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Personality Antecedents of Customer Citizenship Behaviors in Online Shopping Situations Nwamaka A. Anaza Francis Marion University

ABSTRACT This study examines the psychological process used in predicting customer citizenship behaviors. Hypotheses are proposed to test the effects of personality traits on customer satisfaction, and customer citizenship behaviors in an online shopping context. Two broader elemental traits—agreeableness and extraversion—are posited to lead to specific state-based traits; namely, perspective taking and empathic concern. In turn, empathic reactions are expected to affect customer satisfaction as well as customer citizenship behaviors. Study results demonstrate that individuals high on empathic concern feel greater satisfaction with the service provider, and display C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. a greater propensity to help other online shoppers.

Service companies have become increasingly interested in learning more about customer citizenship behaviors, largely as a consequence of its growing popularity in the marketing literature. Customer citizenship behavior, a person’s self-willingness to engage in unsolicited, helpful, and constructive behaviors toward other customers and the firm, has been found to have beneficial implications for a company’s overall performance (Bartikowski & Walsh, 2011; Bove, Pervan, Beatty, & Shiu, 2009; Groth, 2005; Yi & Gong, 2006, 2008a, 2008b; Yi, Gong, & Lee, 2013). These behaviors are particularly important in online service environments where the customer’s behaviors are no longer triggered by the traditional face-to-face encounter with service personnel, but rather from their interaction with a virtual interface (Meuter, Ostrom, Roundtree, & Bitner, 2000). With virtual interfaces becoming more of the primary or perhaps the only points of customer contact for many organizations (Balasubramanian, Konana, & Menon, 2003), researchers and practitioners need to better understand factors that motivate such behaviors in online settings. For years, scholars in both the management and marketing literatures (e.g., Bettencourt, Gwinner, & Meuter, 2001; Chiaburu, Oh, Berry, Li, & Gardner, 2011; Organ & Lingl, 1995; Organ & Ryan, 1995) have contended that sources of citizenship behaviors in organizational settings were typically composed of dispositional antecedents based on enduring human personality characteristics. Management scholars such as Ilies, Fulmer, Spitzmuller, and Johnson (2009), e.g., argued that because citizenship behaviors were voluntary ac-

tions, they were not mandated as part of an individual’s expected role responsibility. For this reason, these behaviors are less motivated by cognitive influences and more so by personality attributes, personal choice, and emotional states analogous to empathetic reactions. While empathy may prompt people to engage in extra-role citizenship behaviors (Borman, Penner, Allen, & Motowidlo, 2001; Griffin, Babin, Attaway, & Darden, 1993; McNeely & Meglino, 1994; Penner, Fitzsche, Craiger, & Freifeld, 1995), management and marketing studies have reported that such attributes work best in conjunction with additional personality traits (Borman et al., 2001; Bosnjak, Galesic, & Tuten, 2007; Harris & Mowen, 2001; Taylor, Kluemper, & Mossholder, 2010). Prior literature (e.g., Borman et al., 2001; Taylor, Kluemper, & Mossholder, 2010), e.g., has consistently observed a robust relationship between broader dispositional characteristics, such as the Big Five traits, and empathy when explaining interpersonal citizenship behaviors. In light of the support for these relationships within the context of organizational citizenship, this study speculates that a similar process may also occur within the context of customer citizenship behaviors in online environments. Hence, this study examines the relationship between broader personality traits (agreeableness and extraversion), and specific state-based traits (perspective taking and empathic concern) and their impact on customer satisfaction and citizenship behaviors in online environments. Specifically, this study posits that the association between customer satisfaction and citizenship behaviors is motivated by emotional reactions fueled

Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 31(4): 251–263 (April 2014) View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/mar C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/mar.20692 251

by broader personality traits. This study differs from past research exploring the relationship between customer satisfaction and citizenship behaviors in that it examines the trait-based determinants of satisfaction in online shopping environments. As a result, there is a need for scholars to fully make sense of factors that motivate the relationship between satisfaction and citizenship behaviors. Furthermore, researchers should recognize that consumer attitudes may result from the role that individual dispositional characteristics play in stimulating cognitive and affective states, as opposed to assuming that satisfaction, as a consumer attitude, is derived solely from employee citizenship or dysfunctional behaviors (e.g., Yi & Gong, 2008b). In looking at dispositional characteristics that influence satisfaction and citizenship behaviors, this study focuses on two personality traits: agreeableness, because of its reported impact on empathy (Graziano, Habashi, Sheese, & Tobin, 2007), and extraversion, due to its link on Internet usage (Bosnjak, Galesic, & Tuten, 2007; Landers & Lounsbury, 2006). Additionally, researchers have demonstrated that, of the Big Five personality traits, agreeableness tends to display the strongest correlation with, and accounts for the largest amount of variance in citizenship behaviors within organizational settings (Organ & Lingl, 1995; Organ & Ryan, 1995). Moreover, consumer studies have found that agreeableness and extraversion both indirectly influence a person’s intention to shop online (Bosnjak, Galesic, & Tuten, 2007). Building upon these findings, it is reasonable to deduce that agreeableness and extraversion would provide the starting point for understanding personality drivers of citizenship behaviors in online consumption settings. In examining these relationships, this study makes several contributions that advance the marketing literature. First, an attempt is made to resolve the ambiguity concerning the linkage between personality traits and customer citizenship behaviors. The influence of personality characteristics on empathy, as a force that powers consumer attitudes, symbolizes a different theoretical approach that has yet to be tested when explaining customer citizenship behaviors in online shopping situations. Second, by identifying consumer empathy as a crucial driver of customer satisfaction, researchers are provided an alternative affective construct. This construct can be useful in gauging consumption-based emotions and predicting meaningful customer attitudes and subsequent behaviors in online environments, where opportunities exist for extensive personal interaction among consumers. From an empirical perspective, although several studies in the marketing literature have examined the outcomes of empathetic responses within varying contexts such as advertising (Escalas & Stern, 2003; Mooradian, Matzler, & Szykman, 2008), charitable donations (Griffin et al., 1993), and cultural orientation (Aaker & Williams, 1998), no study to date has explored empathy in relation to customer citizenship behaviors in online shopping situations. Therefore, a third contri-

