Special Issue: Big Data Analytics for Robust Decision Making in Complex Business Markets

International Journal of Engineering

Business Management
Factors affecting customer-supplier Volume 15: 1–11
© The Author(s) 2023
electronic relationship (ER): A customers’ Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/18479790231188242
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Muhammad Turki Alshurideh1 , Barween Al Kurdi2 , Haitham M Alzoubi3,4 ,

Iman A Akour5, Samer Hamadneh1, Ahmad Alhamad5 and Shanmugan Joghee3 

Abstract
Maintaining durable and long-lasting relationships with customers is a key factor that is widely considered by marketing
practitioners and company management. Therefore, this study aims to explore and examine the factors (personal
interest, trust, safety perceptions, E-transaction acceptance, and privacy concerns) influencing electronic relationship
ER from the customers’ perspectives. The study selected the sample from university students (456 respondents) and
was conducted in United Arab Emirates UAE, to analyze their perspectives about these factors. The study findings
found significantly positive effect of all these factors on ER. And the most influential one was the personal interest
followed by trust. Our research concludes by mentioning customers’ communication experiences and perceptions
with their companies in order to assess their ability to meet expectations and maintain ongoing relationships. The
research implications offer the marketing practitioners with insight to diversify their interaction ways with their key
customers.

Keywords
Electronic relationship, trust, technology acceptance, Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM)

Introduction intention of technology adoption and acceptance of the

modern innovative technologies generally depends on
The massive economic consequences of the global reces- various factors including an organization’s technical ca-
sion have prompted businesses to explore new and efficient pabilities. While large number of companies now are using
ways to manage their customers in order to maintain a
competitive edge. This led the organizations to intensify
their activities that include information technology adoption 1
Department of Marketing, School of Business, The University of Jordan,
in several business functions. Of these functions, Customer Amman, Jordan
2
Relationship Management (CRM) is the most important, Department of Marketing, Faculty of Business, The Hashemite University,
which mainly indicates an integrated approach to manage Zarqa, Jordan
3
School of Business, Skyline University College, Sharjah, UAE
the customer relations using a combination of essential 4
Applied Science Research Center, Applied Science Private University,
components including people, procedures, technology and Amman, Jordan
culture.1 CRM has been widely adopted by businesses of 5
Department of Information Systems, College of Computing and
different sizes globally as a means to meet a key objective of Informatics, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE
developing relations between the organization and its
Corresponding author:
customers.2 However, the application of technologies in the Muhammad Turki Alshurideh, Department of Marketing, School of
CRM has also presented a birth to what is currently known Business, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan.
as Electronic Relationship (ER) with the customer.3 The Email: [email protected]

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2 International Journal of Engineering Business Management

