A Model of Customer Relationship Management via th

AnalysisofClothingWebsitesforYoungCustomerRetentionbasedonAModelofCustomerRelationshipManagementviatheInternetbyYoo-KyoungSeockDissertationsubmittedtotheFacultyoftheVirginiaPolytechnicInstituteandStateUniversityinPartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsforthedegreeofDOCTOROFPHILOSOPHYINCLOTHINGANDTEXTILESAPPROVED:_________________________MarjorieJ.T.Norton,ChairClothingandTextiles__________________________________________________________JessieH.Chen-YuValerieL.GiddingsClothingandTextilesClothingandTextiles__________________________________________________________JamesE.LittlefieldKusumSinghMarketingEducationalLeadershipandPolicyStudiesJuly31,2003Blacksburg,VirginiaKeywords:Internetclothingwebsite,attitude,informationsearchintention,purchaseintentionCopyright2003,Yoo-KyoungSeockAnalysisofClothingWebsitesforYoungCustomerRetentionbasedonAModelofCustomerRelationshipManagementviatheInternetbyYoo-KyoungSeockMarjorieJ.T.Norton,ChairClothingandTextiles(Abstract)Intoday’seraofintensecompetitionforacquiringandretainingcustomers,customerretentionhasbecomeamajorissueandakeyobjectiveinmodernretailing.Withtheemergenceofnewinformationtechnologies,theInternetoffersnewpossibilitiesforcustomerretentionthroughthemanagementofrelationshipsbetweenmarketersandconsumers.LittleempiricalresearchhasaddressedtheroleofInternetwebsitesinretainingcustomersforparticularbrandsoratparticularstores.Thepurposeofthisresearchwastodeterminetheeffectsoftheattitudesofasampleofyoungconsumersaged18to22towardtheirfavoritewebsitesonintentionstopurchasethroughtheInternetandchannelsotherthanInternetclothingwebsites.Thedatawerecollectedusinganonlinesurveywithastructuredquestionnaire.Thesubjectsofthestudywere414maleandfemaleundergraduateandgraduatestudentsatVirginiaTechandTheOhioStateUniversity,whowereaged18to22andnon-married.Severalhypotheseswereputforwardandresultsexceptforonehypothesisweresupported.Factoranalysis,clusteranalysis,factorialMANOVA,canonicalcorrelationanalysis,multipleregression,pathanalysis,andt-testswereemployedtotesttheresearchhypothesesontherelationshipsamongthevariables.ThefactorialMANOVAresultsshowedthatshoppingorientationandpreviousonlineshoppingexperienceaffectedtheevaluationofgeneralclothingwebsitecharacteristics,aswellastheevaluationoffavoriteclothingwebsites.Thecanonicalcorrelationresultsrevealedthattheproductinformation,customerservice,andnavigationfactorsrepresentedthefavoriteclothingwebsitecharacteristicsandwerewellpredictedbythesameconstructsofthegeneralclothingwebsitecharacteristics.Thepathanalysisrevealedthatattitudestowardfavoriteiiiclothingwebsiteswerepositivelyrelatedtointentionstosearchforinformationatfavoriteclothingwebsites,andthatintentionstosearchforinformationatthosewebsiteswerepositivelyrelatedtointentionstopurchasefromthosewebsitesaswellasfromchannelsotherthanInternetclothingwebsites.Attitudestowardfavoriteclothingwebsitesweredirectlyandpositivelyrelatedtointentionstopurchaseclothingitemsfromfavoriteclothingwebsites,andwerenotdirectlyrelatedtointentionstopurchaseclothingitemsfromchannelsotherthanInternetclothingwebsites.Theresultsalsoshowedthatshoppingorientationaffectedintentionstosearchforinformationononehand,andintentionstopurchaseclothingitemsfromfavoriteclothingwebsitesontheother.Theonlineinformationsearchandpurchasegroupsweresignificantlydifferentintheirintentionstopurchaseclothingitemsfromtheirfavoriteclothingwebsites.Fromtheresultsofthepresentresearch,itisconcludedthatInternetwebsitesplayapivotalroleinformingconsumers’attitudetowardthewebsites,whicheventuallyleadtotheirinformationsearchandpurchaseintentionfromthewebsites.Inaddition,consumers’onlineinformationsearchintentionsinfluencetheirpurchaseintentionatchannelsotherthanInternet.Thus,byestablishingeffectivewebsites,marketerscanretaintheircustomersthroughmultiplechannelsincludingtheInternet,brick-and-mortarstores,andcatalogs.ivTableofContentsChapterI.Introduction……………………………………………………………….1Background……………………………………………………………………….2TheProblem…………………………………………………………………..…..4Justification…………………………………………………………….……….…8ResearchObjectives………………………………………………………….....…8ChapterII.ReviewofLiterature….…………………………………………........…11OverviewofIn-homeShopping………………………………………………......11E-commerceandtheInternetshopping………………………………..…...16TheoreticalBackgroundonRelationshipMarketing...……………………….…..17ManagementofCustomerRelationshipsthroughtheInternet……………...18InternetWebsiteStorefrontAttributes……………………………………………23AttitudeTheoryandRelatedResearch……………………………………………28InformationSearchinInteractiveConsumerBehavior…………………………..30ConsumerCharacteristics………………………………………………………...33ShoppingOrientation……………………………………………………….34PreviousOnlineShoppingandPurchasingExperience…………………….40Age………………………………………………………………………….41ChapterIII.SettingoftheResearchProblem……………….……………………...45PurposeStatement………………………………………………………………...45ResearchObjectives………………………………………………………………45ConceptualFramework…………………………………………………………...47ClothingShoppingOrientationandRelatedVariables…..…………………47PreviousOnlineShopping/PurchasingExperi