bution this study makes to the marketing literature is the examination of the role of empathetic reactions to online shopping. This may demonstrate why consumers take on the advocacy role of helping other shoppers and the company, in the absence of physical service provider interaction. Finally, from a practical perspective, this study shows online retailers how their virtual actions can evoke empathetic reactions in consumers, to the point of triggering immediate positive responses that support the e-retailer’s performance.

PERSONALITY TRAITS, EMPATHY, AND CUSTOMER CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIORS Understanding Personality Traits Hundreds of attempts have been directed at studying human personality traits, yet no consensus among personality theorists exists concerning a definition of personality. For example, Funder (2001) believes that personality generally describes the attributes and features that highlight a person’s pattern of thoughts, emotions, and actions, plus the psychological process behind these patterns. Mount, Barrick, Scullen, and Rounds (2005), however, define personality traits as “the characteristics that are stable over time, provide the reasons for the person’s behavior, and are psychological in nature. They reflect who we are and in aggregate determine our affective, behavioral, and cognitive style” (pp. 448–449). Drawing on extant research, the Five-Factor model of personality, often called the Big Five, has been studied for years and is a favored method among researchers when assessing normal human traits within various contexts (Chiaburu et al., 2011; Judge, Hellwer, & Mount, 2002; McCrae & John, 1992; Mowen & Spears, 1999; Olver & Mooradian, 2003). Marketing scholars have recently identified the Big Five as cardinal traits (Harris & Mowen, 2001), or elemental traits (Bosnjak, Galesic, & Tuten, 2007), because they symbolize basic human dispositions that are generally inherited or learned early in life. In other words, these traits typically supersede other human traits including, compound, situational, or surface traits (Bosnjak, Galesic, & Tuten, 2007). The Big Five are composed of fundamental human characteristics recognizable across cultural borders, gender groups, research methods, and rating participants (McCrae & John, 1992). They are summarized as agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience.

Understanding Empathy Empathy is defined as an individual’s cognitive and affective ability to recognize, feel, interpret, and then respond to another person’s experiences, thoughts, and emotional state (Davis, 1980, 1983). As a cognitive process, empathy requires Person A to intellectually take on Person B’s role or perspective by seeing,

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ANAZA DOI: 10.1002/mar

understanding, or perceiving experiences from Person B’s point of view (Deutsch & Madle, 1975). In this instance, empathy is likened to perspective taking (Davis, 1983). On the other hand, empathy as an affective process requires an individual to explicitly show feelings of care, compassion, and warmth toward people suffering from negative experiences (Batson, Fultz, & Schoenrode, 1987). This form of empathy is categorized as empathic concern (Davis, 1983).

Understanding Customer Citizenship Behaviors Customer citizenship behaviors reflect unsolicited, voluntary extra-role behaviors expressed by customers (Groth, 2005). Identified by terms such as customer organizational citizenship behaviors (Bove et al., 2009), customer extra-role behaviors (Ahearne, Bhattacharya, & Gruen, 2005), customer discretionary behaviors (Ford, 1995), customer helping behaviors (Johnson & Rapp, 2010), and customer voluntary performance (Bettencourt, 1997), these behaviors are believed to fall outside the role and expectations of what customers are required to do before, during, and after the acquisition of a product or service. Stemming from Groth’s (2005) definition, Anaza and Zhao (2013) purport that online shoppers who engage in positive extra-role behaviors are classified as good online citizens because their actions help online retailers improve overall service delivery to online shoppers. Because online service encounters require customers to become partial employees in the production of their own services (e.g., self-booking a hotel reservation online rather than using a travel agent), the willingness of a customer to go beyond their prescribed in-role expectation, by exhibiting gestures that benefit both the firm and other consumers, suggest that these customers are committed to seeing the online retailer succeed. Different conceptualizations of customer citizenship behaviors have been reported in the service literatures (Bove et al., 2009; Groth, 2005; Johnson & Rapp, 2010). For example, Groth (2005) identifies three clusters of customer citizenship behaviors, based on customer accounts of voluntary and discretionary actions before, during, and after a service transaction. These actions or dimensions include recommending friends and family to the service provider, helping other customers, and providing feedback to the firm. Another conceptualization by Bove et al. (2009) describes dimensions of customer organizational citizenship behaviors as behaviors that benefit the organization, behaviors that benefit individual service employees, and behaviors that benefit other customers. Behaviors like positive word-of-mouth and policing other customers are categorized as benefiting other customers, while behaviors such as display of relationship affiliation, participation in firm’s activities, benevolent acts of service facilitation, flexibility, suggestions for service

