Investigating Customers Motives Towards Participation in Opportunistic Returns in E‐Commerce Platforms: An Empirical Analysis

ABSTRACT The objective of this research is to identify and hierarchize the key causes of opportunistic customer returns according to their importance. A real‐time market survey involving 155 respondents was conducted to determine the important factors and categorize them using exploratory factor analysis. Finally, an integrated multi‐criteria decision‐making (MCDM) model that combines the ordinal priority approach (OPA) and neutrosophic numbers is utilized to rank the identified causes of opportunistic returns in order of importance. Findings deliberate 19 reasons behind opportunistic returns. The results suggest that lenient return policy, product discounts, little to no consequences for such behaviour, past experiences of successful fraudulent return and drop in product prices post‐purchase are the top five reasons for opportunistic returns in e‐commerce platforms. The study provides a comprehensive understanding of the impact of each factor causing opportunistic returns, which will facilitate the development of strategies that minimize opportunistic returns.