What Drives the Digital Customer Experience and Customer Loyalty in Mobile Short-Form Video Shopping? Evidence from Douyin (TikTok)

Abstract

Mobile short-form video (MSFV) shopping represents an emerging method of mobile e-commerce and indicates the future development trend of mobile e-commerce. Unlike other famous mobile commerce applications, MSFV apps provide customers with animated videos which enable them to view product information vividly. This study examines the associations between digital customer experience and customer loyalty based on a human–computer interaction approach. We draw on content quality, relationship quality, and stickiness to investigate customer attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty. A total of 796 users who use the leading MSFV app in China were randomly surveyed, among whom 778 users were involved in testing the hypotheses. Our findings indicate that content and relationship quality positively influence customers’ stickiness to MSFV shopping. Moreover, stickiness positively mediates the indirect link between content quality and customer loyalty as well as relationship quality and customer loyalty. This study demonstrates the value of extending the human-computer interaction approach to MSFV shopping and contributes to the existing literature by offering a deeper understanding of customer loyalty in the context of MSFV shopping. In addition, it has some managerial implications for making the most of the MSFV app’s huge potential to help the sustainable growth of mobile e-commerce.