Author(s): Khadija Saidi, Zohra Ghali-Zinoubi
This study aims to develop and test a comprehensive conceptual framework aiming to examine the correlation between e-customers’ perceptions regarding ethics of e-retailers and repetitive purchase through the mediation of e-buyers’ trust and commitment. The commitment-trust approach of Morgan & Hunt (1994) is used to examine the mediator role of commitment and trust to ensure the ongoing relational transactions. Four dimensions of e-customers’ perceptions regarding ethics of e-retailers are considered. They are fulfillment/reliability, security, privacy, and, service recovery. A quantitative empirical method was used to test the relationships between the constructs of the conceptual model. 224 Saudi e-buyers were surveyed through a convenience sampling method. The method of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to examine research hypotheses. This study looks interesting because it is among the rare studies to test the theory of commitment-trust of Morgan & Hunt (1994) in online environment. In addition, it is among the earliest of its kind to examine the perceptions of e-business ethics of Saudi e-buyers. For managers of e-businesses, this study can provide a set of insights and recommendations in order to formulate the appropriate strategy aiming to improve the ethical perceptions of their online activities, which are mandatory to build trust, commitment, and repetitive purchase.