An empirical investigation of the factors motivating Japanese repeat consumers to review their shopping experiences

Consumers purchase items (e.g., food) online due to today's rapidly changing markets and to improvements in online and mobile technology. Online supermarkets have been gaining popularity among Japanese consumers. As the population experiences a hectic lifestyle and is aging, many Japanese consumers are seeing the benefits of shopping on an online supermarket website. However, as with any e-commerce activity, reviews are critical for the success of these e-vendors. Despite the importance of reviews, little is known about what motivates repeat online supermarket consumers to review their purchasing experiences. This paper examines consumers' willingness to review and the relationship between consumers' search attributes such as price, promotion and service, e-satisfaction and trust on their online supermarket purchase experiences. The research findings support the results of earlier studies that search attributes are determinants of consumers' e-satisfaction. In addition, e-satisfaction affects e-trust. Interestingly, e-trust has a negative effect on the willingness to review.