Service quality in luxury e-commerce: Case Study in China

The thesis aimed to examine the importance levels of different service performance from customers' perspective in luxury fashion e-commerce sector in China. Based on the E-S-QUAL and E-RecS-QUAL scales, this thesis developed a 10 dimensions Luxury E-S-QUAL framework namely: fulfilment reliability, efficiency, product portfolio, con-tact, responsiveness, web site design, information, personalization, compensation policy, and community, which could be used to evaluate service quality in online retailing lux-ury fashion context. The utmost practical contribution in this study was to present a better understanding about the service offerings in online retailing luxury fashion de-velopment in general and for China market in particular. The Kano's customer survey also conveyed Chinese online customers' perceptions regarding their requirement for different types of services or service components in online shopping experience. The main results indicated that the fashion luxury industry has not yet bloomed in Chinese e-commerce market and purchasing luxury goods on the Internet has not been com-mon for Chinese luxury customers. Online luxury companies, both local and interna-tional ones have not been differentially outstanding from conventional websites. While most Chinese online consumers are realistically outcome-oriented minds who empha-size the importance of direct human contact service, delivery service, guarantee service and after-sales services..., current independent luxury online retailers in China are on the average performance for offering such critical services. Foreign companies in our research, even showed lower service performance comparing to the local ones

The Impact of Quality on Customer Behavioral Intentions Based on the Consumer Decision Making Process As Applied in E-commerce

Perceived quality in the context of e-commerce was defined and examined in numerous studies, but, to date, there are no consistent definitions and measurement scales. Instruments that measure quality in e-commerce industries primarily focus on website quality or service quality during the transaction and delivery phases. Even though some scholars have proposed instruments from different perspectives, these scales do not fully evaluate the level of quality perceived by customers during the entire decision-making process. This dissertation purports to provide five main contributions for the e-commerce, service quality, and decision science literature: (1) development of a comprehensive instrument to measure how online customers perceive the quality of the shopping channel, website, transaction and recovery based on the customer decision making process; (2) identification of the determinants of customer satisfaction and the key dimensions of customer behavioral intentions in e-commerce; (3) examination of the relationships among perceived quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty intention using empirical data; (4) application of different statistical packages (LISREL and PLS-Graph) for data analysis and comparison of how these methods impact the results; and (5) examination of the moderating effects of control variables. A survey was designed and distributed to a total of 1126 college students in a large southwestern university in the U.S. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling with both LISREL and PLS-Graph are used to validate the comprehensive instrument and test the research hypotheses. The results provide theoretical and normative guidelines for researchers and practitioners in the e-commerce domain. The research results will also help e-commerce platform providers or e-retailers to improve their business and marketing strategies by providing a better understanding of the most important factors influencing customer behavioral intentions

Innovation in last mile delivery : meeting evolving customer demands : the case of In-Car Delivery