electronic means to interact or do business directly with customers experience in using and practising digital
customer, factors affecting customer-supplier electronic platforms in doing business as mentioned by Ram-
relationship(ER) from customers’ perspectives need to be asundaram et al. (2023).10 Additionally, by using new
viewed again especially when companies tried to adapt technologies to interact with customers and enhance the
direct digital channels with customers as claimed by business with such as using Metaverse in Marketing as
Mihailova.4 discussed by Dwivedi et al. (2023),11 this study will help
The notion of ER goes beyond the transactions ex- to consider some of the customers’ indicators in how to
changes that sufficiently provide products or services to enhance such Business-to-customer (B2C) Mutual in-
targeted customers. It also indicates a long-term rela- teractions within the technology era.
tionship that utilizes advanced modern technological
tools and methods to expand the understanding of cus-
tomers’ behaviours, increase customers commitment and Literature review
enhance satisfaction.5 Furthermore, ER differs from the
Safety perceptions
traditional marketing relationships, which generally fo-
cus on maintaining customer relations through factors During the working to enhance business metrics, the culture
related to 4Ps such as reasonable price and quality ser- evaluation has been used as a measure for indirect safety.
vice. The growing complexity of the different services The safety culture indicates the sets of shared systems of the
requires greater concerns with issues of privacy and behaviours, values and attitudes which reflect the major
personal interest, with levels of trust in customer inter- practices towards organizational commitment of the
actions.6 It is critical to focus on customer’s relationship safety.12 The organizations with great safety perceptions
support in the light of their technological services and empowers the key stakeholder like customers to identify
interest. The current study thus sought to address and and state the main concerns, acknowledge the possible
discuss the factors affecting ER and identify the critical errors and identify the required resources to promote the
issues and challenges that influence this topic and provide related efforts (Alshurideh et al., 2022).13 As the safety
more insights with applicable recommendations for ER perceptions can develop the culture improvement and
adoption and development in a developing context. correlate with the great outcomes, addressing the safety
Specifically, this study tried to answer the following perceptions of the custom (Al Kurdi et al., 2023; Alshurideh
question what the main factors are affecting customer- et al., 2023).14,15 However, the results guided the growing
supplier ER especially from customers’ perspectives. In need for education programs development that can develop
more details, this study aims to1 investigate the current the perceptions about the safety of using advanced tech-
state of ER implementation and discuss the challenge(s) nology and systems.16 A recent study by Arwa Zabian and
faced, as well as2 identify and test practically a set of Sami Qawasmeh (2022) investigated the impact of
factors that affecting ER adoption. emerging technologies on workplace privacy, including
electronic monitoring. The study found that safety concerns
were positively related to electronic monitoring, as em-
The study importance ployees felt that monitoring could help ensure their safety in
This paper is important while not that many papers the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasing
discuss the factors affecting ER between companies and electronic related outcomes have encouraged the organi-
customer (B2C). Also, it’s important for companies to zations with several industries to identify as related cus-
search and find ways how to enhance the mutual ERs and tomer relationship strategies to improve their safety
interactions among partners especially between compa- perceptions. This led to help the marketing practitioners and
nies and customers especially when adapting different management to organize and maintain relationships with all
digital technologies and tools.7 This study adds value to key parties of the business. However, little of the studies that
the literature also by investigating the factors affecting examined the effecting role of the safety perceptions among
online buying while the majority of customers are the ER with the customers. Therefore, the study postulates
transferring their buying to be online buying as claimed the following research hypothesis:
by Barbosa et al.8 To add more, this study will help in
enhancing the companies capabilities how to leverage the H1: Safety perceptions influence positively ER.
digital technologies to customize and increase the in-
teraction performance between companies and customers
as highlighted by Lin and Lin.9 Moreover, this study
Privacy concerns
investigates a set of electronic indictors such as safety Confidentiality is an important part to sustain a successful
perceptions, privacy concerns, E-transaction acceptance marketing relationship. Once the customers have trust in a
and trust, which in turn able companies to benefits from company, they definitely believe about the detailed confidence
Alshurideh et al. 3

