Loyalty and or disloyalty to a search engine: the case of young Millennials

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents of online loyalty and disloyalty in search engine usage by young Millennials. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 495 pupils between the ages of 14 to 17 years old. Findings – The attitude towards computers is not influencing brand loyalty. The main predictors of brand loyalty are the emotional link that users develop with the search engine, the attitude towards said engine, and in particular the perceived quality of results. The best predictors of disloyalty are the level of two‐way communication, the lack of satisfaction as well as the involvement of the user with computers, while the actual perceived characteristics of the search engine are not predicting disloyalty. Research limitations/implications – Since the data were collected from one school in the UK only, the teenage internet users in the study's sample are likely to come from families with a similar profile. For further research a sample drawn from other areas, therefore, more representative of the make‐up of the population in the UK would be interesting. Originality/value – Given the importance of teenage users and their expected long‐term value as internet users, this paper is contributing to the literature by understanding some of the key drivers of their loyalty and disloyalty.