Investigating Factors Affecting of Customers’ Satisfaction and Loyalty Towards Express Logistics and Its Internet Plus in Sichuan, China
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/shserj.2024.58Keywords:
Loyalty, Satisfacation, Express Delivery, Logistics service, ChinaAbstract
Purpose: This research aims to investigate the factors affecting customers’ satisfaction and loyalty toward express logistics services in the context of "Internet Plus." The conceptual framework proposes seven variables, including the causal relationship between service quality, perceived value, brand image, customer relationship, trust, satisfaction, and loyalty. Research design, data, and methodology: This study is based on a literature review and questionnaire survey using a quantitative research method. A questionnaire was conducted on 500 respondents from Sichuan province in China, except Chengdu city. The sampling techniques are judgmental, quota and convenience sampling. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used for data analysis, including model fit, reliability, and structure validity. Results: The results show that the five factors of service quality, perceived value, brand image, customer relationship, and trust have a significant effect on customer satisfaction of express delivery companies. Satisfaction and customer relationship significantly positive correlation with customer loyalty of express delivery companies. Conclusions: This study provides effective thinking inspiration and strong decision support for express logistics enterprises to improve the service level of express logistics in the operation and management process and further helps them enhance their overall competitiveness and achieve sustainable development.
References
Al-Mamary, Y. H., & Shamsuddin, A. (2015). Testing of The Technology Acceptance Model in Context of Yemen. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(4), 268-273. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s1p268
Arora, A., Glaser, D., Kluge, P., Kohli, S., & Sak, N. (2021, July 21). It’s showtime! How live commerce is transforming the shopping experience. McKinsey Digital. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/its-showtime-how-live-commerce-is-transforming-the-shopping-experience
Awang, Z. (2012). Structural equation modelling using AMOS graphic (5th ed.). Penerbit Universiti Teknologi MARA.
Bahri-Ammari, N., & Soliman, K. S. (2016). The effect of CRM implementation on pharmaceutical industry’s profitability: The case of Tunisia. Management Research Review, 39(8), 854-878. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-11-2014-0258
Bennett, R., & Rundle-Thiele, S. (2004). Customer satisfaction should not be the only goal. Journal of Services Marketing, 18(7), 514-523. https://doi.org/10.1108/08876040410561848
Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative Fit Indexes in Structural Models. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 238-246.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.107.2.238
Chen, J. (2015). Effective teaching strategies for facilitating the language acquisition of English language learners. Idiom, 45(2), 14-16.
Chen, W. J., Zhang, H. N., & Wan, Y. (2015). Research on the Formation Mechanism of Customer Loyalty under the Network Environment. China Management Science, 23(7), 127-133.
Choi, K.-S., Cho, W.-H., Lee, S., Lee, H., & Kim, C. (2004). The relationships among quality, value, satisfaction, and behavioral intention in health care provider choice. Journal of Business Research, 57(8), 913-921.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0148-2963(02)00293-x
Cronin, J. J., Brady, M. K., & Hult, G. T. (2000). Assessing the effects of quality, value, and customer satisfaction on consumer behavioral intentions in service environments. Journal of Retailing, 76(2), 193-218. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-4359(00)00028-2
David, A., Collier, J. R., & Evans, N. G. P. (2010). Advanced Brand Management Managing Brands in a Changing World (1st ed.). Tsinghua University Press.
Doney, P. M., & Cannon, J. P. (1997). An examination of the nature of trust in buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Marketing, 61(2), 35. https://doi.org/10.2307/1251829
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
Fu, S. H. (2022). Research on customer loyalty of Yantai Fresh Agricultural Products E-commerce Platform (1st ed.). University of Yantai.
Gusta, F. (2015). A strategic approach to customer satisfaction in the telecommunication service market. 2010 IEEE International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Computing Research (ICCIC), 33(3-4), 825-828
Ha, H.-Y., & Janda, S. (2008). An empirical test of a proposed customer satisfaction model in e-services. Journal of Services Marketing 22(5), 399-408
He, Y. Y., & Lu, Y. W. (2015). Factors influencing logistics service quality and customer loyalty. China's circulation economy, 26(7), 79-82.
Hong, I. B., & Cho, H. (2011). The Impact of Consumer Trust on Attitudinal Loyalty and Purchase Intentions in B2C E-Marketplaces: Intermediary Trust vs. Seller Trust. International Journal of Information Management, 31(5), 469-479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2011.02.001
Hong, M. H., Zheng, J. H., Zheng, Y. L., & Huang, H. (2018). Application of CRM in Medical Cosmetic Outpatient Care Services. Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Nursing (Chinese and English), 4(8), 152-155.
Hossain, M. N., Talukder, M. S., Khayer, A., & Bao, Y. (2021). Investigating the factors driving adult learners' continuous intention to use M-learning application: a fuzzy-set analysis. Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, 14(2), 245-270. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIT-09-2019-0071
Howard, J. A., & Sheth, D. S. (1969). The Theory of Buyer Behavior (1st ed.). John Wiley and Sons.