for their data and will be used by the organization ethically.17 A form of allowing the people to mutually interact with
study by Hsu et al.18 found that privacy concerns and infor- others.24 This is significant when the people are living in
mation sharing have a U-shaped relationship. Users with different regions and are separated by far distance and they
privacy concerns initially do not share their private informa- may be unable to get in touch personally. Therefore, the
tion, but eventually do so as they trust the website and its study postulates the following research hypothesis:
members. The relationship varies based on system evaluation
perception and personal motivation levels. Therefore, busi- H3: Personal interest influences positively ER.
nesses should prioritize protecting customer privacy and
building trust in their website and members. Other studies have
shown that the customers are more likely and concerned of the
E-transaction acceptance
contexts where their personal or financial data are not sold to Although the Internet infrastructure can generate an implicit
others without asking them for consent, whereby the orga- uncertainty through the separation between customers and
nizations collect and use the customers’ information to contact services providers or products retailers, the unpredictability
them repeatedly.19 As such, a conclusion is that the customers of this uncertainty about online transactions is still a crucial
have lower privacy concerns when the marketing relationships issue for customers.25 The risks of money loss, since the
are practised through using their information by the companies customers should depend on electronic transactions and
for different purposes. The successful marketing relationship is information and hence become a vulnerable factor for
more dependent on the customers’ perceptions of the business customers to incomplete orders or give untrue information
procedures to protect their privacy.20 The current companies at the retailers’ webs.26 Furthermore, a risk associated with
apply trading through the Internet and this could make them losing the privacy linked with giving personal or financial
manipulate or misuse their customers’ information, and it information to the companies. E-transactions are connected
potentially jeopardizes the relations with the customers. The with the important power delegation which the customers
research has presented that business operations like sending surrender during the online transactions. In fact, the open
spam e-mails to the customers are a reason for the customers to business due to the Internet and the business transactions
have a privacy concern.21 As such, the businesses that trade by infrastructure and the worldwide nature increase the rates of
the Internet requested to better understand the online per- uncertainty around online transactions, so this leads to trust
ceptions of the customers who are sensitive to particular effects as well crucial risks of e-transaction. A study suggests that
and change their perceptions about the purchasing decisions. individuals who perceive online trust are more inclined to
Examining the privacy concerns might be a right step of the use e-wallets. Additionally, trust plays a crucial role in the
directions towards establishing a good customer relation. adoption of electronic wallets.27 ER in this setting is seen as
Therefore, the study postulates the following research a catalyst for all parties of the transactions that can also
hypothesis: provide the customers with their expectations and satisfy the
exchange relations.28 The studies in this context maintained
H2: Privacy concerns influence positively ER. the trust in the e-transaction as an essential element to
understand the interpersonal attitudes as well socio-
economic exchanges.29 The importance of ER has grown
in the e-commerce field due to the higher degree of un-
Personal interest
certainty and risks that exist in most online transactions.
The digital relationship can benefit when the customers Therefore, the study postulates the following research
have limited communication methods or time. Due to the hypothesis:
interest of some people not to be involved within a
physical occurrence, today’s virtual human relations can H4: E-transaction acceptance influence positively ER.
also help the business to faster build relationships and
trust.22 ER building can make it easier to flirt with the
Trust
internets. People can also discuss the problems or diffi-
culties with others, and it is easier to discuss more than Trust is an important factor when it comes to online
emails. Honesty in online communication is key. The transactions, in fact and according to research, it is the
individuals have to be more trusted and honest to make a mediator between selected antecedents and the willingness
business relationship particularly if it involves within a to buy through e-commerce.29 It is one of the important
virtual realm.23 This may mean not limiting or annoying relationship-characteristics that increase and positively
others in any way. Establishing a mutually beneficial ER affect customer’s retention.30 With the advancements of
can be an effective approach to meet new customers, thus it technology, people are more open to try out and almost
is considerably affordable and faster than face-to-face adapt to the innovations that arise in the globe, although
interaction. The positive aspects of the ER can take the transactional risk was found to negatively affect trust when
4 International Journal of Engineering Business Management

