淘宝网购顾客忠诚度

1、Consumer Loyalty A Case Study ofApparel Stores on Taobao Abstract: During recent years, Chinas on-line shopping business has bloomed tremendously. Taobao, as the largest Chinese online auction company at present, shares twice as large market as eBays, which used to be dominant in the Chinese market.

2、 And the consumer to consumer (orC2C) apparel stores, which have taken up the largest part of all e-shops on Taobao, have attracted more and more customers every minute. The on-line shopping, which provides a new transaction method between the sellers and the customers. To manage this wholly new mod

3、e of transaction, it seems to be necessary for all the C2C e-store clothes sellers to understand the advantages and disadvantages of apparel stores operation on Taobao and discover the secret for successful operation. To keep and have customers loyalty is becoming the most important for those appare

4、l stores on Taobao. Because of the differences between traditional commerce environment and the on-line commerce environment, it is more demanding and complex for the owners of apparel stores on Taobao to raise and retain customer loyalty. This article aims to introduce the features and the determin

5、ant factors of customer loyalty, and tries to suggest some effective countermeasures of successful customer loyalty management through a case study of a representative apparel store on Taobao.Key words: E-commerce, Taobao, C2C, Consumer Loyalty, Consumer satisfaction 21顾客忠诚度对淘宝服饰店的案例研究 曾思嘉 国家商务英语学院

6、2005级英语（国际贸易）摘 要： 伴随着国际网络的迅猛发展，近年来网上购物也蓬勃发展起来。淘宝是当前中国最大的网上购物中介公司，而服装店在所有淘宝店铺中占了最大的比重，并且每分钟都有越来越多的消费者在淘宝购买衣服。C2C网上购物给了消费者一种新的交易模式。为了更好的利用这种新兴的经营模式，从事服装的C2C卖家有必要清楚知道网上交易的优劣势以及明白成功的经营淘宝服装店的奥秘所在。因为传统购物环境和网上购物环境有着许多的不同之处，淘宝上的服饰经营者们也就更难提高和保持顾客的购物忠诚度。这篇文章目的就在于介绍顾客忠诚的特点及其决定因素并且通过对一家具有代表性的服饰店的案例分析对成功的顾客忠诚管理提

7、出有效的方法及建议。关键字：电子商务 淘宝 消费者对消费者电子商务 顾客忠诚度 客户满意度CONTENTSAbstract:I摘 要II1. Introduction12. Definition of Key Concepts12.1 Definition of E-commerce and C2C E-commerce12.2 Definition of Consumer Satisfaction22.3 Definition of Consumer Loyalty22.4 Distinction between Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loya

8、lty33. Related Theory and Decisive Factors in Consumer Loyalty Evaluation43.1 Social Network Theory43.2 Consumers Behavioral Intention Theory54. A Case Study of the Specific Apparel Store on Taobao94.1 Brief Introduction to Taobao and its Status Quo94.2 Brief introduction to the specific apparel sto

9、re104.3 Reasons for Choosing the Apparel Store and How it Succeeds104.4 Secret to the Success of this Apparel Store through Analysis125. Advantages and disadvantages of apparel store operation on Taobao125.1 Advantages125.2 Disadvantages156. Measures for improvement of Consumer Loyalty of the appare

10、l stores on Taobao177. Conclusion19Reference20ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS211. IntroductionWith the rapid growth of international network, Chinas C2C electronic market has been flourishing in recent years. Taobao shares twice as large market as eBays, which used to be dominant in the Chinese market. People can

11、buy whatever they want on Taobao from article for daily use, clothes to luxury goods. In today's competitive marketplace, customer loyalty is serious business. And apparel stores, as the largest component of the whole Taobao and the main profit contributors, have to spare no effort to raise and

12、maintain customer loyalty under the unique electronic commerce environment. In this article, the author first explains the definition of key concept of the paper, and then introduces related theory which will be used in the article and offer detailed information about the decisive factors in custome

13、r loyalty evaluation. To further analyze the importance of customer loyalty in the operation of apparel stores on Taobao, a case study of a specific and representative apparel store help to find out the secret to the success of the specific apparel store. Later, through the detailed analysis of the

14、advantages and disadvantages of apparel store operation on Taobao, suggested measures for the improvement of consumer loyalty is provided for the apparel stores on Taobao.2. Definition of Key Concepts2.1 Definition of E-commerce and C2C E-commerceElectronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or

15、ecommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. /wiki/E-commerce A large of variety of commerce is conducted on line including supply chain management, Internet marketing, online tra

16、nsaction processing, electronic data interchange (or EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. And electronic commerce trade has been growing extraordinarily during these years with wide-spread Internet popularity. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World

17、Wide Web at least at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well. Electronic commerce involves virtual items as well as physical items. And almost all big retailers have electronic commerce presence on the World Wide W

