Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

 
2007 Annual International CHRIE Conference & Exposition 
300
customer loyalty. However, the positive impact of loyalty program use on customer loyalty is a separate issue. The 
result of the study suggested that customer satisfaction is influenced by the online travel product attributes as well as 
loyalty program use at the same time. Furthermore, complaining behaviors is related to customer satisfaction 
because of the fact that dissatisfied customers may not complain to the service provider, rather they tend to tell a 
number of people about the bad service they have received. This argument is further strengthened by research 
showing that customers who complain are also more likely to repurchase, even when their complaint is not handled 
satisfactorily. Both satisfaction and complaining intentions resulted in the same results. The dominant characteristics 
of online travel customer’s satisfaction and complaining intentions are perceived value and site properties such as 
site design and financial security (Szymanski and Hise, 2000). The findings also supported that the moderating 
effect of loyalty programs use is influential factor on the complaining intentions. However, the switching intention 
had a different result. All three factors such as perceived value, product information, and site properties had a direct 
effect on post-behaviors. But the moderating effect was not founded in switching intentions. Literature on the 
effectiveness of loyalty programs noted that the influence of these programs on switching cots creation (Jackson, 
1985; Klemerer, 1987; Duffy, 1998). Switching costs need the consumer to have to visit other web-sites or spend 
more time and effort to find new suppliers, and loss of points accumulated from the previous purchases. Thus, rather 
than considering switching suppliers, staying with current suppliers may have better benefits. As a result, we found 
the moderating effect from customer satisfaction and complaining intentions, however, the moderating effect is not 
too strong to lead continuous customer’s post-purchase behaviors. The importance of online loyalty program use is 
important role on customer’s behaviors but their effect in an online travel setting is not huge just as in previous 
research. Although loyalty program provide the increased levels of repeat purchase, it is just one possible technique 
for increasing customer intention. In managerial views, our final goal is not repeat purchasing but building true 
customer loyalty by maximizing customer satisfaction. Customer loyalty program is a good way to increase 
company profit and therefore understanding the important dimensions is important to online travel intermediaries. In 
order to build consumer e-loyalty, an online travel intermediary should increase the benefit from online travel 
product attribute such as perceived value from strong customer service and complete product information. The 
findings from this study suggest that the quality of a website is important in encouraging consumer behavior towards 
e-shopping. The website feature dramatically increases the shopping efficiency compared to shopping from a 
physical travel store.