PERSONALITY ANTECEDENTS OF CUSTOMER CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIORS Psychology and Marketing DOI: 10.1002/mar

improvements, and customer voicing complaints are directed toward benefiting the firm and its employees. Bove et al. define customer organizational citizenship behaviors as “the voluntary behaviors outside of the customer’s required role for service delivery, which aim to provide help and assistance, and are conducive to effective organizational functioning” (p. 699). Johnson and Rapp (2010) developed a scale to measure customer helping behaviors. They categorized helping behaviors into eight factors, including customers increasing their purchase quantity and consumer self-display of brands. An example of an item used to operationalize displaying brands reads as follows: “I wear this organization’s brands or logos on my clothes.” The problem with utilizing such a question to measure citizenship behaviors is that companies and researchers are unable to ascertain whether customers are wearing clothing displaying company brands unconsciously or consciously. Take for example, the author has a shirt with the saying “Built Ford Tough.” This shirt was purchased on impulse at Walmart for only $5. The shirt was not purchased to help or showcase any type of support toward Ford the company or its brand, but was simply purchased on impulse due to its price. Nonetheless, given that the dimensions suggested by Bove et al. (2009) relate to and fall within Groth’s three dimensions of customer citizenship behavior, this study categorizes online customer citizenship behaviors into similar dimensions of recommendation, helping behaviors, and service firm facilitation. Recommendation is defined as the voluntary creation and distribution of messages by online shoppers to other e-shoppers, as a means of spreading positive information about the firm and/or its products/services (Anaza & Zhao, 2013). Recommendation should not be confused with electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), but must be viewed as a concept that tackles online opinion forwarding rather than opinion seeking or opinion leadership (Chu & Kim, 2011). Examples include posting positive comments and/or highly rating an eretailer’s services and products on the company’s or a third party’s Web site. These customer-generated recommendations are typically more trusted and valued by other consumers than company-generated messages (Mudambi & Schuff, 2010). As a result, online stores with high online consumer ratings experience increased traffic, consequently improving the firm’s online revenue and profit (Clemons, Gao, & Hitt, 2006). Helping behaviors refer to constructive efforts displayed by e-shoppers that are used in assisting other customers before, during, or after an online shopping transaction. Customers may engage in helping behaviors to assist other consumers to make good product and/or service selections. Helpers aid in lessening purchase risk by acting as social evaluators who willingly offer their advice, expertise, support, and companionship to other consumers (Hartman & Kiecker, 1991; Sanders, 1985). Examples include helping other customers with their shopping needs by assisting them

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Figure 1. Model with standardized parameter estimates. AGR, agreeableness; EXT, extraversion; PT, perspective taking, EC, empathic concern; CS, customer satisfaction; REC, recommendation; HEL, helping behaviors; SFF, service firm facilitation; ns, not significant. ∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗ p < 0.01, ∗∗∗ p < 0.001.

in finding products and teaching novice consumers about ways to utilize a company’s online services accurately. Service firm facilitation reflects e-shopper self-motivated behaviors directed at supporting the company’s efforts to provide better services to all of its customers. Examples include providing voluntary survey-based feedbacks and comments to the firm. This enables the customer to communicate directly with the online service providers about underperforming areas in the e-store.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT This study’s conceptual framework is portrayed in Figure 1. The figure depicts the sequential structure, from personality traits to customer citizenship behaviors in online retail environments. The framework begins by theorizing a relationship between personality traits and other-oriented cognitive and emotional responses such as perspective taking and empathic concern. Research supports the notion that feelings of empathy are more likely to be associated with individuals who express traits of agreeableness and extraversion (del Barrio, Aluja, & Garcia, 2004; Saucier, 1994). Therefore, the extent to which cognitive empathy affects an individual’s emotional state will determine a customer’s response to a particular consumption experience and subsequent behavioral outcomes.

The Relationship between Personality Traits and Empathy Identified by traits of kindness, cooperation, sympathy, and warmth (Saucier, 1994), agreeable individuals have been known to develop good interpersonal relationships with service providers, to the point of willingly engaging in positive attitudes that benefit the provider even when the encounter is negative (Harris & Mowen, 2001; Tan, Foo, & Kwek, 2004). A growing body of research suggests that individual attitudes that follow from strong expressions of agreeableness are a direct function of one’s empathic state (Graziano et al., 2007; Mooradian, Matzler, & Szykman, 2008). For instance, Graziano et al. (2007) speculates that agreeableness heightens in people the desire to express other-oriented emotions such as empathic concern. Agreeableness also, at the same time, propels individuals to repress dominant self-centered emotions like personal distress, which prevents people from engaging in prosocial actions geared toward helping others (Graziano et al., 2007). Similar arguments have been raised by consumer behaviorists. For example, in an advertising assessment study by Mooradian, Matzler, and Szykman (2008), the scholars document that agreeableness positively impacts perspective taking. Likewise, agreeableness has been significantly related to empathic concern (Mooradian, Davis, & Matzler, 2011). Mooradian et al. explained that a reason for the strong relationship between agreeableness and empathic concern is largely because both constructs are emotional



in nature, in that the former deals with compassion, while the latter tackles concern. Therefore, based on the works of Mooradian et al. (e.g., Mooradian, Matzler, & Szykman, 2008; Mooradian, Davis, & Matzler, 2011), the following are proposed: H1:

The personality trait agreeableness will have a positive effect on empathetic responses (H1a: perspective taking, H1b: empathic concern).

