance of XYZ.com is superior to that of competitor firms
I would always continue to choose XYZ.com before others
I will always continue to choose the features of XYZ.com before others
I would always continue to favor the offerings of XYZ.com before others
I will always choose to use XYZ.com in preference to competitor firms
 E. Toufaily et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 1436–1447
product/service or to an online store, are based on measures that
existed largely in an offline context. However, do current brand loyalty
measurements apply in an online environment?
To answer this question, this study performed an analysis of various
scales of measurement used in the 44 studies on e-loyalty. Given the dif-
ferent measures, Table 4 shows a few examples that are representative
of various scales and different constructs.
This summary shows a disparity of measurement. Some scales rely
on behavioral measurement (e.g. Yun & Good, 2007), some measure
loyalty using a psychological attitudinal approach (e.g. Yang &
Peterson, 2004) and others measure loyalty using a composite approach
that considers online loyalty as a multi-faceted construct that takes into
account the attitudinal and behavioral components (Choi, Kim, Kim, &
Kim, 2006; Donio, Massari, & Passiante, 2006; Ribbink et al., 2004). As
Allagui and Temessek (2004) explain, online loyalty is composed of
both the behavior and the attitude of the Web surfer towards the
website. In fact, behavior on the Internet is much less stable over time,
unlike behavior in the real market (Allagui & Temessek, 2004;
Sénécal, Kalczynski, & Nantel, 2005). The customer has more alterna-
tives and more information, and the cost of change is relatively low.
So behavioral loyalty on the Internet, expressed by the frequency of
visits or the average length of visits, is not sufficient to measure the
full spectrum of online loyalty (Boulaire & Mathieu, 2000). Just like
loyalty in a traditional context, attitudinal loyalty is essential for mea-
suring online loyalty because attitudinal loyalty allows us to distinguish
consumer loyalty from other forms of purchase, such as inertia (habitual
purchase and convenience) and to determine the intentional character
of the behavior.
The analysis of various measurements in the literature also shows
that within the electronic environment, the intentions of loyalty de-
termine the attitudinal dimension—such as the intention to revisit
the site, to make a purchase on that site, or to recommend the site
to others (Bhattacherjee, 2001; Chiou, 2004; Hsu, Yen, Chiu, &
Chang, 2006). Thus, the commitment to the website is nothing more
than the intention of repeat behavior (Allagui & Temessek, 2004).
However, a measurement of online loyalty based on intention or elec-
tronic repeat purchase of products/services does not encompass the
full relationship between the consumer and the online company, be-
cause this type of measurement neglects cognitions and affections.
Other behaviors are also relevant and meaningful in the measurement
of online loyalty to the website or to the brand, such as consumer resis-
tance to change, or the willingness to cooperate and remain loyal to the
brand, no matter the circumstances and incidents that occur (N'Goala,
2003).
Hence, the operational framework of online customer loyalty must
change to reflect more accurately the specifics of the interactive context
of the website (Allagui & Temessek, 2004) as well as the multi-
dimensionality of this construct (Oliver, 1999). Future measurement
scales should therefore integrate various criteria that consider tolerance
to problems and dissatisfaction, reduction-of-choice behavior, first-in-
mind attitude, negative behaviors (e.g., complaints), degree of tolerance
to price, tolerance to the adoption of innovations or new services on the
website, preference over other sites and various behavioral measures
(e.g., depth of visit, frequency of visits, relative volume of purchases
from the same website compared to others, frequency of online and off-
line recommendations, and other criteria). The manifestations of a cus-
tomer facing circumstances (i.e. dissatisfaction), or a reason to change
(i.e. an alternative proposal) provide more information on customer on-
line loyalty than situations of non-confrontation (Dubois & Laurent,
1999).
8. Determinants of online customer loyalty
Findings on the determinants of online customer loyalty cannot es-
cape diversity. By multiplying the theories, researchers identify multi-
