The Influence of Consumer Based Relationship on Multichannel Consumer Loyalty: Focusing on China Market

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to understand loyalty in the multichannel retail in the China market. We analyze the interaction between offline and online loyalty and the direct effects on loyalty of brand trust and brand attachment. Structural equation model multigroup analysis is performed to test the hypotheses. Online loyalty is largely driven by offline loyalty, and offline loyalty is positively affected by brand trust and brand attachment. The findings confirm multichannel retailers should focus on building brand trust and brand attachment, if they want to get offline loyalty. Stronger bonds between the customer and the retail brand translate into higher loyalty, particularly toward the offline channels, and then higher offline loyalty translate into higher online loyalty.