The Post-Purchase E-CRM Paradox_ How Delivery, Tracking, and Customer Service Shape Customer Uncertainty, Trust, and Loyalty
(A2026-133351)

AUTHORS

Abdelkader Gam, Faculté des Sciences Economique et de gestion de Nabeul; May Oueslati, Faculté des Sciences Economiques et de Gestion de Nabeul; Abderrahim Bellil, Facult� Des Sciences Economiques Et De Gestion De Nabeul; Jilani Habouria, Faculty Of Economic And Management Sciences Of Nabeul

ABSTRACT

This study examines how post-purchase electronic Customer Relationship Management (e-CRM) efforts function as uncertainty-management mechanisms that shape customer evaluations during fulfillment. Focusing on three key interventions—delivery performance, order tracking, and customer service—we investigate their effects on trust mechanisms (competence and benevolence), satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and loyalty. Using survey data from 1,124 online shoppers and a PLS-SEM model, the results show that delivery strongly enhances competence-based trust, increasing satisfaction and loyalty, while customer service reinforces both competence and benevolence and reduces dissatisfaction. Order tracking, however, exhibits a negative effect on satisfaction, supporting a transparency paradox in which increased visibility amplifies uncertainty rather than reducing it. Across all interventions, competence emerges as the dominant trust pathway, whereas benevolence exerts weaker influence. Satisfaction is the primary affective driver of loyalty, with dissatisfaction showing limited behavioral impact. The findings highlight the differentiated psychological mechanisms through which post-purchase e-CRM efforts influence customer outcomes and underscore the need to manage transparency carefully in digital fulfillment environments.