it comes to online payments.31 Many studies have been requirements. Considering this, the sample size was
conducted to know how to acquire a consumer’s trust. For evaluated using Structural Equation Modelling SEM,37
instance, Luo et al. (2020) found that a combination of which was used to confirm the hypotheses. It is also worth
virtual community and e-commerce service quality (in- noting that the previous theories (based on the M-learning
cluding system quality, security assurance, product variety, context) were the foundation of our hypotheses. When it
and service support construct) positively affects users’ comes to the evaluation the measurement model,
trust in online platforms that then predicted their trans- SmartPLS Version 3 was used to conduct the final path
action intention. model.
The social presence of online brand communities and
the relationship between the brand and their customers
positively affects online social commerce trust.32 The Participants
communication through social platforms, interactivity
The results showed that about 49% of the respondents were
level, formal, or informal styles all create a level of trust in
male and 51% were female. And about 63% of the re-
the online world. A study showed that female customers
spondents were aged around 18–29 years and the rest of
were firstly reliant on reputation and relationship building,
them were above 29. In terms of the academic background,
so then this would predict their future purchases;33
there were 26% students in Business Administration, 21%
however, male customers depend on their online pur-
in College of Engineering and Information Technology,
chase based on their developed trust. Another factor that
19% in Humanities and Social Sciences, 18% in General
affects trust is the return policy of products bought online.
Education, and 16% in Mass Communication and Public
A paper found leniency with online return policy had a
Relations. The respondents mostly had university degrees
significant positive impact on consumer’s trust which then
alongside educated backgrounds. More specifically, the
positively impacts their online purchase decision.34 Due to
percentages of students having a bachelor degree, master
the fact that the quality of online products is not fully
degree, and a doctoral degree were 68%, 21%, and 11%,
guaranteed and experienced, some sense of security of
respectively. Al-Emran and Salloum38 suggested that in
their purchase increases their intent to buy the perform the
cases where the respondents show willingness for vol-
online transaction and get returns if otherwise unsatisfied.
unteering, there can be utilization of the ‘purposive
Customer service that provides essential information, for
sampling approach’. When it comes to this sample, the
example, delivery estimates or in case of unexpected
students belonged to different universities, age groups, and
delays, firmly establishes a sense of trust from the cus-
educational programs and levels. Other than that, IBM
tomer to the company, which was found to be positively
SPSS Statistics version 23 was used for analyzing the
affecting their behavior and intention to use the online
demographic data.
shopping services.35 Therefore, the study postulates the
following research hypothesis:
Study Instrument
H5: Trust influences positively ER.
In this study, a survey instrument was suggested for vali-
dating the hypothesis. In order to measure the study’s six
constructs, 22 items were further added to the survey.
Method Table 1 presents these constructs with their respective items.
To make the research more applicable, the researchers made
Data collection amendments to the questions of prior research.
Data collection took place from 15th June to 20th February
2020 over the winter semester (2019–2020) in University
of Sharjah using online surveys. The research team
conducted a random distribution of 500 questionnaires.
Table 1. Study instrument.
Out of 456 questionnaires were filled by the respondent,
which represent about 91% response rate. Apart from that, Constructs No. of items
44 questionnaires were also excluded because of some
missing values. Because of this, the number of valid Safety perceptions 4
Privacy concerns 4
questionnaires was 456. Krejcie and Morgon36 suggested
Personal interest 4
that these accepted questionnaires had an appropriate
E-transaction acceptance 4
sample size level (the expected sampling size for
Trust 4
306 respondents/1500 population). There is a great dif-
E-relationship 2
ference between the sample size (456) and the minor
Alshurideh et al. 5

