Customer Bonding of E-Tailors: The Constructs and Theoretical Models

In this paper, we conceptualize customer bonding of e-tailors. We then construct a static theoretical model which describes the relationship between bonding and business performance for e-tailors. Based on the dynamic process of buyer-seller relationship, we further construct a theoretical dynamic model of effect of bonding on business performance at different stages of buyer-seller relationships for e-tailors. The results suggest that e-tailors will get good performance by bonding with customer and as a relationship deepens from acquaintances to friends, then to partners, the effect of economic bonding on marketing performance will become weaker, both social bonding and structural bonding on business performance will become stronger.