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Failure to deliver? Linking online order fulfillment glitches with future purchase behavior
Author(s) -
Rao Shashank,
Griffis Stanley E.,
Goldsby Thomas J.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of operations management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.649
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1873-1317
pISSN - 0272-6963
DOI - 10.1016/j.jom.2011.04.001
Subject(s) - glitch , order (exchange) , order fulfillment , expectancy theory , business , marketing , consumer behaviour , order book , psychology , computer science , social psychology , supply chain , telecommunications , finance , detector
This study investigates operations failures in online retailing. Specifically, it examines the relationship between an operations glitch (order fulfillment delay) and subsequent shopping behavior for previously loyal customers in an online retailing environment. Using archival data from a moderate‐sized online retailer of printed material, this study employs expectancy disconfirmation and distributive justice theories to empirically show that adverse post‐glitch reactions are seen in several dimensions of customer shopping behavior – order frequency and order size decrease, while customer anxiety level increases. The study thus demonstrates that online retailers need to deliver on order fulfillment promises, since a failure to live up to these promises can be detrimental. This study is unique in that, unlike previous studies on order fulfillment in online retailing investigating the tie between fulfillment success and future behavior, we examine the repercussions of order fulfillment failures upon future purchase behavior.