Data analysis should use the rho (pA) reliability coefficient for evaluating
and reporting construct reliability.47 As with CA and CR, the
The questionnaire was distributed by the researcher. As for reliability coefficient ρA should be at least 0.70 (exploratory
the online surveys, they were given to students at univer- research) and 0.80 or 0.90 (advanced research stages).48
sities in the UAE (N = 500), where this research has Table 2 also showed that 0.70 is the minimum reliability
considered two different universities, that is, The British coefficient ρA of all measurement constructs. These results
University in Dubai and University of Fujairah. It is worth confirmed the construct reliability, and each construct was
noting that both these institutes have popularity in the UAE. considered to be free from errors, ultimately (Figure 1).
When it comes to the measurement of convergent validity, it
Survey structure is necessary to test the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) and
factor loadings of the indicators.40 Apart from that, Table 4
A questionnaire survey was given to the students.38 This suggests that each factor loading value exceeded the threshold
survey has three sections. value of 0.7. Other than that, according to the Table 1 results, the
AVE values ranged from 0.584 to 0.840, which are determined
· The first section focuses on the respondents’ to exceed the ‘0.5’ threshold value. On the basis of these
personal data. following results, it is possible to achieve convergent validity.
· The second section presents five items that represent
the general question related to M-learning systems. Discriminant validity. To measure discriminant validity, it was
· The third section consists of 15 items that deal with suggested to consider two criteria that include the Hetero-
Service quality, and Quality of the system. trait–Monotrait ratio (HTMT) and Fornell–Larker criterion.40
Table 3 findings suggest that the Fornell–Larker condition
For measuring the study items, a five-point Likert Scale confirms the requirements because each AVE and their square
was considered with alternatives: strongly disagree (1), roots exceed its correlation with other constructs.49
disagree (2), neutral (3), agree (4), and strongly agreed (5). Table 4 showed the HTMT ratio findings, which rep-
resents that the value of each construct is lower than the
‘0.85’ threshold value.50 Because of this, there is a presence
The analysis findings of the HTMT ratio. With the help of these findings, there is
calculation of the discriminant validity. According to the
Data analysis
analysis results, there was not a single issue related to as-
For this study, the data analysis was conducted using the Partial sessing the measurement model when it comes to its reli-
Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) ability and validity. Because of it, the collected data can be
through SmartPLS V 3.39 The collected data was analyzed by further used for evaluating the structural model.
using a two-step assessment approach, which includes the
measurement model and structural model.40 The PLS-SEM
was selected in this research for a number of factors.
Model fit
First, if the given research aims to work on a current The RMS_theta, NFI, Chi-Square, d_ULS, d_G, exact fit
theory, the preference should be given to PLS-SEM.41 criteria, and Standard Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR)
Second of all, the PLS-SEM can help with effectively which show the model fit in PLS-SEM are the fit measures
handling the exploratory research that has complex models.42 provided by SmartPLS.51 SRMR shows how the observed
Third of all, PLS-SEM carries out analysis on the entire correlations are different from model implied correlation
model as one unit rather than making subdivisions out of it.43 matrix (Hair et al., 2016) and <0.08 values are thought to be
Lastly, PLS-SEM also provides concurrent analysis for the good model fit measures.52 A good model fit is considered to
structural and measurement models because of which ac- be > 0.90 Normative Fit Index NFI values.53 The NFI ratio
curate measurements are generated.44 deals with the Chi2 value in the proposed model and the null
model or benchmark model.54 The NFI is directly correlated to
Convergent validity. To assess the measurement model, Hair the parameters and considering this, model fit indicators do not
et al.40 suggested the construct reliability (which includes include NPI.42 Discrepancy between empirical covariance
Cronbach’s alpha, and Composite Reliability (CR) and matrix and covariance matrix implied by composite factor
validity (which includes discriminant and convergent val- model is offered by the two metrics, the geodesic distance d_G,
idity). For determining the construct reliability, Cronbach’s squared Eucledian distance, and d_ULS.42,47 RMS_theta can
alpha (CA) was ranged within 0.787–0.901 as given in Table only be applied to the reflective models and helps with
2. The threshold value (0.7) is lower than these figures.45 The evaluating the degree of outer model residuals correlation.54
results showed that the CR values rane from 0.726 to 0.900, The PLS-SEM model will improve as the RMS theta value
which exceed the threshold value.46 Rather, researchers reaches zero, with a good fit being <0.12 and poor fits being
6 International Journal of Engineering Business Management

Table 2. The Measurement model.

Constructs Items Factor loading Cronbach’s alpha CR PA AVE

Safety perceptions SP1 0.760 0.815 0.726 0.880 0.584

SP2 0.859
SP3 0.874
SP4 0.866
Privacy concerns PC1 0.881 0.893 0.782 0.844 0.721
PC2 0.852
PC3 0.856
PC4 0.823
Personal interest PI1 0.849 0.890 0.829 0.841 0.786
PI2 0.854
PI3 0.896
PI4 0.846
E-transaction acceptance EA1 0.724 0.788 0.839 0.847 0.840
EA2 0.858
EA3 0.775
EA4 0.887
Trust TRT1 0.845 0.890 0.830 0.846 0.744
TRT2 0.869
TRT3 0.876
TRT4 0.746
E-relationship ER1 0.789 0.787 0.801 0.809 0.766
ER2 0.752

