Product failures in online platforms: an attributional approach How attribution of responsibility for product failures influences online platform satisfaction and negative (electronic) word of mouth
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2021-07-13
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en
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Online platforms are growing fast and are generating value for both customers and sellers by enabling them to transact with each other. Unfortunately, as in any other context, failures are inevitable. When failures occur, attributions of responsibility determine how a customer responds to a failure. There is a gap in the literature about how attributions for product failures translate to an online platform context. Therefore, this research aims to contribute to the attribution literature by investigating the effects of attributions of responsibility for product failures regarding online platform satisfaction and negative (electronic) word of mouth behavior. For this research, a CIT survey was conducted, resulting in a sample of 156 native Dutch respondents who experienced a product failure after ordering a product on an online platform. A Partial Least Squares analysis was conducted to test the model and interpret the data. The results show that attribution of responsibility to the online platform has a negative effect on online platform satisfaction. Subsequently, online platform satisfaction has a negative effect on both negative traditional word of mouth and electronic word of mouth behavior. Furthermore, no significant effect was found of attribution of responsibility to the third-party seller on online platform satisfaction.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen