Title: Trust and switching cost as a way to build e-loyalty in internet markets

Authors: Dong-Il Lee, Changsoo Sohn

Addresses: Department of eBusiness, Sejong Cyber University, 111-1 Kunja Dong Kwangjin Gu, Seoul, 143-150, Korea. ' Department of Business Administration, The Catholic University of Korea, San 43-1 Yokkok 2-Dong, Wonmi-Gu, Buchon City, Gyuonggi-Do, 420-743, Korea

Abstract: As the expectations from e-business have changed to disappointment, many e-business companies are trying to survive in internet markets. As a way to survive in the market, they try to build customers| loyalty by emphasising trust. On the other hand, they set high switching costs in order to lock-in customers. Few studies have empirically conducted the test to verify that trust and switching costs are the most critical components for building customer loyalty. This study, based on survey analysis and structural equation modelling, revealed that trust is the main factor for building customers loyalty, rather than switching costs.

Keywords: trust; switching cost; price premium; electronic commerce; structural equation modelling; confirmatory factor analysis; path analysis; e-commerce; customer loyalty; e-loyalty; internet markets.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIEM.2004.005362

International Journal of Internet and Enterprise Management, 2004 Vol.2 No.3, pp.209 - 220

Published online: 29 Sep 2004 *

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