Figure 1. Conceptual model.

other values.50 The relationship between each construct is alongside SmartPLS with maximum likelihood estimation
evaluated by the saturated model, while the estimated model was performed.55 Accordingly, the analysis of the proposed
works on model structure and total effects. According to hypotheses was completed. Table 6 also showed high
Table 5, the value of RMS_theta was 0.059. From this, it can predictive power of the model,56 that is, there was 76%
be said that the size of the goodness-of-fit for the PLS-SEM variance within e-relationship.
model was appropriate for demonstrating global PLS model In Table 7, the beta (β) values, t-values, and p-values for all
validity. of the developed hypotheses have been described on the basis
of the produced findings with the help of the PLS-SEM
technique. There is no doubt that every researcher has sup-
Hypotheses testing ported each hypothesis. Taking into consideration the data
For determining whether the structural model’s theoretical analysis hypotheses, the empirical data supported H1, H2, H3,
constructs are interdependent, the structural equation model H4, and H5.
Alshurideh et al. 7

Table 3. Correlation matrix of measures. analyzed. As appeared in Table 6, the model had a high
predictive power,56 that’s, the percentage of the variance
SP PC PI EA TRT ER
within e-Relationship is nearly 76%.
SP 0.887 — — — — — Table 7 describes the beta (β) values, t-values, and p-values
PC 0.233 0.781 — — — — for each of the developed hypotheses based on the generated
PI 0.222 0.605 0.876 — — — results through PLS-SEM technique. It is clear that all the
EA 0.201 0.555 0.631 0.905 — — researchers have supported all hypotheses. Based on the data
TRT 0.288 0.625 0.565 0.454 0.807 — analysis hypotheses H1, H2, H3, H4, and H5 were supported
ER 0.189 0.585 0.487 0.286 0.300 0.865 by the empirical data. Safety Perceptions (SP), Privacy
Note. SP = Safety Perceptions; PC = Privacy Concerns; PI = Personal
Concerns (PC), Personal Interest (PI), E-Transaction Accep-
Interest; EA = E-Transaction Acceptance; TRT = Trust; ER = Electronic tance (EA), and Trust (TRT) has significant effects on
Relationship. e-Relationship (ER) (β = 0.420, p < 0.05), β = 0.101, p < 0.05),
(β = 0.852, p < 0.001), (β = 0.396, p < 0.01), and (β = 0.527,
p < 0.05), respectively; hence H1, H2, H3, H4, and H5 are
supported.
Table 4. Heterotrait–Monotrait ratio (HTMT).

