Online Retailer Reputation, Satisfaction, and Trust as Catalysts in the Consumer Perceptions of Ethics on Online Retailers and Repurchase Intention

This research investigates the effect of consumer perceptions regarding the ethics of online retailers (CPEOR) on repurchase intention through reputation, satisfaction, and trust. The authors performed structural equation model analysis with SmartPLS on a sample of 458 responses collected from Vietnamese consumers. They found that CPEOR has a significant positive effect on reputation, satisfaction, and trust. As expected, trust and satisfaction directly predict repurchase intention; however, reputation does not directly follow this pattern. Instead, two prosocial constructs, namely trust and satisfaction, channel the effect of reputation on repurchase intention. Contrary to the conventional understanding that a favourable reputation will predict higher consumer trust, they found a negative correlation between these two factors. The managerial and theoretical contributions of the research and direction for future research are highlighted.