Unlike agreeableness, extraversion is a personality dimension closely related to positive affectivity. Extroverts are characterized as friendly individuals who enjoy human companionship, and as such are more akin to being supportive of other people’s actions (Judge, Hellwer, & Mount, 2002; Mooradian & Olver, 1996). Consequently, they are more susceptible and empathic to the suffering and distress of others. Findings by Davis (1983) point to why perspective taking may manifest as a consequence of extraversion. Davis found that extraversion was positively related to high perspective taking scores since high perspective takers, just like extroverts, preferred successful interpersonal relationships and functioning. Moreover, it has been revealed using the NEO scale that extraversion is a reliable positive predictor of empathic concern (Mooradian, Davis, & Matzler, 2011). Nonetheless, Jolliffe and Farrington (2006), using the basic empathy scale (BES), found that extraversion was negatively related to affective empathy when the participants were solely female. Despite the mixed findings, this study proposes positive relationships between extraversion and empathy, which are more in line with past consumer-based research (e.g., Mooradian, Davis, & Matzler, 2011). Therefore, the following are proposed: H2:

The personality trait extraversion will have a positive effect on empathetic responses (H2a: perspective taking, H2b: empathic concern).

The Relationship between Perspective Taking and Empathic Concern Consistent with recent findings by Mooradian, Matzler, and Szykman (2008), this study posits that perspective taking will increase a person’s level of emotional concern for another individual’s overt negative affective state. This reasoning is offered because perceptive taking allows for outside observers to project and imitate other people’s (targets) emotional cues. This in turn gives observers the ability to construct and feel similar emotional reactions as the target (Davis, 1994; Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006). On the basis of these findings, the following is proposed: H3:

Perspective taking will have a positive effect on empathic concern.


The Relationship between Empathic Concern and Customer Satisfaction This study predicts that empathic concern will positively affect customer satisfaction. According to the service marketing literature, customers are more likely to express positive attitudes toward frontline service employees with a high degree of empathy (e.g., Homburg, Wieseke, & Bornemann, 2009). While frontline employee empathy has been studied in relation to customer satisfaction, mainly as part of the SERVQUAL dimension (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1994), less research has been performed on customer empathic concern as a direct predictor of customer satisfaction. To understand the role of empathic concern on customer satisfaction, this study draws on previous consumer psychology research, which has found that customers high on empathic concern often respond strongly to service experiences in general, regardless of whether the experience was good or bad (e.g., Laufer & Gillespie, 2004). Although such studies are few in number, they provide the basis to speculate that empathic concern may be the key emotional attribute that drives customers to react positively to a particular online consumption experience. Therefore, the following is proposed: H4:

Empathic concern will have a positive effect on customer satisfaction.

The Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Customer Citizenship Behaviors Consistent with past research (Anaza & Zhao, 2013; Chen, Chen, & Farn, 2010; Groth, 2005; Yi & Gong, 2008b), this study argues that customer satisfaction positively influences customer citizenship behaviors. Groth (2005), for instance, found that customers satisfied with the services provided by a business were more inclined to recommend the business to family and friends, help other customers with their shopping needs, and provide feedback to the company and its employees. On the basis of these findings, this study proposes similar linkages, but introduces empathy as the emotional motivation for the effect of customer satisfaction on customer citizenship behaviors. Therefore, the following are proposed: H5:

Customer satisfaction with an e-retailer will have a positive effect on customer citizenship behaviors in online encounters (H5a: recommendation, H5b: helping behaviors, H5c: service firm facilitation).

The Relationship between Empathic Concern and Customer Citizenship Behaviors Another relationship that warrants empirical investigation is the impact of empathic concern on customer

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citizenship behaviors. While research related to empathy is extensive, none of these studies have addressed nor examined the direct effect of empathic concern on customer citizenship behaviors. Previous studies, however, have investigated the impact of empathy on consumer helping behaviors within different contexts. One of such studies by Griffin et al. (1993) found that empathy evoked a greater willingness and intention in people to make monetary contributions to charitable organizations as a way to help those experiencing negative situations get back on their feet. Furthermore, evidence primarily from the organization literature has suggested that empathy directly affects organizational citizenship behaviors, particularly during interpersonal interactions and social exchanges (Batson, Eklund, Chermok, Hoyt, & Ortiz, 2007; Borman et al., 2001; Joireman, Kamdar, Daniels, & Duell, 2006; Kamdar, McAllister, & Turban, 2006; McNeely & Meglino, 1994; Spector & Fox, 2002). Given that explanations for the relationship between empathy and citizenship behaviors are mainly grounded in the organization literature, this study draws largely from their contributions as the basis for establishing similar linkages within an online consumer-based context. Researchers have long believed that empathic people are sensitized to care about other people’s negative experiences, so much that their feelings of concern translate into providing assistance to those in need of help (Davis et al., 1999; Davis, Hall, & Meyer, 2003; Joireman et al., 2006). For instance, Joireman et al. (2006), in a study involving 200 engineers working for a large multinational conglomerate, argued that individuals high in empathy ought to engage in more organizational citizenship behaviors (altruism, conscientiousness, civic virtue, courtesy, sportsmanship, voice), mainly due to their need to help individual others and the collective group, i.e., the firm. They found support for five of the six dimensions (sportsmanship was not supported), and noted that empathy was a significant predictor for overall organizational citizenship behavior. Borman et al. (2001) regarded empathy as one of the key dispositional catalysts that contributed to employees informally volunteering to perform responsibilities that fell outside their job requirements. This therefore made them more willing to cooperate with other employees for the sake of company good. Research on empathy in relation to recommendation is limited. However, scholars have suggested that eWOM, such as information provided through online customer forums elicit greater empathy, credibility, and relevance among other consumers than information provided on a company’s Web site (Bickart & Schindler, 2001). Even within a hospital setting, scholars find that patients with socially oriented personality traits are more prone to relay positive information about their hospital experience to friends and family than individuals with self-oriented personal values (Ferguson, Paulin, & Bergeron, 2010). On the basis of these findings, the following are proposed:

H6:

Empathic concern will have a positive effect on customer citizenship behaviors in online encounters (H6a: recommendation, H6b: helping behaviors, H6c: service firm facilitation).

METHODOLOGY Participants Survey data were collected online via Qualtrics from undergraduate students at two public universities, one located in the midwestern and the other in the southeastern region of the United States of America. The survey itself was divided into three parts. The first part entailed questions about respondents’ personality traits. The second part contained questions about online purchases, shopping patterns, attitudes, and behaviors. The last part of the survey asked about demographics. After participants had completed questions regarding their personality characteristics, two screening questions addressing Internet usage and prior online shopping were included to ensure that only those who had made previous online purchases were allowed to continue completing the survey. The inclusion of these questions was particularly used to screen for recent online purchasing activity. A sample of 235 students started the online survey in exchange for extra credit points in a course. Ten respondents were removed for failing the screening questions. Of those who completed the questionnaire, 55 did not answer the entire questions in the survey, and 15 were removed for providing unqualified responses, resulting in a sample size of 155 (71%). The sample was composed of 65% female and 35% male, who on average were 21 years old. About 60% were Caucasian, while more than 90% were single–never married shoppers. Fifty-one percent of the participants made frequent purchases from full-service marketplaces like ebay, Amazon, and Walmart. Seven percent made recurrent purchases for games/music/musical supplies/videos from e-stores like Itunes, Redbox, and Musician’s Friend. Thirtyone percent frequented clothing/accessories/makeup/ fragrance/skincare e-stores like Belk, Zappos, Sephora, Express, J.Crew, Football Fanatics, Baseballexpress.com, and Express. The last category (11%) was composed of e-shoppers who visited electronic, book, and other e-stores similar to BestBuy, Chegg, Cengage, Pizza Hut Online, and StubHub.

Measures Measures employed in this study were all adopted from previously validated scales in the literature. Agreeableness and extraversion were measured using Saucier’s (1994) Five-Factor Mini Markers scale, which represents a reduced adaptation of Goldberg’s Unipolar



Table 1. Squared Correlation Estimates, Means, SDs, and Ranges. Construct 1. Agreeableness 2. Extraversion 3. Perspective taking 4. Empathic concern 5. Customer satisfaction 6. Recommendation 7. Helping behaviors 8. Service rirm facilitation ∗

p < 0.05,

∗∗

1

2

– 0.03∗ 0.17∗∗ 0.19∗∗ 0.09∗∗ 0.06∗∗ 0.04∗∗ 0.00

– 0.00 − 0.01 0.00 − 0.01 − 0.05∗∗ − 0.03∗

3

– 0.22∗∗ 0.03∗ 0.01 0.01 0.01

4

5

– 0.04∗ 0.02∗ 0.07∗∗ 0.01

– 0.70∗∗ 0.37∗∗ 0.10∗∗

6

– 0.14∗∗ 0.38∗∗

7

– 0.34∗∗

8

Mean

SD

Range

–

5.78 4.72 5.19 5.42 5.30 5.43 4.87 4.10

1.04 1.21 1.21 1.16 1.37 1.36 1.54 1.62

5.00 5.17 6.00 5.50 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00

p < 0.01.

Big-Five scale (Goldberg, 1992). Participants were asked to identify, to what extent, 16 human trait questions represented them. Eight of these items rated on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (very inaccurate) to 7 (very accurate) were used to measure agreeableness, and another set of eight questions was used to measure extraversion. Empathy was assessed using Davis’ (1980) Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), which is composed of multidimensional subscales. Perspective taking and empathic concern were each measured using seven items anchored on a 7-point scale ranging from 1(does not describe me well) to 7 (describes me well). Items used to operationalize customer satisfaction were derived from Atchariyachanvanich, Okada, and Sonehara’s (2006) study. Three questionnaire items anchored on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) were employed, to determine a participant’s level of pleasure concerning his or her general online shopping experience including the purchase itself. The three dimensions of customer citizenship behavior (helping behaviors, service firm facilitation, and recommendation) were measured using four items, each adapted from Groth (2005) study. Respondents rated their degree of agreement to questions anchored on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). See the Appendix for the questionnaire items.