ple antecedents of loyalty. Some of these antecedents positively or
1441
negatively affect customer loyalty to a commercial website. Based on
the synthesis of the literature, this study identifies these variables and
classifies them in five broad categories: product/service attributes, the
customer's characteristics and perceptions, the company's characteris-
tics, the website's characteristics, and finally, environmental influences
(Table 5).
The customer's characteristics and perceptions are the loyalty deter-
minants most often studied in the literature. In a virtual context, many
researchers analyzed the effect of relational variables (e.g., satisfaction,
trust, commitment) on online loyalty. Customer satisfaction, a complex
emotional response to consumer experience (Oliver, 1997), has been
the subject of 24 studies providing 28 effects, of which 25 have a signif-
icant relationship. In fact, a single study can analyse more than one re-
lationship. Many authors recognize the importance of satisfaction as a
determinant of customer loyalty (Oliver, 1999, Waddell, 1995). Bauer,
Grether, and Leach (2002) report that because of the multiple positive
effects of Internet satisfaction, companies should further develop strat-
egies for increasing online customer satisfaction, consequently improv-
ing trust, commitment and loyalty.
Trust is the second most important determinant (20 relationships in
18 studies). Synthesis of the literature shows that trust towards the site,
the brand and the information are determinants of online loyalty
(Ponnavolu, 2000; Ribbink, 2004; Huang, 2008). Donio et al. (2006)
and Li, Browne, and Wetherbe (2006) concentrate on the concept of
commitment and maintain that customer commitment and trust are
important determinants of the online loyalty.
Customer perceptions concerning the value and the utility of the
website (nine studies), switching costs to online suppliers (two studies)
and control behavior (one study) are also significant determinants of
online loyalty. The only study that analyzes the relationship between
perceived risk and online loyalty does not show significant results
(Gefen, 2002). Psychological variables such as customer attitude (Hsu
et al., 2006), innovativity, aggressiveness and inertia (Ponnavolu,
2000), encourage the development of online loyalty. However, in the
same study (Ponnavolu, 2000), hedonistic and utilitarian motivations
for Internet use show no significant influence on the customer's online
loyalty. Future research should take into account the hedonistic and
utilitarian dimensions of customer motivations on the Internet to pro-
vide a better understanding of the customer's interactive behavior
(Wolfinbarger & Gilly, 2001) and loyalty to online companies. Website
knowledge (three studies), IT experience (three studies) and traditional
versus virtual services preference (one study) are also antecedents of
online loyalty.
Many studies focus on individual factors and their impact on on-
line loyalty. However, some relevant aspects related to the customer,
such as demographics profile, lifestyle, involvement, transactional/
relational orientation and identity, are unobserved in the literature
and should be the subject of future research. Demographics were in-
cluded in some studies as control variables (Yang & Peterson, 2004).
Wallace et al. (2004), Chen (2003) and Bergeron (2001) argue that
product/service attributes, such as the quality of the product/service,
price, discounts and rewards, purchase volume, and value for money
help determine online customer loyalty. In fact, the exchange object's
attributes affect the customer's choice of an online supplier and the
building of a long-term relationship with the same supplier. However,
the literature ignores some variables related to the characteristics of
the product/service offered. Thus, the types of product, the tangibility/
intangibility feature, the ambiguity of the expected performance
(i.e. the difficulty of assessing the performance of the online product
or service) are interesting variables that future research on e-loyalty
should examine.
With regard to the characteristics of the company/seller or retailer,
the studies in this review focus on five dimensions that have a signifi-
cant impact on online loyalty. Bergeron (2001) and Lavigne and Graf
(2007) examine the first dimension, the reliability of the company
(two studies). Bergeron (2001) shows that the reliability of the virtual
1442 E. Toufaily et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 1436–1447

