ANTECEDENCES AND CONSEQUENCES OF E-SERVICE
QUALITY ACROSS INDUSTRY SECTORS
Dauw-Song Zhu
Business Administration & Accounting Department, National Dong Hwa University
No. 1, Sec. 2, Da Hsueh Rd. Shou-Feng Hualien, Taiwan 974
Chih-Te Lin
Business Administration Department, National Dong Hwa University & Lecturer of Food and Beverage Management
Department, Taiwan Hospitality & Tourism College
No. 2, Lane 46, Jhongmei 3rd St, Hualien, Taiwan 970
Yu-Ling Su
Business Administration Department, National Dong Hwa University & Lecturer of Food and Beverage Management
Department, Taiwan Hospitality & Tourism College
No. 2, Lane 46, Jhongmei 3rd St, Hualien, Taiwan 970
Keywords: e-Service quality, e-commerce quality, online quality, Internet quality.
Abstract: A few studies are available on the different sectors basis on the determinants of success in online retailing.
This study tries to identify which e-Service dimensions serve as determinants of e-Service quality (Zeithaml
et al., 2002). Therefore we focused on analyzing impacts on overall e-Service performance of various
e-Service quality dimensions in internet retailing. We analyzed the impact of e-Service quality dimensions
of online retailers along several sectors. We found that while many dimensions of online service
performance were similar in their impact across all sectors, several dimensions in particular exhibited
sector-by-sector performance differences.
1 INTRODUTION
What companies on the Internet require is to deliver
high value to the customer, build customer loyalty,
encourage repeat purchases and maintain long term
relationships with the customers (Gurau 2003;
Parasuraman and Zinkham 2002), since recent
research indicates that ‘positively predisposed
on-line customers’ demand much more (Van Riel et
al. 2003). To do so, as Zeithaml et al., (2002, p362)
argue, companies need to shift the focus of
e-business from e-commerce to e-Service. Such shift
implies understanding what customers’ value in an
on-line encounter, how they perceive the experience
and how they evaluate its quality (Lauren et al,
2006).
Understanding, measuring and managing
e-Service quality on the web has thus become an
issue for ensuring customer satisfaction, loyalty and
firms’ profitability and service, both for industry and
the public sector (Buckley 2003). Thus, we examine
each of several industry sectors separately to
distinguish the web site dimensions that are
associated with creating overall satisfaction in the
online consumer. Here we concisely review
literatures that have empirically examined
antecedents and consequences dimensions of
e-Service quality in electronic services. Table 1 is a
list of the variables that have been examined in these
literatures, both in multi-industry sector e-retailing
literatures, and in single industry studies related to
general e-Service, online banking/ financial services,
travel services, book retailing, and health care
services.
443
Zhu D., Lin C. and Su Y. (2008).
ANTECEDENCES AND CONSEQUENCES OF E-SERVICE QUALITY ACROSS INDUSTRY SECTORS.
In Proceedings of the International Conference on e-Business, pages 443-446
DOI: 10.5220/0001908104430446
Copyright
c
 SciTePress

2 ANTECEDENCES
A few previous literatures have studied the issue of
online e-Service quality from a multi-industry
perspective, or have collected data across several
industry sectors. According to review of 19
literatures, we discovered overall web site quality is
the most frequent antecedent across general
e-Service/ e-retail industry (Kim et al., 2002; Palmer,
2002), online banking/ financial services industry
(Chen and Hitt, 2002; Montoya-Weiss et al., 2003;
Jayawardhena, 2004), travel industry (Harris and
Goode, 2004), books industry (Gefen, 2002) and
health industry (Van Riel et al., 2001) . The second
frequent antecedent is trustworthiness or assurance
across four industries of online banking services
industry (Balasubramanian et al.,2003;
Jayawardhena, 2004), travel industry (Harris and
Goode, 2004), books industry (Gefen, 2002; Lee, G.
G. & Lin H. F., 2005; Lin, H. F., 2007) and health
industry (Viitanen et al., 2003).
We examined general e-Service industry, online
banking services industry, travel industry and books
industry, and found that security of environmental
risk is a antecedence variable of general e-Service/
e-retail industry (Kim et al., 2002; Zhang, X. &
Prybutok, V. R., 2005), online banking industry
(Balasubramanian et al., 2003; Montoya-Weiss et al.
2003), books industry (Gefen, 2002) and in health
industry (Viitanen et al., 2003). In addition to that,
we also found content or information is the
predicator of e-Service quality across industries of
e-retail industry (Kim et al., 2002; Palmer, 2002;
Janda, S., Trocchia, P. J. and Gwinner, K. P., 2002;
Liao, C., Palvia, P. and Lin H. N., 2006), online
banking industry (Montoya-Weiss et al., 2003) and
books industry (Lin, H. F., 2007). Furthermore,
personalization, customization or interactivity were
predicator across e-retail industry (Palmer, 2002),
online banking industry (Chen and Hitt, 2002;
Jayawardhena, 2004), travel industry (Van Riel et
al., 2003) and books industry (Lin, H. F., 2007). But
technical quality or technical adequacy viewed as
antecedent only in e-retail industry (Choi et al.,
2004; Kim et al., 2002; Liao, C., Palvia, P. and Lin
H. N., 2006) and health industry (Viitanen et al.,
2003).