SP PC PI EA TRT ER

SP — — — — — — The findings discussion

PC 0.130 — — — — —
The findings revealed that the proportion of ER of the
PI 0.122 0.702 — — — —
business was relatively limited. Perceptions about privacy
EA 0.390 0.632 0.630 — — —
TRT 0.488 0.520 0.415 0.111 — —
and interest of the customers were already stated and the
OT 0.296 0.410 0.239 0.138 0.536 — organizations through their ER applications and methods
updated the marketing strategies to meet the increasing
Note. SP = Safety Perceptions; PC = Privacy Concerns; PI = Personal changes in the people’s attitudes and perceptions. Therefore,
Interest; EA = E-Transaction Acceptance; TRT = Trust; ER = Electronic
there is an important requirement to focus and integrate
Relationship.
further adoption among services or products offered to the
customer. Currently, organizations are showing increased
involvement in advanced technology practices to maintain
Table 5. Model fit indicators. mutual benefits with their key customers and achieve
Complete model strategic goals, as indicated by the results. However, the
results also confirm the importance of trust and easy
Saturated model Estimated mod communication channels to ensure the safety of electronic
transactions. Additionally, the insights from our research
SRMR 0.086 0.050
suggest that developments in customer marketing rela-
d_ULS 0.663 2.620
d_G 0.644 0.644
tionships encourage businesses to adopt and use ER ap-
Chi-square 415.605 415.725 plications. These applications need more attention, as do the
NFI 0.753 0.753 effects of the factors identified in this study. Furthermore,
Rms theta 0.059 the study findings are consistent with the existing body of
the literature,21 which has also confirmed the effect of the
personal individual factors and revealed their significant
role to differentiate the customer ER.
Table 6. R2 of the endogenous latent variables. The study findings indicate a positive influence of trust as
a key motivator for customers to largely engage with
Constructs R2 Results modern technologies in order to meet their expectations and
make transactions easier. With confidentiality issues be-
OT 0.763 High
coming more crucial for people, the intention to follow
Note. OT = E- Relationship/Online Transaction. recommendations from trusted sources is influential in
making real experiences with given judgements and ac-
cepting the ER. The confidence factor presented in the
SEM approach was employed with SmartPLS having analysis was more significant than personal interests and
maximum likelihood estimation to find out the interde- perception factors, with the findings showing the highest bet
pendence of various theoretical constructs of the structural for this factor (852). The finding for E-transaction accep-
model.55,57 In this way, the proposed hypotheses were tance was not surprising. The level of a company’s
8 International Journal of Engineering Business Management

Table 7. Summary of testing results.

H Relationship Path t-value p-value Direction Decision

H1 SP - > ER 0.420 8.333 0.013 Positive Supported*

H2 PC - > ER 0.101 1.235 0.046 Positive Supported*
H3 PI - > ER 0.852 25.977 0.000 Positive Supported**
H4 EA - > ER 0.396 17.117 0.002 Positive Supported**
H5 TRT - > ER 0.527 10.552 0.011 Positive Supported*
Note. SP = Safety Perceptions; PC = Privacy Concerns; PI = Personal Interest; EA = E-Transaction Acceptance; TRT = Trust; ER = Electronic Relationship.

electronic applications and activities act as indicators to of customer relationships with a reliable base for long-term
predict the likelihood of ER involvement and adoption. This strategic marketing relationships. Despite the general
may be due to the ER practices, which ultimately involves agreement with many factors that should be considered, this
many people within different interactions with the company. does not necessarily mean that there are no other factors that
The level of acceptance of this original business aspect is need to be examined. In general, integrating common
crucial for electronic adoption decisions. Users of ER re- practices for relations development with customers is highly
alize the potential advantages of practicing ER applications required for sustainable productive B2C processes.
for establishing long-term relationships with profitable Furthermore, the study results indicate that CRM plays a
customers. vital role in developing e-marketing capabilities and en-
hancing relationships with key stakeholders. Effective
Although the results for trust and e-transaction acceptance
marketing management across industries requires strategic
factors were statistically significant, discriminant validity
analysis showed that they had low predictive power for ER. planning for long-term customer relationships, and the use
This suggests that these factors have little impact on cus- of electronic methods is becoming increasingly important,
particularly for service-oriented organizations. Addition-
tomers’ intention to integrate with the company through ER
ally, the selected factors influencing this issue require close
compared to concerns about privacy and other factors.58 This
monitoring to keep up with changes in marketing trends and
finding is in line with the literature6 which supports the
to create successful and effective relationships with cus-
significance of privacy maintenance and protection of per-
tomers, as well as, to encourage them to use electronic
sonal and financial customer information, as well as the
devices and keep in touch using their favourable ways. This
commitment of the company in these aspects. The effects of
the technological factors, on other hand, support the current could also broaden the scope of online marketing. Kline’s46
study findings, which are consistent with previous research.12 study supports these findings and indicates that competitive
environmental factors influence the development of
In this research, all factors were considered significant de-
e-relationship capacity. It can be inferred that factors with
terminants influencing the ER. All study factors were sta-
limited focus require further support, market orientation and
tistically positive and significant in the SEM analysis, as
inclination, industry and customer pressures with consid-
indicated by a p-value lower than the stated statistical and
eration of customers’ skills and awareness of using elec-
standard values. When ranking these factors from most to
tronic devices for business interactions.
least significant, they were: personal interest, trust, safety
perceptions, E-transaction acceptance, and privacy concerns.
The results suggest that personal interest is more likely to Implications and conclusion
affect the ER compared to other research factors. For in- The aim of the current study is to gain a deeper under-
stance, although e-transaction acceptance had a significant standing of the practical insights that can contribute to the
effect on ER, it can be explained that both the company and development of customer delight through ER from their
the customer have a mutual interest in diversifying tradi- perspectives. This research focuses on exploring the major
tional communication methods and enhancing this issue elements of ERs and the respective factors that have been
with more advanced communication approaches for empirically examined in various studies. The research
equivalent chances and trying out various applications of examines the effects, methods, and measurements of these
ER. It does not matter whether ER factors can be adopted factors to provide insights into their significance in en-
among different sized businesses or not. The results also hancing customer satisfaction through ER. Moreover, the
showed that the reliability values for all these factors were issue of ER in this study demonstrated high technology
relatively high. This indicates that all factors were well- acceptance through the growing electronic transactions.
considered for successful customer ERs before planning According to the study findings and analysis, the key
marketing strategies and promotions. They permit the usage results of SEM approach analysis can be summarized as
Alshurideh et al. 9