Hu, C. I., Lu, B. I., & Lu, Y. (2020). Discussion on internal and external customer satisfaction management based on the whole life cycle of products. Fujian Quality Management, 3, 94.
Jain, D., & Singh, S. S. (2002). Customer lifetime value research in marketing: A review and future directions. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 16(2), 34-46. https://doi.org/10.1002/dir.10032
James, J., Hoffman, M. J., & Schniederjans, L. F. (2019). Test market city evaluation：a goal programming approach. Journal of product brand management, 5(3), 301-317. https://doi.org/10.1108/10610429610126551
Jiang, L. Q., & Zhang, D. D. (2015). The customer satisfaction evaluation of private express delivery industry based on fuzzy comprehensive evaluation, take Tong Express as an example. Journal of Shenyang University (Social Sciences Edition), 17(2), 172-180.
Jorge, M. G., Otavio, B. D., Lam, J., & Andrade, A. (2020). Factors affecting satisfaction and loyalty to online group buying. Revista de Gestao, 27(3), 854-878. https://doi.org/10.1108/rege-02-2018-0037
Kannan, P. K., & Rao, H. R. (2001). Introduction to the special issue: decision support issues in customer relationship management and interactive marketing for e-commerce. Decision Support Systems, 32(2), 83-84.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0167-9236(01)00103-8
Kim, H. W., Hock, C., & Chan, S. G. (2005). Value-based Adoption of Mobile Internet: An empirical investigation. Decision Support Systems, 43(1), 111-126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2005.05.009
Kline, R. B. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
Kuenzel, S., & Halliday, S. V. (2008). Investigating antecedents and consequences of brand identification. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 17(5), 293-304. https://doi.org/10.1108/10610420810896059
Lalonde, B. J., & Zinszer, P. H. (1976). Customer Service: Meaning and Measurement Chicago, IL. National Council of Physical Distribution Management, 1(2), 156-159.
Lehtinen, U., & Lehtinen, J. R. (1982). A Study of Quality Dimensions. Service Management Institute, 5, 25-32.
Lenna, V., & James, A. B. (2019). Customer acceptance of four types of hospitality value propositions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 2, 26-31.
Li, F., Frederick, S., & Gereffi, G. (2019). E-Commerce and Industrial Upgrading in the Chinese Apparel Value Chain. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 49(1), 24-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2018.1481220
Li, S., Wang, Y., Xue, J., Zhao, N., & Zhu, T. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 Epidemic declaration on psychological consequences: A study on active Weibo users. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(6), 20-32.
Lin, X. F., & Zhao, Z. (2020). Review of the influence of e-commerce logistics service quality on customer satisfaction. Market Weekly, 2, 68-70.
Long, C. S. (2013). Raha Khalafinezhad, Wan Khairuzzaman Wan Ismail,and Siti Zaleha Abd Rasid. Impact of CRM factors on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Asian Social Science, 9(10), 205-207.
Low, K. C. P., & Anshari, M. (2017). Incorporating Social Customer Relationship Management in Negotiation. Social Science Electronic Publishing, 7(3/4), 239-252.
Lu, J. (2005). Research on the drivers of service loyalty: Review and conception. economic science, 3,108-119.
Luarn, P., & Lin, H. H. (2003). A Customer Loyalty Model for E-Service Context. j.electron.commerce res, 4, 156-167.
Luo, Z. X., & Li, C. H. (2020). Empirical Study of Regional Brand Image on Purchase intention about. Qinghai Science and Technology, 27(3), 93-103.
Marakarkandy, B., Yajnik, N., & Dasgupta, C. (2017). Enabling internet banking adoption: An empirical examination with an augmented technology acceptance model (TAM). Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 30(2), 263-294. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeim-10-2015-0094
Mentzer, J. T., Rutner, S. M., & Matsuno, K. (1997). Application of the means-end value hierarchy model to understanding logistics service value. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 27(9/10), 630-643.
https://doi.org/10.1108/09600039710188693
Morrison, A. P. (2001). The interpretation of intrusions in psychosis: An integrative cognitive approach to hallucinations and delusions. Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 29(3), 257-276. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1352465801003010
Oliver, R. L. (1993). Cognitive, Affective, and Attribute Bases of the Satisfaction Response. Journal of Consumer Research, 20(3), 418. https://doi.org/10.1086/209358
Pedroso, R., Zanetello, L., Guimaraes, L., Pettenon, M., Goncalves, V., Scherer, J., Kessler, F., & Pechansky, F. (2016). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the crack use relapse scale (CURS). Archives of Clinical Psychiatry, 43(3), 37-40. https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-60830000000081
Ravichandran, K., Mani, B., & Kumar, S. (2010). Influence of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction: Application of SERVQUAL Model. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(4), 117-124.
Reichheld, F. F., & Schefter, P. (2000). E-Loyalty: Your Secret Weapon on the Web. Harvard Business Review, 78, 105-113.