We found accessibility or e-Service convenience
used as independent variable in studies of e-retail
industry (Zhang, X. & Prybutok, V. R., 2005), online
banking industry (Jayawardhena, 2004) and travel
industry (Van Riel et al., 2003). Fulfillment or
reliability is the antecedent across travel industry
(Van Riel et al., 2003) and books industry (Gefen,
2002; Lee, G. G. & Lin H. F., 2005), functional
quality is the antecedent across e-retail industry
(Choi et al., 2004; Kim et al., 2002) and health
industry (Van Riel et al., 2001), and security or
privacy is the antecedent across e-retail industry
(Kim et al., 2002; Janda, S., Trocchia, P. J. and
Gwinner, K. P., 2002) and books industry (Lin, H.
F., 2007).
For banking and travel industry, aesthetic appeal is
the driver of e-Service quality (Montoya-Weiss et
al., 2003; Van Riel et al., 2003), and comparative
prices is also the driver across e-retail industry (Choi
et al., 2004) and banking industry (Balasubramanian
et al., 2003). Download speed became the
antecedences across e-retail industry (Palmer, 2002)
and travel industry (Van Riel et al., 2003).
Usefulness is significant driver in books industry
(Koufaris, 2002), health industry (Viitanen et al.,
2003). And on time delivery became the significant
driver in books industry (Gefen, 2002) and health
industry (Viitanen et al., 2003). Online banking
industry and travel industry studies used navigation
as antecedent (Montoya-Weiss et al., 2003; Van Riel
et al., 2003). Product quality viewed as predicator in
e-retail industry (Choi et al., 2004) and travel
industry (Clemons et al., 2002), responsiveness used
as predicator in books industry (Lee, G. G. & Lin H.
F., 2005; Lin, H. F., 2007). However, web site
design is significant association with dependent
variables only in books industry (Lee, G. G. & Lin
H. F., 2005; Lin, H. F. 2007).
3 CONSEQUENCES
We found satisfaction is the most major consequent
variables in the previous studies across general
e-Service/ e-retail industry (Kim et al, 2002; Palmer,
2002; Janda, S., Trocchia, P. J. and Gwinner, K. P.,
2002; Zhang, X. & Prybutok, V. R., 2005), online
banking/ financial services industry
(Balasubramanian et al. ,2003; Montoya-Weiss et al.,
2003);), travel industry (Van Riel et al. ,2003; Harris
and Goode, 2004), books industry (Lee, G. G. & Lin
H. F., 2005; Lin, H. F., 2007) and health industry
(Van Riel et al., 2001; Viitanen et al., 2003). And the
second major consequences is customer loyalty
across four industries including general e-Service/
e-retail industry (Kim et al. ,2002; Palmer ,2002),
travel industry (Van Riel et al. ,2003; Harris and
Goode ,2004), books industry (Gefen, 2002;
Koufaris, 2002) and health industry (Van Riel et al..
2001; Viitanen et al., 2003). Next consequent
variable is quality or e-Service quality studied in
ICE-B 2008 - International Conference on e-Business
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three industries including online banking/ financial
services industry (Jayawardhena, 2004), travel
industry (Van Riel et al., 2003) and books industry
(Lee, G. G. & Lin H. F. ,2005). Moreover, value
variable is studied across different industries general
e-Service/ e-retail industry (Choi et al., 2004), travel
industry (Harris and Goode, 2004) and health
industry (Van Riel et al., 2001).
In addition, we examined online banking and
books industry, and found customer switching is the
antecedent separately studied in Chen and Hitt
(2002) and Gefen (2002). And Clemons et al. (2002)
surveyed travel industry, price dispersion as
antecedent. Otherwise, Janda, S., Trocchia, P. J. and
Gwinner, K. P., (2002) examined general e-Service/
e-retail industry and used likelihood of future
purchase, likelihood of complaining and
word-of-mouth as dependent variables, but Liao, C.,
Palvia, P. and Lin H. N. (2006) used trust as
dependent variables at the same industry. We may
make up the situation of outcome variables were
identified, the summary shows in Table IV.
4 METHOD
The a-priori theory underlying our analysis of the
relationship between individual e-Service quality
dimensions and overall e-Service performance is that
customers in each e-retailing sector will possess
certain preferences about aspects of an online
shopping system, and e-Service designers will strive
to understand those sector-specific factors and will
design their online service system to attempt to
satisfy customers in their sector. Across all online
retailing sectors, a large body of e-Service quality
dimensions will exist, subsets of which will be
relevant for managing individual sectors.
5 CONCLUSIONS
Firms today need to understand better how different
industry sectors and contexts lead to different
relationships between tactical activities such as
e-Service quality management and their overall
performance outcomes (Bolton et al., 2004). With
the phenomenal growth of e-Services, research must
aim to better understand the dimensions,
antecedences, and consequences of quality and
customer satisfaction in the online domain across
various industry sectors (Lauren et al, 2006).
Therefore we focused on analyzing impacts on
overall e-Service performance of various e-Service
quality dimensions in internet retailing. We analyzed
the impact of e-Service quality dimensions of online
retailers along several sectors. We found that while
many dimensions of online service performance
were similar in their impact across all sectors,
several dimensions in particular exhibited
sector-by-sector performance differences.
This study makes several contributions to the
literature on e-Service performance specifically due
to our sector-by-sector analysis. In prior studies,
researchers have taken a scattered approach to
identifying e-Service quality dimensions for their
studies. They have also focused on the issue from a
single industry perspective. This research approach
has led the literature to a state of many quality
dimensions having been identified, but little
evidence that can be triangulated across sectors or
across studies. In closing, we hope our paper will
prove insightful to academics and managers
interested in managing e-Service operations. We
believe there is much interesting research left to be
done on such topics, and hope our paper serves to
motivate others to explore the emerging issues in this
interesting industry arena.
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