Table 5
Determinants of online customer loyalty.

Area of study Constructs Frequency Significant Studies

results

Customer/consumer Relationship variables

characteristics Satisfaction 28 25 Allagui and Temessek (2004); Anderson and Srinivasan (2003); Balabanis et al. (2006);
Bhattacherjee (2001); Chiou (2004); Donio et al. (2006); Doong et al. (2008);
Floh and Treiblmaier (2006); Gummerus et al. (2004); Harris and Goode (2004); Horppu et al. (2008);
Hsu et al. (2006); Jiang and Rosenbloom (2005); Kassim and Abdullah (2008); Lee and Overby (2004);
Liang et al. (2008); Luarn and Lin (2003); Ponnavolu (2000); Ribbink et al. (2004);
Semeijn et al. (2005); Shankar et al. (2003); Van Riel et al. (2001); Wallace et al. (2004);
Yang and Peterson (2004)
Trust (confidence, suspicion) 20 20 Chen (2003); Chiou (2004); Donio et al. (2006); Doong et al. (2008); Floh and Treiblmaier (2006);
Gefen (2002); Grondin (2003); Harris and Goode (2004); Horppu et al. (2008); Huang (2008);
Kassim and Abdullah (2008); Li et al. (2006); Liang et al. (2008); Luarn and Lin (2003);
Ponnavolu (2000); Ribbink et al. (2004); Semeijn et al. (2005); Wang et al. (2006a)
Commitment 4 4 Donio et al.(2006); Li et al. (2006); Luarn and Lin (2003); Wang et al. (2006a).
Attachment 1 1 Wang et al. (2006a)
Brand loyalty 1 1 Horppu et al. (2008)
Perceptions
Perceived value 9 7 Bhattacherjee (2001); Chiou (2004); Harris and Goode (2004); Luarn and Lin (2003);
Ponnavolu (2000); Sultani and Gharbi (2008); Yang and Peterson (2004)
Perceived switching cost 2 1 Balabanis et al. (2006); Gefen (2002)
Perceived risk 1 0 Hsu et al. (2006)
Perceived control behaviour 1 1 Hsu et al. (2006)
Psychological variables
Motivations 1 0 Ponnavolu (2000)
Inertia 2 2 Ponnavolu (2000)
Innovativity 1 1 Ponnavolu (2000)
Aggressiveness 1 1 Ponnavolu (2000)
Attitude 1 1 Hsu et al. (2006)
Intention of repeat behavior 2 2 Wang et al. (2006)b; Yun and Good (2007)
Relationship with technologies
Traditional versus virtual 1 0 Lawson-Body and O'Keefe (2006)
services preference
IT experience / initial contact 3 3 Horn (2004); Lawson-Body and O'Keefe (2006)
Site Knowledge 3 1 Horn (2004); Ponnavolu (2000)

Product/service Product quality 2 2 Bergeron (2001); Choi et al. (2006)

attributes Service quality 3 0 Choi et al. (2006); Lavigne and Graf (2007)
Price perception 3 2 Bergeron (2001); Doong et al. (2008); Jiang and Rosenbloom (2005)
Value for money 1 1 Chen (2003)
Discounts and rewards 1 1 Bergeron (2001)
Purchase volume 1 1 Ponnavolu (2000)

Company/seller/retailer Online retail strategy 1 0 Rundle-Thiele and Bennett (2001)

characteristics Company's ability to save 1 1 Bergeron (2001)
time for its customers
Reliability 2 1 Bergeron (2001); Lavigne and Graf (2007)
Competence 1 1 Bergeron (2001)
Support service quality 2 2 Bergeron (2001); Lavigne and Graf (2007)
IT policies 1 1 Lavigne and Graf (2007)

Website System/service quality 4 2 Choi et al. (2006); Gefen (2002); Grondin (2003)
characteristics Personalization/customization 5 5 Grondin (2003); Ponnavolu (2000); Srinivasan et al. (2002); Tarafdar and Zhang (2008)
Interactivity 4 2 Horn (2004); Ponnavolu (2000); Srinivasan et al. (2002)
Community 2 2 Ponnavolu (2000); Srinivasan et al. (2002)
Choice/content/availability/ 6 5 Bergeron (2001); Horn (2004); Ponnavolu (2000); Srinivasan et al. (2002);
selection Tarafdar and Zhang (2008)
Convenience 2 0 Ponnavolu (2000); Srinivasan et al. (2002)
Convenience 2 0 Ponnavolu (2000); Srinivasan et al. (2002)
Credibility 1 1 Ponnavolu (2000)
Quality of E-service 6 4 Gefen (2002); Grondin (2003); Huang (2008); Ponnavolu (2000); Srinivasan et al. (2002)
Purchase efficiency 1 1 Chen (2003)
Design and aesthetics 6 3 Bergeron (2001); Grondin (2003); Horn (2004)
Ease of use/navigability 5 3 Bergeron (2001); Horn (2004); Shankar et al. (2003); Tarafdar and Zhang (2008)
Brand/image presence 3 2 Horn (2004); Ponnavolu (2000); Srinivasan et al. (2002)
Security 2 2 Tarafdar and Zhang (2008); Yun and Good (2007)
Speed of download 1 1 Tarafdar and Zhang (2008)

