The antecedents of client loyalty in business-to-business (B2B) electronic marketplaces

a r t i c l e i n f o The globalization of economic activity and the emergence of the Internet have led to the appearance of a new model of business-to-business (B2B) known as the electronic B2B market or e-marketplace which facilitates the establishment of marketing relationships between buyers and sellers. In view of the limited research in this area, the present study examines the elements that may influence client (i.e., user) loyalty in this context. The basis of the study is an analysis of empirical data provided by 197 Spanish e-marketplace selling-side users, investigating the influence of image, quality, satisfaction, and value on client loyalty. The results indicated that satisfaction had no direct impact on client loyalty, but that the e-marketplace's image and user-perceived quality and value are antecedents of its clients' loyalty. Recent decades have seen increasing interest in establishing what are the marketing relationships between buyers and sellers in the business-to-business (B2B) area. In these relationships, a major role is being played by the new information and communications technologies. In particular, the dramatic growth in firms' use of the Internet for business transactions has led to the emergence of what has come to be known as B2B e-commerce, and a new business model known as business-to-business marketplaces (or simply e-marketplaces) in which many buying and selling firms access a given Web site or platform to transact their business. For these new channels to be viable, customers must perceive them as effective and efficient (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Malhotra, 2005). For this reason, issues related to client loyalty and the factors that affect it take on a particular relevance. Recently, numerous studies have been published which analyze the antecedents of client loyalty in the field of e-commerce between busi-Despite the importance of this theme, however, there have been relatively few studies conceptualizing and investigating the antecedents of client loyalty in or in an electronic B2B environment. Indeed, for the case of e-marketplaces our review of the literature found no article dealing with this question. One of the aims of the present study was therefore to help fill this gap in research. We believe that client loyalty is crucial to a firm's survival, especially in the context of e-commerce. This loyalty is not achieved simply with technology, but also requires improving the customer's experience. Although Internet brings relationships with customers closer, the basic laws and rewards of building …