Ribbink, D., Van Riel, A. C. R., & Liljan, D. R. V. (2004). Comfort your Online Customer: Quality, Trust, and Loyalty on the Internet. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 14(6), 446-456. https://doi.org/10.1108/09604520410569784
Sarmento, R., & Costa, V. (2016). Comparative Approaches to Using R and Python for Statistical Data Analysis (1st ed.). IGI Global Press.
Schmid, R. E., Bach, V., & Osterle, H. (2000). Mit Customer relationship management zum prozess portal. Customer Relationship Management in der Praxis Berlin: Springer, 2, 3-55. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-58356-8_1
Schmidt, A., Wu, H., MacKenzie, R. E., Chen, V. J., & Bewly, J. R. (2000). Structures of three inhibitor complexes provide insight into the reaction mechanism of the human methylenetetrahydrofolatedehydrogenase/cyclohydrolase. Biochemistry, 39(21), 6325-6335.
Sharma, G. P., Verma, R. C., & Pathare, P. (2005). Mathematical modelling of infrared radiation thin layer drying of onion slices. Journal of Food Engineering, 71(3), 282-286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2005.02.010
Sica, C., & Ghisi, M. (2007). The Italian versions of the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory-II: Psychometric properties and discriminant power. In M. A. Lange (Ed.), Leading-edge psychological tests and testing research (pp. 27-50). Nova Science Publishers.
Soltanpour, A., Mesbah, M., & Habibian, M. (2020). Customer satisfaction in urban rail: a study on transferability of structural equation models. Public Transport, 12(1), 124-136. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12469-019-00223-y
Stangor, C. (2014). Research methods for the behavioral sciences (5th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Stank, T. P., Goldsby, T. J., & Vickery, S. K. (2003). Logistics Service Performance: Estimating Its Influence on Market Share. Journal of Business Logistics, 24(1), 27-55. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2158-1592.2003.tb00031.x
Sumsiripong, P. (2016). The impact of learning organization and competitive advantage on organizational performance in SMEs (Thailand): an empirical study. http://repository.nida.ac.th/handle/662723737/3993.
Trainor, K. J., Andzulis, J., Rapp, A., & Agnihotri, R. (2014). Social media technology usage and customer relationship performance: A capabilities-based examination of social CRM. Journal of Business Research, 64(8), 1201-1208.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.05.002
Tweephoncharoen, J., & Vongurai, R. (2020). The Factors Influencing on Purchase Intention of Thai and Chinese Customers Towards the Hotel Industry in Bangkok, Thailand. AU-GSB E-JOURNAL, 12(2), 35-39.
Usakli, A., & Baloglu, S. (2011). Brand personality of tourist destinations: An application of self-congruity theory. Tourism management, 32(11), 114-127.
Wang, Z., & Han, F. (2017). Metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive control of writing strategy between high and low-performing Chinese EFL writers. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 7(7), 523-532.
Wanichbancha, K. (2014). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with AMOS (2nd ed.). Samlada.
Wolfgang, U. (2001). Customer Value in Business Markets. Industrial Marketing Management, 30(4), 17-31.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0019-8501(01)00151-1
Wu, J. H., & Wang, Y. M. (2006). Measuring KMS Success: A Respecification of the DeLone and McLean’s Model. Journal of Information & Management, 43, 728-739. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2006.05.002
Xia, H. B. (2021). Research on service quality improvement strategy of R Express Enterprises (1st ed.). Guangxi Normal University.
Xinhua. (2022, January 28). China's online retail sales of physical goods topped 10t yuan in 2021.
http://english.www.gov.cn/archive/statistics/202201/28/content_WS61f32e5ac6d09c94e48a4622.html
Yan, S. L. (2019). Discussion on customer expectation management method in customer satisfaction management. Today: China Intellectual Property, 6, 156-157.
Yang, H. X., & Wang, W. (2015). Research on customer satisfaction Evaluation System of third-party Logistics Enterprises. Management Review, 27(1), 181-193.
Zeithaml, V., Parasuraman, A., & Berry, L. (2013). SERVQUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality. Journal of Retailing, 3(8), 12-40.
Zeng, J. H. (2010). Cultivation and maintenance of customer brand loyalty. Theoretical Guide, 5, 3-5.
Zhang, B. (2006). An Introduction to Express Delivery. China Foreign Economic and Trade Press.
Zhang, H. (2020). Research on the countermeasures to improve customer satisfaction of Y Express Company [Unpublished Master's Thesis]. East China Normal University.
Zheng, J. J., & Liu, Y. F. (2020). Corporate Service Marketing and Customer Relationship Management. Enterprise Technology and Development, 9, 194-195.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The submitting author warrants that the submission is original and that she/he is the author of the submission together with the named co-authors; to the extend the submission incorporates text passages, figures, data, or other material from the work of others, the submitting author has obtained any necessary permission.
Articles in this journal are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY What does this mean?). This is to get more legal certainty about what readers can do with published articles, and thus a wider dissemination and archiving, which in turn makes publishing with this journal more valuable for you, the authors.