Environmental Culture 2 2 Cyr et al. (2005); Cyr et al. (2008)

characteristics

A single study can analyse more than one relationship.

company, measured by its ability to fulfill its promises, greatly influ- able to save time for customers and offer them high quality support ser-
ences the customer's trust and loyalty (Parasuraman & Grewal, 2000). vices (Bergeron, 2001). A business's high level of competence provokes
Second, a company positively influences customer online loyalty if credibility in the consumer's mind and influences both customer loyalty
 E. Toufaily et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 1436–1447
and the propensity to formulate positive recommendations (Ganesan,
1994). According to Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh (1987), customers who en-
courage a long-term relationship with their company prefer quick ac-
cess to the multiple products and services offered by this company.
The timesaving factor is a strong advantage that clients seek, especially
those who shop and buy online, and the desire to save time significantly
affects online loyalty (Bergeron, 2001). Lavigne and Graf's (2007) study
shows that the customer's perception of IT policies has a significant im-
pact on online loyalty, and some studies show that customer evalua-
tions of a company's website are affected by perceived IT policies. The
literature about online loyalty omits other characteristics related to
the company. Future studies should focus on the impact of a com-
pany's reputation, opportunistic behavior, size, sector of activity, and
its multichannel presence.
The literature on information systems extensively studies the char-
acteristics of the website (Cheung et al., 2005). Attributes such as inter-
activity (four studies), ease of use/navigability (five studies), content
and selection of products/services (six studies), interface design and
aesthetics (six studies), system quality (four studies), personalization
(five studies) and e-service quality (six studies), are present in the listed
articles and have significant effects on online loyalty.
Brand image presence (three studies), security (two studies), site
credibility (one study), and virtual community presence (two studies)
are not as prevalent; but they also have positive effects on online loyalty.
The complexity of the task (i.e., the extent and heterogeneity of activities
to obtain a product or service on a commercial/retail site), the effect of
intelligent communication and social presence, avatars, forums, brand
image, confidentiality, and the hedonistic and functional performance
of the website should be the object of further studies in this field. Review
of the literature shows that the majority of studies dealing with the ef-
fects of commercial website features on e-loyalty focus mostly on the
technical and functional dimensions of the effectiveness of the website.
However, the integration of relational aspects on the commercial
website may provide a potential source of competitive edge by creating
a social and human interaction with the machine, and not just an ongo-
ing transaction between a machine and a customer (Toufaily & Perrien,
2006). The online relationship implies that the site should provide con-
stant and personalized information, intelligent communication, social
interaction, and a superior quality of delivery (Chaston & Mangles,
2001). The impact of relationship-oriented Web factors on e-loyalty
therefore deserves more emphasis.
On the subject of environmental characteristics, two studies exam-
ine the impact of culture on e-loyalty (Cyr, Bonanni, Bowes, & Ilsever,
2005; Cyr et al., 2008). Environmental characteristics refer to the struc-
tural influences from the electronic commerce environment (competi-
tion, concentration, uncertainty) and to national and international
issues such as legal structure, trade restrictions and culture (Cheung
et al., 2005). According to Markus and Soh (2002), structural influences
are “physical, social, and economic arrangements that shape electronic
Table 6
The consequences of online customer loyalty.
Consequences
Customer profitability
Share of wallet in $
Frequency of purchase on the site
Number of visits
Sensitivity to price
Search for alternatives
Word of mouth
Willingness to pay more
Willingness to purchase on the site/intention to buy
Total satisfaction
Cross-selling
Customer retention
Frequency of purchase on a site is not a significant consequence in the study of Wang et al. (2006a, 2006b).
The search for alternatives does not have a significant effect according to a study by Ponnavolu (2000), and a significant effect according to a study by Srinivasan, Anderson & Ponnavolu (2002).
1443
commerce business models and influence individual and organizational
use of the Internet.” Thus, introducing some of these environmental di-
mensions to determine their effect on online loyalty is also helpful. Sim-
ilar research will help show how online customer loyalty develops and
changes according to macroenvironmental characteristics such as refer-
ence groups, competition, uncertainty, exposure, and social norms. This
subject requires more work.
