Title: Online buying behaviour during and post-COVID-19: evidence from an emerging market

Authors: Abdelhamid Bennani; Hanae Qabil; Harit Satt

Addresses: School of Business Administration, Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Morocco ' School of Business Administration, Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Morocco ' School of Business Administration, Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Morocco

Abstract: This study aims to forecast the consumers' future online shopping intentions after the COVID-19 pandemic through consumers' insights and behaviours with their online shopping experience. Therefore, the study attempts to examine the mediating role of e-customer satisfaction on expected e-service quality and perceived e-service quality that was conducted in the B2C context within the booming e-commerce industry in Morocco. This study employed a conceptual framework that combines factors from the American Customer Satisfaction Index and factors from the planned behaviour theory to evaluate customer satisfaction in the e-context as a mediator in several relationships. The study used 411 respondents to evaluate the suggested model using SmartPLS. The empirical results provide evidence on the significant impact of e-customer satisfaction on attitude towards online shopping, while it also has a mediating effect on its antecedents; expected e-service quality and perceived service quality. The prevailed framework confirms that all relationships between the constructs; expected e-service quality, perceived e-service quality, attitude toward online and e-customer satisfaction are highly significant. Moreover, attitude toward online has a significant positive impact on consumers switching intentions.

Keywords: consumer behaviour; online shopping; service quality; customer satisfaction; SmartPLS; COVID-19.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEMR.2025.149551

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 2025 Vol.16 No.6, pp.672 - 693

Received: 30 Jun 2022
Accepted: 18 Dec 2022
Published online: 07 Nov 2025 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article