18、eb. Online retailers are sometimes referred to as e-tailors and online retail is sometimes known as e-tail. C2C is a three-letter abbreviation that can refer to Consumer-to-consumer electronic commerce; Consumer-to-consumer (or C2C) electronic commerce involves the electronically-facilitated transac

19、tions between consumers through some third party. /wiki/Consumer-to-consumer_electronic_commerce EBay is one of the common examples of the Consumer-to-Consumer ecommerce where Consumers complete their sales actively and regularly with another consumer, and they are all individu

20、al consumers.2.2 Definition of Consumer SatisfactionCustomer satisfaction is a comparative concept referring to the matching degree of customer's expectation with the final gain. It is related to customers expectation and all costs customers pay. That is the difference between the benefits recei

21、ved from using a service and the monetary and nonmonetary cost of receiving the service. And it is known that a satisfied customer is six times more willing to continue to buy that product or service again and again than a dissatisfied customer. The higher the customer satisfaction is, the more like

22、ly a customer repeat the consumption behavior. Therefore, in an increasingly competitive world market, more and more companies try all means to upgrade customer satisfaction. 2.3 Definition of Consumer Loyalty Customer loyalty is the concept of trust in a certain product brand or a company, and hope

23、 to maintain a repeat of psychological tendency, which is in fact a continuity of customer behavior, not vulnerable to the effect of outer environment and market. There are some measures used to judge the degree of customer loyalty: (1) Loyal customers often repeat their consumption behavior of one

24、product or a brand, as a result of which consumption frequency can be learnt. (2) Loyal customers are willing to recommend your product or service to his relatives of close friends, who will be more willing than others to purchase your goods. (3) Loyal customers will reject your competitors products

25、 as long as the loyal tie between the loyal consumers and you are firm enough.2.4 Distinction between Customer Satisfaction and Customer LoyaltyThere is a problem that it is likely that people easily confuse customer satisfaction and customer loyalty or regard these two terms to be the same or equal

26、ly important. Customer satisfaction does not mean that customer loyalty since customer satisfaction is a kind of psychological attitude or feeling of satisfaction in consumption, but customer loyalty is a continuous transaction which will help to promote the occurrence of repeat customers. Data show

27、 that only the customer satisfaction is not enough. When a better product is supplied by some other else, a large number of customers may change suppliers. Thus satisfaction is supposed to be transformed into loyalty.To further distinguish these two terms, one should understand that satisfaction is

28、measured by customer expectations and feelings, and customer loyalty reflects the purchase of future actions and purchase commitments. Customer satisfaction is more concerned with the views and ideas of the past purchase experience while customer loyalty can predict the future intention to buy. What

29、s more, customer satisfaction does not have direct relation with actual future purchase behavior and do not promise satisfied customers insistent strong faith in your products. Since satisfaction is not absolute, you have to make great effort to transform satisfaction into loyalty to lock the custom

30、ers. Thus we are able to conclude that customer satisfaction might be the basis of customer loyalty building.However, customer satisfaction is not an essential condition for customer loyalty. Here is an example: many mobile phone users are not quite satisfied with the products, but if they you chang

31、e the use of other products they have to pay the costs, in this way they will still adhere to the use of original cell phones. Costs would let them tolerate imperfect service providers, but if one day they can realize with little or no costs, I believe that they will act immediately (Liao, 1996:43).

32、To wrap up what has been mentioned above, loyalty must have access to a minimum level of customer satisfaction, which will favor the establishment of loyalty. However, customer satisfaction is not an important condition for customer loyalty!3. Related Theory and Decisive Factors in Consumer Loyalty

33、Evaluation3.1 Social Network TheoryIn this paper, we study online customers loyalty and behavior from social network and marketing perspectives. In the marketing literature, a customers prospect value of a product or service in a store could encourage him/her to shop at that store. In the social net

34、work, literature, a customer is not isolated from his/her social relations and his/her shopping choice could also be affected by social experiences (Cheng, Zhang, and Huang, 1991:25).In the marketing literature, customer value has been considered a key predictor of customers choice, and it includes

35、two distinct values: utilitarian and hedonic values (Babin & Darden & Griffin, 1994: 644-656). Utilitarian value means the rational value of a customer and depends on whether the specific need is realized, while hedonic value is used to refer to the emotional value and depends on whether the

36、 customer feels happy during the shopping process. It has been evident that both of these values are related to the monetary amount a customer spends on shopping.In the social network literatures, the Chinese experience themselves as situated at the center of concentric network circles. The extent o

37、f intimacy with one another is reflected by the relative position of another within the concentric circles of ones psychological field, as Figure 1 shows (Cheng, Zhang, and Huang, 1991:26). Figure1: Chinese Hierarchical CircleBy studying the intensity of relationship among people, social network can

38、 be divided into three categories: information network, affect network, and trust network (Krackhardt, 1992: 216-239). The information network is a network in which people exchange information with each other. The affect network is a network in which people share their own personal feelings. The tru