9. The consequences of online customer loyalty
Few studies have explored the consequences of online loyalty
(Table 6). Eight studies providing 16 effects appear here. Among these
studies, 14 are significant; they show that online customer loyalty,
whether measured behaviorally or attitudinally, positively influences
increasing cross-sales, customer's profitability for the company, share
of wallet, number of visits to the site, willingness to pay more, and
willingness to purchase and repurchase on the site. Online loyalty pro-
motes the customer's online word of mouth behavior and online total
satisfaction and retention while diminishing the customer's sensitivity
to price and reducing alternative search behavior. The results of the de-
scriptive meta-analysis corroborate the findings of authors such as
Reichheld and Schefter (2000), Anderson and Mittal (2000), and
Anderson and Sullivan (1993).
In addition, the consequences of online loyalty may be behavioral,
such as repeat purchase, repeat visit, number of visits, increased share
of wallet, word of mouth behavior, and search for alternatives.
Other authors apparently introduced some of the variables analyzed
as consequences of online customer loyalty in this measurement. The
question arises: Are the variables–such as frequency of purchase on
the site, number of visits, price sensitivity, and willingness to pay
more–the result of loyalty to a commercial site, or are they measure-
ments that should be integrated in the scale to allow for distinguishing
between a loyal and a non-loyal customer? This question should lead to
relevant reflections and discussions in the field.
The descriptive meta-analysis of the literature on the antecedents
and consequences of customer loyalty in the context of electronic com-
merce allows for the proposal of an integrative framework of online
customer loyalty based on the various variables identified. The next sec-
tion presents this integrative model.
10. Integrative model of online customer loyalty or “e-loyalty”
Several authors have proposed conceptual models of online customer
loyalty taking into account different factors relating to the characteris-
tics of the website, of the customer, the company, the environment
and/or the product/service attributes (Boulaire & Mathieu, 2000;
Debbabi, Baile, & Daassi, 2003; Ilsever et al., 2006; Verona & Prandelli,
2002). This article proposes an integrative model of the antecedents
and consequences of e-loyalty. This model incorporates the 44
Frequency Studies
1 Donio et al. (2006)
1 Ponnavolu (2000)
1 Wang, Pallister, and Foxall (2006a, 2006b)
1 Ponnavolu (2000)
1 Choi et al. (2006)
2 Srinivasan, Anderson et Ponnavolu (2002); Ponnavolu (2000)
2 Ponnavolu (2000); Srinivasan, Anderson et Ponnavolu (2002)
2 Srinivasan, Anderson et Ponnavolu (2002); Ponnavolu (2000)
2 Ponnavolu (2000); Huang, 2008
1 Shankar, Smith, and Rangaswamy (2003)
1 Liang et al. (2008)
1 Liang et al. (2008)
1444 E. Toufaily et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 1436–1447
Fig. 2. Integrative framework of online customer loyalty.
empirical studies analyzing the determinants of online loyalty as well as
the consequences. The proposed framework (Fig. 2) provides us with a
cohesive view of online customer loyalty and serves as a salient guide-
line for researchers in this field. The model includes the determinants
and the consequences observed in the empirical studies of the litera-
ture. The model also incorporates the suggested dimensions that litera-
ture about online loyalty has overlooked, and which could be an
interesting field of research for future studies. The determinants are in
five categories: customer characteristics, product/service attributes,
company characteristics, environmental characteristics, and website
characteristics. Since this figure comes in part from previous studies,
some variables might appear in more than one potential role (determi-
nant and/or consequence).
11. Conclusion and agenda for future research
The purpose of this study was to conduct a thorough analysis of
the literature available in the field of online customer loyalty. The
study proposes an integrative framework to better understand exis-
ting studies and explore research omitted in this field. The synthesis
of the literature shows that the studies do not highlight a clear defini-
tion and a precise measurement of loyalty in the context of electronic
commerce—and that some antecedents of online loyalty are neglected
or insufficiently studied. Nevertheless, this analysis allows the identi-
fication of several directions for future research.
Future research will be able to use the suggested model in this article
as a foundation to explore the factors affecting online customer loyalty
as well as its consequences. Additional studies might pay more atten-
tion to the under-researched areas highlighted by this meta-analysis.
For instance, researchers can explore new variables in the five catego-
ries (consumer characteristics, product/service attributes, company
characteristics, website characteristics and environmental influences)
and empirically test how these factors affect online customer loyalty.
