Effects of inertia and satisfaction in female online shoppers on repeat‐purchase intention

Purpose With the prevalence of the internet, whether various interactive relationship building between online channel and consumers may lead or not to profit has been paid much attention by researchers and practitioners. It is also to note that the ratio of female shoppers online has been increasing, and female shoppers now outnumber male shoppers online. Based on the perspective of switching path analysis technique (SPAT), the aim of this study is to explore the effects of consumer inertia and satisfaction on repeat‐purchase intention among female online shoppers, and also to examine whether positive word‐of‐mouth and alternative attraction moderate the above relationships. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from a self‐developed online survey system. The formal questionnaire consisted of three sections. The first section screened participants by gender and online shopping experience. The second section measured respondent perceptions of each construct in the research model. The last section aimed to understand respondent basic personal data. Findings The study results indicate that both consumer inertia and satisfaction positively influence repeat‐purchase intention, and that consumer inertia is more influential than satisfaction; moreover, positive word‐of‐mouth negatively moderates the relationship between consumer inertia and repeat‐purchase intention, but positively moderates that between satisfaction and repeat‐purchase intention; finally, alternative attraction does not moderate any of the above relationships significantly. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, the difference between the direct effect of inertia and satisfaction on purchasing behavior has not been investigated. Based on the study findings, suggestions are made for shopping website operators.