Do information and service quality affect perceived privacy protection, satisfaction, and loyalty? Evidence from a Chinese O2O-based mobile shopping application

Abstract

As the mobile application market rapidly expands, the mobile shopping market is also expected to follow suit. Further, a new form of online-to-offline (O2O) services available in mobile shopping applications, which helps users instantly search for what they want online, try them in the offline stores nearby, and pay online, is becoming increasingly popular. Thus, our study investigates the effects of O2O-based mobile shopping application (MSA)’s information and service quality on the user’s perceived privacy protection, satisfaction, and loyalty. In this study, we collected 1063 questionnaire responses, out of which 969 were used to estimate the structural paths using PLS-SEM (partial least-square structural equation model) for the hypothesis test. Our empirical findings are drawn from Chinese respondents who use Chinese leading MSAs, such as Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent. We confirm that qualified information and services of O2O MSAs positively affect both perceived privacy protection and customer satisfaction, which finally lead to customer loyalty through the lens of the information systems success model. Further, we present effective practical implications for business strategy and application characteristics suitable for users in the O2O-based mobile shopping industry.