The Impact of In-Group Membership on e-Loyalty of Women Online Shoppers: An Application of the Social Identity Approach to Website Design

The objective of this study is to propose and test the Social Identity Approach to Website Design research model, which considers the role of Social Identity in the development of e-Loyalty. Using an online survey instrument comprised of existing Information Systems and Social Identity measures, data were collected from 322 women online shoppers who were members of the salient ingroup. The results of this study indicate that, in women online shoppers, the perception of social presence in an online retail store positively influences their enjoyment of the online shopping experience. The results also suggest that women online shoppers’ enjoyment of an online shopping experience positively influences their intention to revisit the website or recommend the website to other online shoppers, which are e-Loyal behaviors. In addition, this study extends related studies by proposing and testing the psychographic nature of human-computer interaction as a possible catalyst for e-Commerce Success.