Research On The Impact Of Return Policy Of Online Retailers On Consumers’ Purchase Intention

With the continuous popularity of online shopping,the drawbacks of online shopping are becoming more and more prominent,and the resulting problems of consumer returns are becoming more and more serious.How to formulate return policies for online retailers has gradually become a research hotspot.From the perspective of consumers’ purchase intention,this paper studies the impact and differences of online retailers’ return policies on consumers’ purchase intention at the two stages of initial purchase and repurchase.On the one hand,it enriched the theory of the looseness of return policy and purchase intention,On the other hand,it provides targeted suggestions for online retailers to formulate return policies and prevent fraudulent returns.Based on signal transmission theory,SOR and other relevant theories,this study respectively discusses the influence mechanism of consumers at the two stages of initial purchase and repurchase after returning goods.The collected 484 questionnaires were sorted out and analyzed by empirical analysis,the reliability and validity of the questionnaires were tested by SPSS and AMOS,the fit degree of the model was tested by structural equation model,the main effect of the model was tested by path analysis,and the adjustment effect was tested by hierarchical regression analysis.The mediation effect was tested by Bootstrap method.The specific research results are as follows:(1)The looseness of return policy of online retailers has a significant positive impact on consumers’ purchase intention.(2)At the initial purchase stage,consumers’ perceived product quality and perceived shopping risk play a significant mediating role between the degree of return policy easing and initial purchase intention.(3)In the repurchase stage,the loose return policy significantly increases the propensity of consumers to return goods,and the rational propensity to return goods is regulated by the inertia of consumers.(4)The propensity to return goods affects consumers’ intention to repurchase after returning goods by influencing their emotions,and positive emotions have no significant mediating effect between rational propensity to return goods and willingness to repurchase after returning goods.(5)The direct effect of return intention on repurchase intention was not significant.Finally,the theoretical contribution and practical enlightenment of the research are discussed.(1)Online retailers should attach importance to the formulation of return policies and formulate different return policies for consumers with different purchasing experience and inertia.(2)Online retailers of experiential products should provide lenient return policies as far as possible.If relatively lenient return policies cannot be formulated,they can make up for the disadvantages of strict return policies by improving the quality and reputation of goods or services.(3)For fraudulent returned consumers,the government can assist online retailers to build a consumer credit rating system or regulate consumers’ purchasing behavior and return policies of online retailers through legislation,so as to build a good online shopping environment.