Digitalization in container shipping: Do perception and satisfaction regarding digital products in a non-technology industry affect overall customer loyalty?

Like many other non-tech industries, container shipping services and operations have recently started being digitalized through various digital products and technologies. Despite several proven and projected benefits of digitalization, the impact of digitalization on customer loyalty in non-tech industries has not been fully investigated. Following the recent digitization trend, this research paper examines the relationship between perception and satisfaction on recently implemented digital products and overall customer loyalty in container shipping. Anchored on the technology acceptance model (TAM), a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is applied based on the survey conducted on freight forwarders who are major customers of container lines. Results indicate that digital satisfaction and digital trust positively affect overall customer loyalty, while perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and digital trust positively influence digital satisfaction. Results of the study show that those digitalized services and operations of container lines have already started to influence overall customer loyalty. This paper provides important theoretical and managerial implications regarding digitalization in container shipping and other non-tech industries.