Understanding the Antecedents of Use of E-Commerce and Consumers’ E-Loyalty in Saudi Arabia Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript is overall fine, but please implement these improvements:
- The abstract is quite short. Much more could be said here.
- Please do not use abbreviations in the keywords section
- Please use the correct citing style
- Figure 1: please use the correct citing style and bring it in the caption.
- Please do not use the word "some". Please be specific.
- Line 161: she/he
- Line 228: Costumers will...
- Line 334: processes).
- Figure 3 is not readable
- References: please use the correct citation style
Author Response
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No |
Comments |
Response |
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1 |
The abstract is quite short. Much more could be said here |
Implications were added Refer to page 1 |
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2 |
Please do not use abbreviations in the keywords section |
use of e-commerce was written in full refer to page 1 |
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3 |
Please use the correct citing style |
MPDI citation style was used |
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4 |
Figure 1: please use the correct citing style and bring it in the caption. |
Figure was removed as recommended by the second reviewer |
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5 |
Please do not use the word "some". Please be specific. |
Was corrected as Western countries Refer to page 2 |
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6 |
Line 161: she/he |
Was corrected as “When users believe that a system is beneficial to them, they will satisfy and wishes to continue using it”. Refer to page 4. |
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7 |
Line 228: Costumers will |
Was corrected |
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8 |
Line 334: processes). |
Was deleted |
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9 |
Figure 3 is not readable |
Was corrected please refer to page 14 |
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10 |
References: please use the correct citation style |
MPDI citation style was used |
Reviewer 2 Report
The study addresses a relevant topic in the international literature although its level of originality is relatively low and only relevant in the regional context. The work is well organized, and the methodology used is relatively robust. Nevertheless, the theoretical justification of the context and the sample selection deserves reflection.
Improvement suggestions:
1. Authors state “The most intriguing breakthroughs in information and communication technology in recent years are the Internet and Web development…” Internet and web development are different concepts. Web development is typically associated with software engineering. I recommend the authors to delete the reference to web development.
2. The figure 1 is not original and it is not mandatory to understand the importance of Saudi e-commerce market. To avoid copyright issues related to the image, the best option is to delete it.
3. Authors note “The report also revealed that 14.26% of Saudi Arabia's inhabitants, or 3.5 million Internet users, participate in e-commerce.”. It is not conclusive. Are they regular or sporadic users?
4. Authors state “In recent years, e-commerce has grown exponentially.” This sentence is related to Saudi or international markets?
5. Authors note “Coronavirus (COVID-19) affects the nature of the product being used and has a significant impact on many products”. This sentence should be better explored to understand the changed provoked by COVID-19.
6. The impact of COVID-19 in e-commerce should also be contextualized considering the growth of digitalization. In fact, the digitalization acceleration in the context of COVID-19 should be explored. I recommend the following references:
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9153093
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296321005725
7. Authors introduce the concept of loyalty but the connection to the e-loyalty is not enough explored.
8. Figure 1 is incomplete because it doesn’t present all the relationships explored by the authors. Furthermore, all the hypothesis need to be present in the Figure 1. Please review it.
9. The sample choice is quite debatable in view of the potential high risk of bias. I understand the decision for convenience to use a sample of college students but the adoption of the sample should be better justified considering how the behavior of this sample could be different from the general population.
10. How were the family income categories defined. Was a benchmark used?
11. The Figure 3 is not totally visible. Please review it.
12. Discussion section could be better explored and detailed. Authors reach an interesting conclusion. They state “Surprisingly, the relationship between Perceived Risk and UEC and performance expectations on the UEC is not supported.” However, they don’t scientifically explore the relevance of this finding.
13. Avoid the use of adjective expressions and colloquial tone “Though the research was meticulously carried…
14. References should adopt the MDPI style and not APA style.
Author Response
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No |
Comments |
Response |
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1 |
. Authors state “The most intriguing breakthroughs in information and communication technology in recent years are the Internet and Web development…” Internet and web development are different concepts. Web development is typically associated with software engineering. I recommend the authors to delete the reference to web development. |
. Web development was remove as suggested
Refer to page 1 |
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2 |
The figure 1 is not original and it is not mandatory to understand the importance of Saudi e-commerce market. To avoid copyright issues related to the image, the best option is to delete it. |
figure 1 was deleted as recommended |
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3 |
Authors note “The report also revealed that 14.26% of Saudi Arabia's inhabitants, or 3.5 million Internet users, participate in e-commerce.”. It is not conclusive. Are they regular or sporadic users?