Model Assessment To validate the fit of the model, confirmatory factor analysis on the initial 45 items was conducted. Several fit indices, including the Confirmatory Fit Index (CFI), the Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI), and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) were employed to verify the acceptability of the model fit as interpreted by guidelines provided by Brown (2006). Initial results from the modification indices prompted the deletion of several indicator items that cross-loaded on nonrelated factors and produced standardized factor loadings below 0.50. The final measurement model extrapolated 32 items and revealed an improved model fit (χ2 = 633.92, df = 432, p < 0.001, χ2 /df = 1.46, CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.94, and RMSEA = 0.05), suggesting that the model fit the data well. To examine construct reliabilities, Cronbach alpha coefficients were reported. Cronbach alpha coefficients


ranged from 0.79 to 0.96, thus suggesting acceptable construct reliabilities. These were further validated using composite reliability scores with scores, ranging from 0.80 to 0.96. To check for convergent validity, average variances extracted (AVE) for each latent variable was generated, with all values being greater than 0.50, thus demonstrating support for convergent validity (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Discriminant validity was also confirmed with AVE for each construct exceeding the squared correlations for paired variables. For an overview of the psychometric properties for each construct see Table 1 (means, SDs, and the squared correlation estimates between variables), and Table 2 (measurement model assessment).

RESULTS Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. The model produced satisfactory fit (χ2 = 654.83, df = 444, p < 0.001, χ2 /df = 1.47, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.94, and RMSEA = 0.05). These results are reported in Table 3. The relationship between agreeableness and empathetic responses were examined in Hypothesis 1a and b. As predicted in Hypothesis 1a and b, agreeableness positively and significantly influenced perspective taking (b = 0.51, C.R. = 4.75, p < 0.001) and empathic concern (b = 0.44, C.R. = 3.59, p < 0.001). Hypothesis 2a and b predicted that extraversion will positively affect empathetic responses. Contrary to the positive relationship proposed in Hypothesis 2a, the results indicated that extraversion did not significantly predict perspective taking (b = −0.10, C.R. = −0.89, p > 0.05). This provides no support for Hypothesis 2a. In examining Hypothesis 2b, the results demonstrated a negative and significant relationship between extraversion and empathic concern (b = −0.32, C.R. = −2.58, p = 0.01). This provides partial support for Hypothesis 2b, and is directionally consistent with previous findings (e.g., Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006). Consistent with Hypothesis 3, individuals high on perspective taking were more willing to display traits of empathic concern (b = 0.43, C.R. = 3.44, p < 0.001). In support of Hypothesis 4, the results provide strong evidence (b = 0.28, C.R. = 2.85, p < 0.01) to show that empathic concern positively influenced customer satisfaction.

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Table 2. Final Confirmatory Assessment of the Measures. Construct

Number of Items

Factor Loadings

AVE

Composite Reliabilities

Alphas

5 6 4 4 3 3 3 4

0.59–0.80 0.56–0.91 0.66–0.80 0.52–0.82 0.89–0.96 0.85–0.96 0.91–0.98 0.85–0.94

0.50 0.50 0.50 0.52 0.87 0.84 0.88 0.82

0.83 0.85 0.80 0.81 0.95 0.94 0.96 0.95

0.85 0.86 0.79 0.80 0.95 0.93 0.96 0.95

Agreeableness Extraversion Perspective taking Empathic concern Customer satisfaction Recommendation Helping behaviors Service firm facilitation

Table 3. Results of Structural Equation Model Analysis. Hypotheses H1a: agreeableness H1b: agreeableness H2a: extraversion H2b: extraversion H3: perspective taking H4: empathic concern H5a: customer satisfaction H5b: customer satisfaction H5c: customer satisfaction H6a: empathic concern H6b: empathic concern H6c: empathic concern

→ → → → → → → → → → → →

Perspective taking Empathic concern Perspective taking Empathic concern Empathic concern Customer satisfaction Recommendation Helping behaviors Service firm facilitation Recommendation Helping behaviors Service firm facilitation

Hypothesis 5 predicts that customer satisfaction will have a positive and significant effect on customer citizenship behaviors. The results demonstrated that customer satisfaction positively and significantly influenced recommendation (b = 0.84, C.R. = 13.09, p < 0.001), helping behaviors (b = 0.69, C.R. = 8.90, p < 0.001) and service firm facilitation (b = 0.39, C.R. = 3.89, p < 0.001). As such, full support is demonstrated for hypothesis 5a through c. Hypothesis 6a predicted that empathic concern will affect a customer’s willingness to recommend an e-retailer’s store. The results did not support this relationship (b = −0.01, C.R. = −0.27, p > 0.05). The relationship proposed between empathic concern and helping behaviors was statistically significant (b = 0.18, C.R. = 2.12, p < 0.05), as hypothesized in 6b. Hypothesis 6c posited that customers high on empathic concern will be more willing to help the company via service firm facilitation. Contrary to expectations, empathic concern had no significant effect on service firm facilitation (b = 0.10, C.R. = 0.87, p > 0.05). Thus, Hypothesis 6c is rejected. In sum, 12 hypotheses were proposed, nine significant relationships were found, three relationships were rejected, and one relationship was partially supported.

