The Dual Effects of Consumer Satisfaction on Brand Switching Intention of Sharing Apparel

Abstract

Previous studies have found that consumer satisfaction is negatively associated with brand switching intention in the common purchasing context; is this still true in the context of sharing apparel? This study aims to investigate the effect of consumer satisfaction on the brand switching intention of sharing apparel and to reveal the mechanism by exploring the mediating effects of brand trust and platform trust, integrating the moderating effect of variety seeking. Data were acquired from 346 consumers of sharing apparel through an online questionnaire survey. Hypotheses were tested in a moderated mediation model, with the bootstrapping method using the PROCESS program in SPSS. The empirical results demonstrated that the overall impact of consumer satisfaction on brand switching intention was not significant, while the mediating effect of brand trust was significantly negative, and the mediating effect of platform trust was significantly positive. The moderating effect of variety seeking on the relationship between brand trust and brand switching intention was not significant, while the positive effect of platform trust on brand switching intention was stronger at higher levels of variety seeking. In addition, the mediating effect of platform trust on the relationship between consumer satisfaction and brand switching intention was also stronger at higher levels of variety seeking. Therefore, there are dual effects of consumer satisfaction on brand switching intention of sharing apparel through the different mediating effects of brand trust and platform trust. Based on these findings, we recommend that sharing apparel platforms could enlarge their return by fostering emerging brands or private brands, while premium brands should be cautious about fostering potential competitors when cooperating with sharing platforms.