Assessing Customer Perceptions of Website Service Quality in Digital Marketing Environments

[[abstract]]The e-commerce literature has rarely addressed the measurement of customer perceptions of website service quality in digital marketing environments. It is argued that the current SERVQUAL and IS-SERVQUAL instruments need to be refined and validated to fit the digital marketing environment, as they are targeted primarily towards either traditional retailing or information systems contexts. This article validates and refines a comprehensive model and instrument for measuring customer-perceived service quality of websites that market digital products and services. After a discussion of the conceptualization and operationalization of the service quality construct, the procedure used in modifying items, collecting data, and validating a multiple-item scale is described. Subsequently, evidence of reliability and validity on the basis of analyzing data from a quota sample of 260 adult respondents is presented. Implications for practice and research are then explored. Finally, this paper concludes by discussing limitations that could be addressed in future studies. The final EC-SERVQUAL instrument with good reliability and validity will be essential to the development and testing of e-business theories, and provide researchers with a common framework for explaining, justifying, and comparing differences across results

Information Technology Applications in Hospitality and Tourism: A Review of Publications from 2005 to 2007

The tourism and hospitality industries have widely adopted information technology (IT) to reduce costs, enhance operational efficiency, and most importantly to improve service quality and customer experience. This article offers a comprehensive review of articles that were published in 57 tourism and hospitality research journals from 2005 to 2007. Grouping the findings into the categories of consumers, technologies, and suppliers, the article sheds light on the evolution of IT applications in the tourism and hospitality industries. The article demonstrates that IT is increasingly becoming critical for the competitive operations of the tourism and hospitality organizations as well as for managing the distribution and marketing of organizations on a global scale

A model of customer e-loyalty in the online banking

With the rapid growth of online banking, it has been reinforced that companies need to build and maintain loyal customers. This study models e-loyalty as the endogenous variable that includes three exogenous variables (website quality, corporate image and perceived social presence) and two mediating variables (satisfaction and trust). The model was empirically tested using data collected from an online survey of Internet forums based in Indonesia. Using structural equation modeling, the results of statistical analysis show that the model is an adequate fit to the data. All the causal relationships in this model were found to be significant. We discuss some interesting results and provide several implications for those banks which want to enhance loyalty of e-banking customers.

Critical review of the e-loyalty literature: a purchase-centred framework

Over the last few years, the concept of online loyalty has been examined extensively in the literature, and it remains a topic of constant inquiry for both academics and marketing managers. The tremendous development of the Internet for both marketing and e-commerce settings, in conjunction with the growing desire of consumers to purchase online, has promoted two main outcomes: (a) increasing numbers of Business-to-Customer companies running businesses online and (b) the development of a variety of different e-loyalty research models. However, current research lacks a systematic review of the literature that provides a general conceptual framework on e-loyalty, which would help managers to understand their customers better, to take advantage of industry-related factors, and to improve their service quality. The present study is an attempt to critically synthesize results from multiple empirical studies on e-loyalty. Our findings illustrate that 62 instruments for measuring e-loyalty are currently in use, influenced predominantly by Zeithaml et al. (J Marketing. 1996;60(2):31-46) and Oliver (1997; Satisfaction: a behavioral perspective on the consumer. New York: McGraw Hill). Additionally, we propose a new general conceptual framework, which leads to antecedents dividing e-loyalty on the basis of the action of purchase into pre-purchase, during-purchase and after-purchase factors. To conclude, a number of managerial implementations are suggested in order to help marketing managers increase their customers’ e-loyalty by making crucial changes in each purchase stage

What Drives Students' Loyalty-Formation in Social Media Learning Within a Personal Learning Environment Approach? The Moderating Role of Need for Cognition

Our study analyzes an educational experience based on the integrated use of social media within a higher education course under a personal learning environment approach and investigates the factors that determine students' loyalty to social media learning. We examined the moderating role of need for cognition (NFC) in students' formation of attitudes, satisfaction, and loyalty toward this learning experience. The results indicate that NFC has an influence on these variables, significantly moderating how loyalty toward social media learning is formed. For high-NFC students, satisfaction with the learning experience is the most important variable to explain loyalty; whereas for low-NFC students, attitudes have a stronger effect. Different strategies are suggested, according to the learners' NFC levels, for increasing the use of social media in personal learning environments. Practical implications for improving the integration of such informal resources into formal education are discussed.Junta de Andalucía – Programa Andaluz de I + D P12 SEJ 259

Evaluation of User Support: Factors That Affect User Satisfaction With Helpdesks and Helplines

In addition to technical documentation, face-to-face helpdesks and telephonic helplines are a powerful means for supporting users of technical products and services. This study investigates the factors that determine user satisfaction with helpdesks and helplines. A survey, based on the SERVQUAL framework and questionnaire, shows that the SERVQUAL dimensions of customer satisfaction are not applicable in these contexts. Three quality dimensions were found instead: solution quality, the experience of the consultation, and, in the case of a physical environment, the so-called tangibles. Helpdesk customers base their overall quality perceptions mainly on their experiences during a consultation, while helpline customers focus strongly on the quality of the solution offered.\ud The study also found a connection between the perceived helpline quality and the appreciation of the primary service

MEASURING THE ANTECEDENT EFFECTS OF SERVICE COGNITION AND INTERNET SHOPPING ANXIETY ON CONSUMER SATISFACTION WITH E-TAILING SERVICE

Internet shopping anxiety (ISA), or the negative emotion that results from an individual’s experiences with online shopping in particular, is an important factor to explain the consumer’s emotion in ecommerce usage experience, such as e-tailing service usage experience. In this study, we introduce Internet shopping anxiety (ISA) as a new factor that reflect the consumer’s emotion in e-tailing service usage. We explore and empirically validate the relationships among Internet shopping anxiety, perceived risk and consumer satisfaction under the online retailing context. This study surveyed and collected the responses of 239 survey participants with online shopping experience. The results indicated that E-tailing service quality and trust in website have significant negative effects on Internet shopping anxiety. Further, the results showed that Internet shopping anxiety have a significant positive effect on perceived risk. Finally, perceived risk is found to have a significant negative effect on consumers’ satisfaction.consumer satisfaction, e-tailing service, internet shopping anxiety.

The Spanish E-retailing Customers Segmentation

This article analyses different factors that influence the purchasing behaviour of online supermarket customers. These factors are related to both the appearance of the website as well as the processes that take place when making the purchase. Based on these analyses, the various groups of consumers with homogenous behaviour are studied. The analysis also allows the quality of the service offered by this kind of establishment to be defined, as well as the main dimensions in which it develops. In the conclusions, factors which should influence the manager of an online supermarket to improve the quality of its service are given.Virtual supermarket; segmentation; Internet; E-commerce; marketing.