Unravelling purchaser retention: Exploring the influence of direct and moderating factors for single and multiple NFT platform purchasers

Abstract

The market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has been experiencing significant growth recently, resulting in an increase in the number of platforms offering NFT services and intensifying competition amongst them. Despite the rapid adoption of NFTs and their crucial role in retaining purchasers, empirical investigation or understanding of NFT purchaser retention in the literature is scarce. Our study aimed to develop a comprehensive research framework that encompasses the direct effects of purchaser satisfaction, trust, perceived usefulness, switching costs and lack of alternative attractiveness on the retention of NFT purchasers towards their main NFT platforms to address this research gap. We also examined the moderating role of two strengthening moderators (trust and perceived usefulness) and two constraining moderators (switching costs and lack of alternative attractiveness) in the satisfaction–retention link. Furthermore, we aimed to identify purchaser groups (single and multiple NFT platform purchasers) and examine heterogeneity in the satisfaction–retention link in these two purchaser groups. Our approach will reveal the previously neglected effects on the retention of NFT purchasers towards their main NFT platforms. We conducted a large-scale online survey of NFT retail purchasers in Hong Kong. Results showed that the five direct effects of purchaser satisfaction, trust, perceived usefulness, switching costs and lack of alternative attractiveness have a significant and positive influence on purchaser retention. Additionally, the two strengthening and two constraining moderators have significant moderating effects on the satisfaction–retention link. In the examination of the heterogeneity between single and multiple NFT platform purchasers, the two strengthening moderators only play a significant moderating role in the satisfaction–retention link for single NFT platform purchasers. Meanwhile, the two constraining moderators only play a significant moderating role in the satisfaction–retention link for multiple NFT platform purchasers. This study concludes with a discussion of the practical and theoretical implications of the findings.