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are regular users
refer to page 1 |
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4 |
Authors state “In recent years, e-commerce has grown exponentially.” This sentence is related to Saudi or international markets? |
In the international markets Was corrected refer to page 1
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5 |
Authors note “Coronavirus (COVID-19) affects the nature of the product being used and has a significant impact on many products”. This sentence should be better explored to understand the changed provoked by COVID-19.
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The sentence is corrected as “Coronavirus (COVID-19) affects the nature of the product being used and has a significant impact on many products such as cutting global supply chain break down, despite having little effect on others” Refer to page 2 ,
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6 |
The impact of COVID-19 in e-commerce should also be contextualized considering the growth of digitalization. In fact, the digitalization acceleration in the context of COVID-19 should be explored. I recommend the following references: |
Was add as recommended
Refer to page 1 |
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7 |
Authors introduce the concept of loyalty but the connection to the e-loyalty is not enough explored.
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Was explored |
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8 |
8. Figure 1 is incomplete because it doesn’t present all the relationships explored by the authors. Furthermore, all the hypothesis need to be present in the Figure 1. Please review it.
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The indirect relationships can not be display in the Figure. |
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9 |
The sample choice is quite debatable in view of the potential high risk of bias. I understand the decision for convenience to use a sample of college students but the adoption of the sample should be better justified considering how the behavior of this sample could be different from the general population.
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Was justified |
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10 |
How were the family income categories defined. Was a benchmark used?
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Was used using prior studies |
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11 |
11. The Figure 3 is not totally visible. Please review it.
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was corrected refer to page 14 |
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12 |
Discussion section could be better explored and detailed. Authors reach an interesting conclusion. They state “Surprisingly, the relationship between Perceived Risk and UEC and performance expectations on the UEC is not supported.” However, they don’t scientifically explore the relevance of this finding. |
Was justified in the paper |
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13 |
13. Avoid the use of adjective expressions and colloquial tone “Though the research was meticulously carried…
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Meticulously was removed as recommended |
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14 |
14. References should adopt the MDPI style and not APA style
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MPDI citation style was used |
Reviewer 3 Report
Review comments attached.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
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Comments |
Response |
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1 |
I have the following comments. Article explained the growth of ecommerce in Saudi Arabia, but customer loyalty is not clearly explained. I don’t agree that no study is conducted in Saudi Arabia about ecommerce loyalty (Line71).
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The statement was removed
Thank you
Refer to page 3 |
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2 |
Good number of studies conducted on ecommerce loyalty. I find your theoretical model confusing. Usage, Satisfaction and Loyalty are three dependent variables presented in figure 1. I find usage and eloyalty overlaps.
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Used led to loyalty |
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3 |
Need to recheck the Hypothesis 6.
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Was tested already |
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4 |
The analysis part looks fine but interestingly H2 is rejected. Line 526 need to explain correctly and check any other study matches it. This result shows that there is some issue in your theoretical model. Try to recheck your theoretical model. Need to improve the theoretical and practical contribution part of the article. Best wishes on your research.
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Thank you
The sections was improved |
Reviewer 4 Report
The article reveals the electronic loyalty of consumers, in the context of the pandemic-induced growth of e-commerce.
The authors put forward a lot of hypotheses, among which there are often quite obvious ones that are called into question on the basis of a survey conducted in Saudi Arabia, this fact introduces a certain subjectivity. About what in "4.3. Limitations and Future Research" the authors themselves note.
Separate conclusions only confirm quite obvious facts "Online businesses must constantly deliver superior facilitating conditions and increase consumer happiness and satisfaction with every transaction to develop high levels of relational quality."
But this in no way diminishes the topicality of the topic, and the article itself is an interesting study that deserves publication.
