Psychological need profiles during online shopping: exploring associations with word-of-mouth and loyalty

Purpose

Drawing on self-determination theory, a person-centered approach was used to investigate how the satisfaction and frustration of the basic psychological needs of autonomy and competence produce adaptive vs maladaptive consumer behavior during the online shopping experience.

Design/methodology/approach

We collected questionnaire data from 1,399 respondents engaged in online shopping, including 65% females with an average age of 29.9. Latent profile analysis tested the hypotheses, using Mplus 8.3.

Findings

The online shopping experience sometimes satisfies and sometimes frustrates consumers’ basic psychological needs for autonomy and competence. This research used latent profile analysis to identify two profiles of the online shopping experience: “satisfied-dominant” and “moderately satisfied/frustrated.” Online shoppers who experienced only need satisfaction showed adaptive consumer behavior in terms of positive word-of-mouth and high loyalty, while online shoppers who experienced both moderate need satisfaction and frustration showed maladaptive consumer behavior.

Originality/value

An online shopping experience of need satisfaction vs frustration explains consumers’ adaptive vs maladaptive behavior. Specifically, when online shoppers experience only autonomy and competence need satisfaction, they engage in positive word-of-mouth and show high loyalty.