The Consumer−E-retailer−Intermediary Triad: Why and When Unfairness Perceptions Undermine Ethicality and Consumer Repurchase Intention

Abstract

While there is considerable research on consumers and e-retailers; the relationships between the consumers, e-retailers, and their intermediaries—the ecommerce platforms are underexplored. The current research focuses on this triad and examines why and when price unfairness and product unfairness influence consumers’ perception of ethics of the e-retailer and their spillover effects on consumer repurchase intention from the ecommerce platforms. We adopted a mixed-method approach and conducted two studies. The qualitative study performed a content analysis based on 349 real comments of online shoppers. The quantitative study collected data from 632 existing customers of actual ecommerce platforms. The results show negative relationships between unfairness and consumer responses in the context of online retailing. Moreover, perception of e-retailer ethics explains the impacts of price unfairness and product unfairness on consumer repurchase intention from the ecommerce platforms. Besides, the salience of ethicality on repurchase intention depends on the level of prior shopping experience, such that this effect is lessened when shopping experience increases. This research offers significant implications for different stakeholders including e-retailers, ecommerce platforms, policymakers, and consumers to stimulate consumers’ perception of e-retailer ethics and repurchase intention from the ecommerce platforms.