An Empirical Study of the Relationship Between Digital Transformation and Customer Satisfaction: A SEM-ANN Approach

This research explores the impact of digital transformation (DT) on the evolution of the relationship between enterprises and consumers at the consumer level. On the basis of expectation confirmation theory, 545 validated questionnaires were collected, and relevant hypotheses were tested with the assistance of Mplus 8.0 software and artificial neural networks (ANNs). This study revealed linear relationships among the following factors: DT affects relationship commitment (RC) not only directly but also indirectly via perceived value (PV); PV positively affects RC and relationship satisfaction (RS); and RS is positively influenced by RC. In addition, customer empowerment (CE) significantly moderates the effect of PV on RC and the effect of RC on RS. This research also highlights important predictive factors with respect to differences in effectiveness (nonlinearity). Unlike previous studies that focused on the economic and social benefits of DT, this study reveals the impact of DT on customer satisfaction, and it constitutes one of the earliest empirical investigations of DT and business–customer relationships, which can be used in subsequent research on the theoretical and practical issues associated with DT and customer relationship management (CRM).