follows; in respect to the factor of trust, customers believe consider the viewpoints of employees or marketers. The
this element should be present before involving in ER with study model can extend more and include the effect of ER
a company, as well as their privacy should be maintained from marketers’ perspectives as well. Second, the sample
and protected to last this relation. It is obvious that the size used in this study was not large enough to generalize the
customers’ personal interests factor has also been recog- results. Future studies should include larger and more di-
nized in the ER, which reflects the change in people’s verse samples from different demographic backgrounds and
interests that should be met by the companies. However, professional settings. Third, the study concentrated on
this study concentrated on customers’ perspectives in university students, and it would be beneficial to expand the
universities’ contexts to define their perceptions about the scope to include other groups to provide a more compre-
most important factors that play a role in accepting in- hensive view. Additionally, only a limited number of factors
volvement in ER. To explore the modern interaction were examined to understand ER, and future research can
methods that enhance ER, organizations nowadays consider including other factors to enrich the discussions
struggle to adopt tools to achieve this point such as and literature in this field such as customer benefits. Lastly, a
smartphone applications, which are currently being em- comparative analysis between different sectors in terms of
ployed to improve communication and related operations ER and individuals’ perspectives, as well as the exploration
with customers. of the causal relationship between these variables using a
Since all marketing activities are generally aimed at longitudinal research approach can provide more insights
promoting organizational profits and maintaining good into this topic.
customer relations, the current research discussed and ex-
amined the factors that influence ER from customers’ Declaration of conflicting interests
perspectives and explored their experience with this issue.
In addition, the current existing literature lacks studies on The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with re-
the ER and related factors within the developing context, spect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
and how these factors can influence building great per-
ceptions of the customer towards the development of in- Funding
terrelationship with companies. The concept of customer
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, au-
relationship in this study was debated based on the customer
thorship, and/or publication of this article.
experiences and intention to accept the technology and
make transactions using the advanced technological
methods. Thus, this study substantially contributes to the ORCID iDs
relevant body of the literature by conceptualizing and Muhammad Turki Alshurideh  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-
empirically examining the factors that influence ER in UAE. 7336-381X
The study further introduced a conceptual model supported Barween Al Kurdi  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0825-4617
by theory in order to achieve the stated purposes and in- Haitham M Alzoubi  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3178-4007
vestigate the identified issue. The research model confirmed Shanmugan Joghee  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4328-5902
the influencing effect of all involved factors on the ER.
From a practical perspective, this study provides valu-
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