Understanding Customers’ Behavioral Perspectives Behind Opportunistic Returns in E-Commerce

Abstract

Opportunistic product returns by customers have become a significant concern for e-commerce businesses, significantly impacting their profits and increasing logistical complexity. This study aims to understand how different cognitive routes influence customers’ opportunistic product return behavior on e-commerce platforms. This research employs a sequential mixed-methodology approach. Initially, a qualitative study (Phase I) was conducted with 21 respondents to identify the various reasons that drive and resist customers from performing opportunistic product returns. A quantitative study (phase II) was conducted to test various hypotheses proposed under the behavioral reasoning theory framework using the PLS-SEM method. The qualitative study results showed that customers engage in opportunistic returns for three reasons: variety seeking, financial benefits, and impulsive purchase, whereas factors such as social group influence and complexity of the return procedure discourage customers from participating in opportunistic returns. Furthermore, the quantitative study determined the significance of customers’ values, reasons, attitudes, and intentions in their decision-making process for performing opportunistic returns. Unlike other studies, the current study investigates the effects of both “reasons for” and “reasons against” opportunistic returns on customers, examining the factors that encourage and deter them from performing such returns in e-commerce within a single, holistic model. The study findings will aid e-commerce businesses in developing technology that can address emerging issues of opportunistic customer return behavior.