Impact of changing consumer lifestyles and website quality on online satisfaction and loyalty - an emerging market framework

Online loyalty or electronic loyalty is argued to be a key imperative for survival of the online retailers. The existing approach for studying it is largely fragmented, examining only certain stages of the purchase process or focussing on certain factors, with little or no clarity on the methodological incorporation of domain and context specificity. Previous studies done in the developed countries may not be applicable in emerging markets where consumers are still undergoing transformation from their encapsulation in traditional beliefs and values into a technology driven modern way of life. This study extends existing loyalty framework with due consideration to the methodology as well as the development level of e-commerce in the market. It proposes a framework which juxtaposes impact of advancing technology across each purchase stage using constructs of e-lifestyles, website quality and e-satisfaction and their impact on e-loyalty. A comprehensive understanding of these constructs will lead to better understanding of online consumer behaviour in emerging markets like India.