The Moderating Role of Product Categories in the Relationship between Online Fulfillment, Procurement, and Consumer Repurchase Intention: A Hierarchical Analysis

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12114
• Date: 01 October 2016
• Author: Xiaowen Huang,Yan Dong,Xiang Wan
• Published date: 01 October 2016

THE MODERATING ROLE OF PRODUCT CATEGORIES IN

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ONLINE FULFILLMENT,

PROCUREMENT, AND CONSUMER REPURCHASE

INTENTION: A HIERARCHICAL ANALYSIS

XIANG WAN

The Ohio State University

XIAOWEN HUANG

Miami University

YAN DONG

University of South Carolina

This study investigates how the number of product categories moderates

the effects of consumers’satisfaction with order procurement and order

fulfillment on their repurchase intention at online retail stores. We col-

lected empirical data from an online rating website and constructed a

multilevel dataset at both the transaction level and the store level.

Employing hierarchical linear modeling on a sample of 11,554 observa-

tions at 146 online retailers, we find significant interaction effects on con-

sumer repurchase intention between product category number and

consumer satisfaction with both online order procurement and fulfillment

processes, but with different signs. These findings offer guidance to online

retailers when allocating their limited resources to procurement-related

and fulfillment-related investments.

Keywords: product categories; consumer repurchase intention; consumer satisfaction;

online retailing; online order fulfillment; expectancy theory

INTRODUCTION

Prior online retailing research has found that con-

sumer satisfaction with the procurement process (the

first stage of the online shopping experience, which

manages online consumer activities to find and pur-

chase products) and consumer satisfaction with the

fulfillment process (the second stage of the online

shopping experience, which is responsible for deliver-

ing the right product to the right place at the right

time as well as managing returns to provide consumer

service for consumer repurchase intention) are key

operational drivers of e-business consumer repurchase

intention (Heim & Sinha, 2001). However, empirical

findings regarding the relative importance of those

two drivers of consumer repurchase intention are

inconclusive (Heim & Sinha, 2001; Wolfinbarger &

Gilly, 2003). Some studies reveal that the contribution

of the online procurement process to consumer repur-

chase intention is higher than that of the fulfillment

process (Wolfinbarger & Gilly, 2003). Others highlight

that the fulfillment process contributes to consumer

repurchase intention more than the procurement pro-

cess does (Heim & Sinha, 2001). One possible expla-

nation is that potential moderators may exist which

influence the relationship between consumer satisfac-

tion with online procurement/fulfillment and con-

sumer repurchase intention.

This research proposes that the number of product

categories offered by online retailers may be one sali-

ent moderator. Decisions about the number of differ-

ent product categories that a retailer offers lead to

distinct retailer types ranging from general retail stores

to specialty retail stores (Levy, Weitz & Ajay, 2009).

General retail stores and specialty retail stores

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