Understanding Consumers’ Loyalty to an Online Outshopping Platform: The Role of Social Capital and Perceived Value

Abstract

We draw upon the social capital theory in order to discuss how three dimensions of social capital affect consumer value and loyalty to online outshopping platforms. After considering the characteristics of consumers, we propose that the structural, relational, and cognitive dimensions of social capital promote consumers’ perceptions of utilitarian and idea shopping value, and that those perceived values increase loyalty to online outshopping platforms. The survey data of 291 Chinese consumers with online outshopping platform experience are used to test the model. The results show that different dimensions of consumers’ social capital influence their loyalty through different values. Utilitarian value mediates the effects of structural capital and cognitive capital on loyalty, whereas hedonic value (ideal shopping value) mediates the effects of structural and relational capital on loyalty.