Post Hoc Analysis An alternative model exploring additional direct effects, not originally specified in the structural framework, was tested to correct for model misspecification. First, the personality trait of agreeableness and ex-

Unstandardized Weights

t-Statistics

Result

0.51 0.44 − 0.10 − 0.32 0.43 0.28 0.84 0.69 0.39 − 0.01 0.18 0.10

4.75 3.59 − 0.89 − 2.58 3.44 2.85 13.09 8.90 3.89 − 0.27 2.12 0.87

Supported Supported Not supported Partially supported Supported Supported Supported Supported Supported Not supported Supported Not supported

traversion were both linked to customer satisfaction. Second, helping behavior was modeled as a predictor of recommendation and service firm facilitation. The results demonstrated good fit to the data (χ2 = 645.326, df = 443, p < 0.001, χ2 /df = 1.45, CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.94, and RMSEA = 0.05). The results also showed that agreeableness directly and positively affected customer satisfaction (b = 0.38, C.R. = 3.03, p < 0.05). However, extraversion was unrelated to customer satisfaction (b = −0.19, C.R. = −1.27, p > 0.05). Interestingly, the results revealed that helping behavior significantly increased recommendation (b = 0.23, C.R. = 4.53, p < 0.05) and service firm facilitation (b = 0.75, C.R. = 6.93, p < 0.05).

GENERAL DISCUSSION Results from this study represent the first empirical attempt to formulate and test a framework examining the influences of elemental personality traits on empathybased traits as the motivation for customer satisfaction and citizenship behaviors in online environments. The lack of research on personality antecedents of citizenship behaviors in online consumption settings is surprising, given that these unsolicited, discretionary actions, do not cost online firms money, but ultimately can be used to benefit them and their stores in the long run. Findings from this research study illustrate that agreeableness and extraversion affect empathic reactions in people, and acts as the basis for



explaining increasing levels of customer satisfaction and citizenship behaviors. The findings suggest that individuals who report high empathic concern tend to perceive their online consumption experiences as satisfactory, and the effect of this relationship is greater for agreeable customers than extroverts. It also appears that agreeableness can significantly encourage perspective taking. However, when examining the role of extraversion on empathy, the findings suggest that extraversion better explains the affective element of empathy than the cognitive facet of empathy. This is contrary to Davis’ (1983) finding, but consistent with Jolliffe and Farrington’s (2006) discovery concerning the negative relationship between extraversion and affective empathy. Additional implications are derived from the results to advance the citizenship behaviors research.

RESEARCH AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS There are several important findings that emerge from this study that deserve further elaboration, particularly with regard to the study’s research contributions to the marketing literature. The sequence of the findings is consistent with the underlying premise concerning the personality-to-state-to-attitude-to-behavior process model, previously purported and supported by Mooradian and Olver (1994, 1997). This suggests that behavioral outcomes in online shopping are typically influenced by customer attitudes, and these attitudes are directly derived from specific human state-based traits that can be cognitive and affective in nature. However, the direct effect of empathic concern on citizenship behaviors suggests that individuals can also bypass attitudes altogether and go straight to displaying helpful behaviors. This is consistent with the growing discussion in the consumer psychology realm that currently challenges the attitudes-to-behaviors process model (e.g., Dijksterhuis, Smith, van Baaren, & Wigboldus, 2005). Although results from this study parallel the attitudes-to-behaviors process model, the findings offer evidence to further support a direct traitsto-behaviors process model. This in turn raises interesting questions for the future reconceptualization of the postpurchase process in consumer behavior research, especially when modeling extra-role behaviors in online shopping situations. Results from the structural framework also demonstrate that agreeable shoppers tend to be more cognitively and emotionally sensitized to other people’s experiences in contrast to extroverts. Similar findings have been made in previous research (Harris & Mowen, 2001; Tan, Foo, & Kwek, 2004). As a result, agreeable individuals are expected to respond positively to a service encounter. Such positive responses emanate in other-oriented behaviors directed toward helping other customers, rather than other-oriented behaviors geared


toward helping the firm. A possible explanation may be based on arguments posed by social exchange theory. Customers decide to help other customers in anticipation of a reciprocal behavior from the target recipent (Blau, 1964). Because customers typically do not conceive firms in cyberspace as “people,” there is a greater abstraction that customers find difficult to relate to, due to the absence of a face-to-face exchange (Reichheld & Schefter, 2000). Moreover, the opportunistic behaviors often displayed by online service providers (e.g., Gefen, Karahanna, & Straub, 2003) further diminish customers’ intention to provide feedback to such firms, due to fears that they will gain nothing in return. This study also offers practical implications. Given the importance of empathy as a direct predictor for customer satisfaction and customer helping behaviors, retailers must find ways to stimulate empathic concern in online shoppers. One way this can be accomplished is to capitalize on the relational aspects of cyber shopping. The results underscore the need for managers to give consumers an avenue to directly interact and engage with other shoppers in a virtual environment that can be directly monitored by the e-retailer. In the past, researchers like Bickart and Schindler (2001) have advocated that such avenues encompass online communities and discussion forums. However, with more online firms adopting social networking sites as leveraging tactics to grow their businesses, this study advocates the utilization of empathy marketing as part of a firm’s social media marketing campaign. Managers are encouraged to frame their social media marketing messages including sales promotions and ad campaigns, in a way that stimulates immediate empathic reactions by appealing to individuals that tend to be high on empathic concern (such as young girls and older women). For example, in 2009 Frito Lay launched an empathy-based marketing campaign called “Only in a Woman’s World.” This campaign was geared toward women supporting other women in their challenges and experiences pertaining to diets, beauty, snacking, exercise, and body confidence (FritoLay North America, Inc, 2009). While the campaign employed several multimedia strategies, it did not possess a social media presence. Such a campaign on a social networking site like Facebook could have generated positive commentaries among female followers who were trying to help other women win the weightloss challenge. The buzz could have been based on the premise of sisterhood, shared experiences, and wanting to help one another find an assortment of snack products that would address issues, like dieting.