Parcel delivery today is in urgent need for innovation driven by the imbalance between two forces that can be observed in the market environment. First, the volume of parcels between businesses and consumers is growing rapidly, mainly driven through e-commerce. Second, consumer habits and lifestyles are changing in a way that demands more flexibility and convenience. Ultimately, the feasibility of the delivery moment, reaching consumers at home, is shrinking. Therefore, this thesis deals with service innovations in the Last Mile Delivery of parcels that seek to enhance customer experience and address the insufficiencies of existing delivery models. The emphasis in this work is on In-Car Delivery - a method in which a parcel is delivered to the trunk of a consumer’s car. The objective of the paper is to examine whether consumers would accept In-Car Delivery as a novel way to receive parcels. Key findings suggest that In-Car Delivery can solve the deficiencies of today’s delivery methods, and consumers are willing to use trunk delivery. Yet, the research also shows that In-Car Delivery brings along an unprecedented set of concerns in parcel delivery, namely customer data and privacy concerns. As the exploration of innovative delivery solutions - beyond In-Car Delivery - is continuing, this research helps parcel companies to prioritize and concentrate their resources on the main value drivers. This study identified the following five factors most important to consumers when receiving a parcel: flexibility, convenience, cost, speed, and variety.A entrega de encomendas hoje passa por uma necessidade urgente de inovação, impulsionada pelo desequilíbrio entre duas forças que podem ser observadas no mercado. Primeiro, o volume das encomendas entre empresas e consumidores está crescendo rapidamente, principalmente através do e-commerce. Segundo, os hábitos de consumo e estilos de vida estão mudando de forma a exigir mais flexibilidade e conveniência. E por ultimo, a viabilidade de entrega, de a encomenda chegar às mãos dos consumidores em casa, está diminuindo. Portanto, esta tese trata de inovações de serviços na entrega de encomendas da Last-Mile Delivery que buscam aprimorar a experiência do cliente e abordar as insuficiências dos modelos de entrega atuais e existentes. A ênfase deste trabalho está no In-Car Delivery – um método onde a encomenda é entregue ao porta-malas do carro do consumidor. O objetivo deste trabalho é examinar se os consumidores aceitariam ou não o serviço In-Car Delivery como uma nova maneira de receber suas encomendas. Alem disso, este estudo identificou os seguintes cinco fatores mais importantes para os consumidores quando se trata de receber uma encomenda: flexibilidade, conveniência, custo, velocidade, e variedade. As principais conclusões sugerem que o serviço In-Car Delivery pode resolver as deficiências dos métodos de entrega atuais, e em geral, os consumidores estão dispostos a usar este serviço como método de recebimento de encomendas. No entanto, a pesquisa também mostra que o In-Car Delivery traz consigo preocupações sem precedentes quando se trata da entrega de encomendas, principalmente preocupações com os dados e privacidade dos clientes

Internet Banking Among Baby Boomers: A Case Study on Customer Satisfaction in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

The present study focuses on the factors relating to why Baby Boomers are reluctant to adopt internet banking and to investigate the level of convenience experienced when using it. A quantitative method was employed to analyse the data based on the conceptual framework. A survey questionnaire was chosen as the research instrument. The findings show that the two independent variables, service quality and convenience, did not correlate, but there was a significant affect from customer satisfaction with internet banking among the Baby Boomer respondents. The R-squared value was 0.928, meaning that 92.8% of the both independent variables affected the dependent variable. Another 7.2% was indicated for other independent variables not used in this study

KEER2022

Avanttítol: KEER2022. DiversitiesDescripció del recurs: 25 juliol 202

The effect of Facebook in-application advertisements on purchase intent: a case of retail shopping in South Africa

A research report submitted to the faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Management in strategy marketing Johannesburg, 2018Social media has transformed how people communicate with each other and has carved alternative ways for businesses to engage and interact with customers by sending them targeted campaigns and promotions using various social media platforms. Social media has made information accessible to consumers which assists them to make well informed decisions when making a purchase. The focus of the study is to establish the effectiveness of in-application advertisement on Facebook on purchase intent - a case study on retail in South Africa. The analysis is based on the black baby boomer cohort, an under studied segment of the population, in South Africa. The findings of the study reveal the growing adaptation and use of Facebook by baby boomers in South Africa, as they use and rely on this platform to remain connected with family, friends and peers and to be able to source information on products and services based on peers via word of mouth. This study relies on quantitative analysis of the results obtained through an online survey. A total of 603 respondents engaged with the survey, which was placed on Facebook, and 235 of the successfully completed questionnaires were by baby boomers in South Africa. The study testes five hypotheses using Structural Equation Modelling and SPSS. The study revealed that the hypotheses that tested in-application advertisement on Facebook and its effectiveness does show a strong relationship with performance expectancy by baby boomers. Effort and social influence had a weak relationship to any of the variables, however this changed when new mediator variables, clicking on and advertisements and word of mouth, are introduced. The study contributes to the literature and theoretical knowledge on the positive effectiveness of Facebook and online banner advertisement towards purchase intent, and the effectiveness and impact of word of mouth both online and offline, in South Africa. The findings may be applied and expanded to other African regions.MT 201