Customers as Volunteers ? E-Customer Citizenship Behavior and Its Antecedents

The low barriers to enter into the e-marketplace have inevitably intensified the competition among e-retailers. Online retailers are struggling to build a sustainable business model that ensures customers’ continuing commitment to their businesses. This study addresses the challenges faced by eretailers in terms of examining website services and functionalities that would consequently lead to eloyalty among customers. Empirical findings, based on 385 online apparel shoppers, have shown that extending customers’ voluntary behavior (customer citizenship behavior) that can be cultivated upon gaining customers’ satisfaction and loyalty provide leads to a better future for e-retailer’s sustainability. This study examines the applicability of expectancy-disconfirmation theory and social exchange theory in the virtual world.