Researchers might consider the proposed definition of e-loyalty in this
paper based on Oliver's (1997, 1999) theory to develop measurement
scales that help us better understand the underlying psychological
multi-dimensions of online customer loyalty and the sequences of the
process of its development.
Antecedents of online customer loyalty differ according to the differ-
ent types of services offered and the various customer segments. There-
fore, researchers will need to investigate online customer loyalty and
develop virtual strategies according to the various visitor segments
(i.e., hedonistic browsing, information searching, purchasing) (Moe,
2003; Sénécal et al., 2005) as well as in a B2B context where research
is almost absent.
Although relationship-marketing theories provide researchers with
a good starting point in understanding online customer loyalty, re-
searchers should develop a unique theoretical body that is specific to
loyalty in the context of electronic commerce and that takes into ac-
count the technological component.
 E. Toufaily et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 1436–1447
This research provides a descriptive meta-analysis of the literature on
e-loyalty and proposes an integrative framework based on 44 previous
studies. These investigations include transverse studies, analyzed at one
point in time, hence the need for procedural, longitudinal, and process
design studies that take into account the dynamic aspect of this concept.
Finally, with the growth of social media, forums, virtual communities,
and P2P exchange, researchers of online customer loyalty should adopt a
new perspective and try to understand loyalty not only by achieving cus-
tomer satisfaction but also through the creation of strong ties, sense of
commitment and a sense of belonging to a community. Research should
study online customer loyalty from the perspective of a community of
loyalty where the customer integrates socially into a village, with ties
that envelop and direct his choices in a convincing way. Groups (e.g., so-
cial class, family, friends, online forums, etc.) that customers belong to
are important sources of pride and self-esteem, and convey a sense of so-
cial identity, a sense of belonging to the social world. Future studies
should build upon online social interactions and online social identity
to understand e-loyalty. The customer-online groups' identification and
the customer-company identification should be the premise for a new
way to understand e-loyalty. These identifications represent a different
aspect of customer–firm relationship than the classic customer satisfac-
tion construct. Because of the self-definition and emotional components
of customer-group identification, and customer-company identification,
online customer loyalty should consider additional drivers, based on the
social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). This might be a new way of
looking to e-loyalty that existing literature has not considered.
The identification of major antecedents of online customer loyalty
enables online businesses to improve their retention strategies by
going beyond the technological aspects of building virtual relationships
to reach a better understanding of the behavioral as well as psychologi-
cal dimensions of success. This identification relates as much to the cus-
tomer (e.g., satisfaction, trust, commitment, etc.), to the product/
service (e.g., price, quality, etc.), to the company (e.g., reputation, re-
liability, competence, etc.) as to the website (e.g., content, quality, de-
sign, customization etc.).
Appendix A
Journal
Journal of Retailing
Managing service quality
Psychology and Marketing
Journal of Electronic Commerce Research
Technovation
The Services Industries Journal
Electronic Markets
Journal of Consumer Marketing
International Journal of Management
Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations
International Journal of Research in Marketing
Information and Management
Journal of Business Research
Journal of E-business
Decision Support System
European Journal of Marketing
Journal of the Association for Information System
Journal of Services Marketing
Journal of consumer satisfaction, dissatisfaction and complaining behavior
Journal of Global Information Management
Journal of Interactive Marketing
Recherche et Applications en Marketing
International Journal of Human-Computer studies
International Journal of Service Industry Management
International Journal of Electronic Commerce
Journal of Internet Banking and E-commerce
Journal of Computer Information Systems
Online Information Review
Journal of Product and Brand Management
1445
As is typical for an emerging research area, most articles appear in
new, innovative journals such as Electronic Markets, Technovation, Journal
of Electronic Commerce Research, International Journal of Electronic
commerce and others. Moreover, it is interesting to find that articles
are ranked in journals in different disciplines, such as Marketing, IS,
E-commerce, Psychology and Management. This illustrates the impor-
tance of this research area to all disciplines.
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