39、st network is a network in which people show trust to each other.These three networks have interactive relations. By chatting in a virtual community, online users are no longer strangers. Two persons will become more intimate if more information interactions occur between them. In this way, a solid

40、information network could develop into an affect network. At the same time, after benefiting from information exchanges, some users would foster trust to each other. Therefore, an information network will encourage a trust network. Whats more, in China, strong ties, which usually exist in intimate r

41、elations such as family and close friends, help to develop more trust than weak ties. As a result, the affect network will facilitate a trust network.3.2 Consumers Behavioral Intention TheoryThe antecedent effects of service quality, customer satisfaction, and value on loyalty derive from Cronin, Br

42、ady, and Hults modeling of the effects of these three constructs on consumers behavioral intentions. That is to say, service quality, customer satisfaction, perceived value, justice, trust, and perceived risk are identified as possible determinants of customer loyalty. Current research further exten

43、ds analysis relative to the antecedents of customer loyalty by assessing the effects of customers perceptions of justice and perceived risk in the service encounter (see Figure 2). And this figure shows how these determinants works together to customer satisfaction or customer trust and then achieve

44、 different degrees of customer loyalty (Cronin, Brady, and Hults, 2000: 193 - 218). Figure 2: The Proposed Research ModelService Quality: Service quality is a term that refers to the customers general impression of the relative inferiority/superiority of the organization and its services. Perceived

45、Value: Zeithamls study that suggests “perceived value is the customers overall assessment of the utility of a product based on perceptions of what is received and what is given.” (Zeithaml, 1988:14)And it is inferred from that customers have a “give-versus-get” mentality when it comes to perceptions

46、 of value.Trust: The concept of trust is defined as a willingness to rely on an exchange partner in whom one has confidence. And trust exists when one party has confidence in an exchange partners reliability and integrity. A consumer must have confidence that the seller has his/her best interests at

47、 heart during the service consumption process. This confidence exists only if the consumer considers the service provider to be a reliable alternative and to have high integrity. These two essential characteristics of a trusting consumer/provider relationship are highly correlated with such attribut

48、es as consistency, competency, honesty, fairness, responsibility, and helpfulness.Perceived justice: The concept of perceived justice suggests that individuals assess the equity of an exchange by comparing the ratio of their inputs and outcomes against the concurrent ratios of other parties in an ex

49、change. It is said that inequity exists when individuals observe a negative inputs-to-outcomes ratio across parties involved in the exchange. Inequity brings negative feelings to individuals such as distress and frustration. And consumers will try to get themselves out of the inequitable situation.

50、Interactional justice specifically addresses the amount of equity individuals perceive in person-to-person social exchanges. Procedural justice deals with consumers evaluations of the fairness of policies and procedures in market-based relationships.Perceived risk: Risk perception is the subjective

51、judgment that people make about the characteristics and severity of a risk. The phrase is most commonly used in reference to natural hazards and threats to the environment or health, such as nuclear power. Several theories have been proposed to explain why different people make different estimates o

52、f the dangerousness of risks. Three major families of theory have been developed: psychology approaches (heuristics and cognitive), anthropology/sociology approaches (Cultural Theory) and interdisciplinary approaches (Social Amlification of Risk Framework). /wiki/Perceived_risk

53、There is an inherent risk that consumers attach to purchasing or utilizing services due to their nature of uncertainty. Thus, consumers usually try hard to avoid or, at least reduce this risk. Perceived risk is conceptualized in the literature as a two dimensional construct that incorporates both th

54、e uncertainty inherent in a purchase decision and the consequences of making an unfavorable choice (Schiffman, 1972:106 108). Identification: Consumers identify with a service provider when they take some form of ownership over the service, affiliate themselves with the service provider, or share va

55、lues with the provider (Butcher et al. 2001: 27). Butcher et al. (2001) provide compelling evidence of this loyalty outcome by demonstrating how consumers often describe their loyal relationships with service providers as “my doctor” or “my mechanic.” This loyalty outcome is very prevalent among avi

56、d sports fans that have one or two “service providers” that they identify with exclusively. We see that identification can occur with both individual service providers (e.g. a doctor or mechanic), as well as at the brand level, as in the case of a college sports team. It is suggested that services,

57、as opposed to goods, provide more incentive for customers to form a comparative identity because of their interpersonal nature.Advocacy: Advocacy is the pursuit of influencing outcomes including public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and instit

58、utions that directly affect peoples current lives. (Cohen, 2001) Therefore, advocacy can be seen as a deliberate process of speaking out on issues of concern in order to exert some influence on behalf of ideas or persons. Based on this definition, Cohen (2001) states that “ideologues of all persuasions advocate” to bring a change in peoples lives. However, advocacy has many interpretations depending on the issue at stake, which can be different from this initial value-neutral definition. /wiki/AdvocacyConsumer advocates are quite willing to recommend a service to thei