IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/igg/jeco00/v22y2024i1p1-19.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Examining the Antecedents of Return Policy Leniency in eCommerce

Author

Listed:
  • E. Mitchell Church

    (Coastal Carolina University, USA)

  • Richelle Oakley DaSouza

    (North Carolina A&T State University, USA)

  • Olajumoke A. Awe

    (Coastal Carolina University, USA)

Abstract

As eCommerce has become widespread, the challenge of successfully navigating the returns process has grown perilous. The product returns issue is even more difficult for microenterprises that sell unique or custom products with fewer resources. The authors examined the impact of the antecedents of return policy leniency, specifically economic and social success factors. Using a web crawler over a 24-week period, the authors collected and analyzed data for a sample of 781 shops from Etsy, an eCommerce platform. Results indicate that the well-studied factor of sales, in addition to a new social factor – community dialogue – impacts an Etsy shop's return policy leniency.

Suggested Citation

  • E. Mitchell Church & Richelle Oakley DaSouza & Olajumoke A. Awe, 2024. "Examining the Antecedents of Return Policy Leniency in eCommerce," Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations (JECO), IGI Global, vol. 22(1), pages 1-19, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:igg:jeco00:v:22:y:2024:i:1:p:1-19
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://services.igi-global.com/resolvedoi/resolve.aspx?doi=10.4018/JECO.337362
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gianfranco Walsh & Daniel Brylla, 2017. "Do product returns hurt relational outcomes? some evidence from online retailing," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 27(4), pages 329-339, November.
    2. Bahn, Kenneth D. & Boyd, Eric, 2014. "Information and its impact on consumers׳ reactions to restrictive return policies," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 415-423.
    3. Radhi, Mohannad & Zhang, Guoqing, 2019. "Optimal cross-channel return policy in dual-channel retailing systems," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 184-198.
    4. Ulrike Baumöl & Linda Hollebeek & Reinhard Jung, 2016. "Dynamics of customer interaction on social media platforms," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 26(3), pages 199-202, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Serravalle, Francesca & Vannucci, Virginia & Pantano, Eleonora, 2022. "“Take it or leave it?†: Evidence on cultural differences affecting return behaviour for Gen Z," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    2. Cai, Ya-Jun & Lo, Chris K.Y., 2020. "Omni-channel management in the new retailing era: A systematic review and future research agenda," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    3. Shuiwang Zhang & Qianlan Ding & Jingcheng Ding, 2023. "Return Strategy of E-Commerce Platform Based on Green and Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-18, July.
    4. Li, Jin & Hu, Zening & Shi, Victor & Wang, Qian, 2021. "Manufacturer's encroachment strategy with substitutable green products," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    5. Jian Liu & Xinyue Sun & Yanyan Liu, 2022. "Products pricing and return strategies for the dual channel retailers," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 3841-3867, September.
    6. Zhen-Song Chen & Sheng Wu & Kannan Govindan & Xian-Jia Wang & Kwai-Sang Chin & Luis Martíınez, 2022. "Optimal pricing decision in a multi-channel supply chain with a revenue-sharing contract," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 318(1), pages 67-102, November.
    7. Lichters, Marcel & Wackershauser, Verena & Han, Shixing & Vogt, Bodo, 2019. "On the applicability of the BDM mechanism in product evaluation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-7.
    8. Rokonuzzaman, Md & Iyer, Pramod & Harun, Ahasan, 2021. "Return policy, No joke: An investigation into the impact of a retailer's return policy on consumers' decision making," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    9. Dima Sawaftah & Ahmad Aljarah & Eva Lahuerta-Otero, 2021. "Power Brand Defense Up, My Friend! Stimulating Brand Defense through Digital Content Marketing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-17, September.
    10. Jeng, Shih-Ping, 2017. "Increasing customer purchase intention through product return policies: The pivotal impacts of retailer brand familiarity and product categories," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 182-189.
    11. Xu, Senyu & Tang, Huajun & Lin, Zhijun & Lu, Jing, 2022. "Pricing and sales-effort analysis of dual-channel supply chain with channel preference, cross-channel return and free riding behavior based on revenue-sharing contract," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    12. Kateryna Lysenko-Ryba & Dominik Zimon, 2021. "Customer Behavioral Reactions to Negative Experiences during the Product Return," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, January.
    13. Subrata Mitra, 2022. "Economic models of price competition between traditional and online retailing under showrooming," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 49(1), pages 29-63, March.
    14. Ling Zhao & Jun Liu & Minghua Xiong & Anquan Zou, 2022. "Dual-Channel Retailer’s Multi-Period Inventory and Pricing Policy with the Quantity-Sales Mode," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-18, September.
    15. Fan, Huirong & Khouja, Moutaz & Zhou, Jing, 2022. "Design of win-win return policies for online retailers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 301(2), pages 675-693.
    16. Yan, Shuai & Archibald, Thomas Welsh & Han, Xiaohua & Bian, Yiwen, 2022. "Whether to adopt “buy online and return to store” strategy in a competitive market?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 301(3), pages 974-986.
    17. Hjort, Klas & Lantz, Björn, 2016. "The impact of returns policies on profitability: A fashion e-commerce case," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 4980-4985.
    18. Simon Albrecht & Bernhard Lutz & Dirk Neumann, 2020. "The behavior of blockchain ventures on Twitter as a determinant for funding success," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 30(2), pages 241-257, June.
    19. Zhiting Song & Yanming Sun & Jiafu Wan & Lingli Huang & Jianhua Zhu, 2019. "Smart e-commerce systems: current status and research challenges," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 29(2), pages 221-238, June.
    20. Mandal, Prasenjit & Basu, Preetam & Saha, Kushal, 2021. "Forays into omnichannel: An online retailer’s strategies for managing product returns," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 292(2), pages 633-651.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:igg:jeco00:v:22:y:2024:i:1:p:1-19. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journal Editor (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.igi-global.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.