Author Response
The article reveals the electronic loyalty of consumers, in the context of the pandemic-induced growth of e-commerce.
The authors put forward a lot of hypotheses, among which there are often quite obvious ones that are called into question on the basis of a survey conducted in Saudi Arabia, this fact introduces a certain subjectivity. About what in "4.3. Limitations and Future Research" the authors themselves note.
Separate conclusions only confirm quite obvious facts "Online businesses must constantly deliver superior facilitating conditions and increase consumer happiness and satisfaction with every transaction to develop high levels of relational quality."
But this in no way diminishes the topicality of the topic, and the article itself is an interesting study that deserves publication.
Thank you
All comments are corrected
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Improvement suggestions well implemented!
Author Response
Thank you
Reviewer 2 Report
Improvements are requested:
- Authors note “Coronavirus (COVID-19) affects the nature of the product being used and has a significant impact on many products such as cutting global supply chain break down, despite having little effect on others” Which others?
- Connect this paragraph with the previous one “Moreover, media usage…”
- Represent the hypothesis in the conceptual model of Figure 1.
- Authors use only two categories to represent age (i.e., up and above 25 years). Why only these two categories?!?
- Three classes are used to represent wage. Less than 5000 has more than 50% of the answers. Why? What is the minimal wage? A similar issue emerges…Why these 3 categories?
- This discussion point is very speculative “Also may likely perceive online shopping to be risky especially since many hackers are playing on many sites”. Authors can’t use speculative observations without citing. Authors must explore better the discussion regarding the distinctive results offered by this study.
- Regarding limitations: Authors point the use of other countries. Which countries may be relevant?
Author Response
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No |
Comments |
Response |
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1 |
Authors note “Coronavirus (COVID-19) affects the nature of the product being used and has a significant impact on many products such as cutting global supply chain break down, despite having little effect on others” Which others? |
such as protective equipment and pharmaceutical products
refer to page 2 |
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2 |
Connect this paragraph with the previous one “Moreover, media usage…”
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Is connected refer to page 2 |
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3 |
Represent the hypothesis in the conceptual model of Figure 1.
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Not all hypotheses can be reflected in the figure because of the indirect effects. |
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4 |
Authors use only two categories to represent age (i.e., up and above 25 years). Why only these two categories?!? |
Because the respondents were students. Thank you
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5 |
Three classes are used to represent wage. Less than 5000 has more than 50% of the answers. Why? What is the minimal wage? A similar issue emerges…Why these 3 categories? |
The minimum wage is 4000 Saudi
The respondents’ family are within the 3 categories.
Thank you
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6 |
This discussion point is very speculative “Also may likely perceive online shopping to be risky especially since many hackers are playing on many sites”. Authors can’t use speculative observations without citing. Authors must explore better the discussion regarding the distinctive results offered by this study. |
Also may likely perceive online shopping to be risky especially since many hackers are playing on many sites [65]. Citation was included. Thank you
This is an important finding that e-commerce experience aspect should not be ignoring in ensuring e-loyalty among customers. Refer to page 15 |
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7 |
Regarding limitations: Authors point the use of other countries. Which countries may be relevant? |
First, the questionnaire could be expanded to include other countries such as Nigeria and India and compared the results to properly extend the findings. Refer to page 16 |
Reviewer 3 Report
Dear authors,
Good to see my comments are addressed in revised article. The article looks well structured showing interesting findings.
One minor correction
Figure 1 the construct name should be E-Commerce Satisfaction.
Best wishes.
Author Response
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No |
Comments |
Response |
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1 |
Good to see my comments are addressed in revised article. The article looks well structured showing interesting findings |
Thank you |
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2 |
One minor correction Figure 1 the construct name should be E-Commerce Satisfaction. Best wishes.
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Is corrected as E-Commerce Satisfaction. Refer to page 7 Thank you |
Round 3
Reviewer 2 Report
It would be relevant to represent the hypotheses in the Figure 1.
Author Response
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No |
Comments |
Response |
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1 |
It would be relevant to represent the hypotheses in the Figure 1. |
Hypotheses were presented in figure 1 Refer to page 7 Thank you |
Regards
Thank you for the opportunity