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH This study has some limitations that deserve discussion. The data for this study were collected using student participants. While the sample represents a majority of consumers in the United States who are familiar with the process of online shopping (Lenhart,

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Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010), there are several concerns as to whether the results are generalizable to online customers within other age categories. Future studies may consider replicating the model with a sample composed of a greater age diversity of customers, to reconcile whether the results vary based on age or purchase type. Furthermore, the study’s usage of two personality constructs and two subscales of the IRI leave much room to assume that additional personality factors need to be incorporated into future e-customer citizenship behavior models. Also, determining whether empathy would be better explained as a moderator as suggested by Taylor, Kluemper, and Mossholder (2010) may advance our understanding and current application of the personality framework when explaining future customer citizenship behaviors. Like studies in the organizational sciences, future research investigating the personality determinants of customer citizenship behaviors may consider examining the other factors in the Big Five Personality Traits and comparing differences between groups of shoppers. Marketing research will benefit from examining the influence of empathic concern not only on citizenship behaviors, but also on overt postpurchase behaviors, such as complaining behaviors and repeat purchase intentions (Mooradian & Olver, 1997). Comparing citizenship behaviors in online shopping with traditional shopping may also demonstrate interesting variations, particularly in reference to the relationship between satisfaction and citizenship behaviors. In addition, future studies may consider examining the influence of other consumer-based constructs in the model, like customer commitment, customer-firm identification, customer delight, and customer affect. Although this study provides a starting point for further refinement of the current model, the lack of support for the relationship between empathic concern and recommendation or service firm facilitations suggest an underlying relationship among the citizenship dimensions, which was supported with the post hoc analysis.

CONCLUSION In conclusion, consumer personality in traditional store settings has received considerable attention with researchers developing trait-based models explaining shopping behavior (e.g., Mooradian, Matzler, & Szykman, 2008; Mowen & Spears, 1999). While these models have provided much insight into explaining an individual’s decisions, attitudes, and behaviors, existing understanding of consumer personality traits in an online shopping context has been limited, particularly with regard to citizenship behaviors. This study set out to fill these gaps in the literature by advancing the current knowledge of consumer personality, attitudes, and discretionary behaviors in a virtual abstract setting that is today becoming more of the exchange forum than brick-and-mortar stores.

Specifically this research study examined the following: (i) the direct effects of broader personality traits on specific state-based traits, (ii) the effect of empathic concern on customer satisfaction, and (iii) the additive effect of empathic concern and customer satisfaction on customer citizenship behaviors. The research study found that online service providers ought to be especially concerned with online shoppers who score high on agreeableness and low on extraversion. Specifically, agreeableness was found to contribute to empathy, which eventually predicted helping behaviors. Given this perspective, this study provides an initial attempt to understand the dispositional causes for discretionary actions in an online environment. Nevertheless, this area of research is yet to be fully developed, and thus presents several avenues for future research opportunities. Marketing and consumer behavior scholars are especially encouraged to delve deeper into studying psychological antecedents of the three-dimensional categorization of customer citizenship behaviors.

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APPENDIX Factor Loadings

Constructs with Underlying Questionnaire Items Agreeableness Warm Kind Cooperative Cold Unsympathetic Extraversion Talkative Extroverted Shy Quiet Bashful Withdrawn Perspective taking Before criticizing somebody, I try to image how I would feel if I were in their place I sometimes try to understand my friends better by imagining how things look from their perspective I believe that there are two sides to every question and try to look at them both I try to look at everybody’s side of a disagreement before I make a decision Empathic concern I often have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me I would describe myself as a pretty soft-hearted person Other people’s misfortunes do not usually disturb me a great deal I am often quite touched by things that I see happen Customer satisfaction I am delighted with my experience of shopping on this online store I am very happy to purchase the product from this online store I am satisfied with my decision to purchase through this online store Customer citizenship behaviors Recommendation Recommend the online store to your family Recommend the online store to people interested in the store’s products/services Say positive things about this online store to others Helping Behaviors Help others with their online shopping Teach others how to use the service correctly Explain to other customers how to use the service correctly Service firm facilitation Fill out a customer satisfaction survey Provide helpful feedback as to how online service can be improved Provide information when surveyed by the store Contribute personal opinions as to how to improve online service purchases


Loadings 0.80 0.80 0.67 0.59 0.62 0.56 0.56 0.86 0.91 0.68 0.57 0.67 0.80 0.69 0.66 0.82 0.82 0.52 0.68 0.94 0.89 0.96

0.85 0.96 0.94 0.93 0.98 0.91 0.94 0.93 0.89 0.85

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