Service quality dimensions of Internet retailing : an exploratory analysis

1. Service quality dimensions of Internet retailing: an exploratory analysis 2004.11.16. Jang Won Mi

2. Contents • Introduction • Basic Ideas • Research Process • Key Service Quality dimensions • Newly identified service quality dimensions • Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction drivers • Conclusions

3. Introduction • Explosive growth of Internet Commerce • Non-price competitive advantages have become critical for the online retailer • Purpose of Study • To extend the body of knowledge relating to the service quality construct in the context of Internet purchasing • What dimensions do consumers perceive to be essential in providing service quality for online purchasing? • Which service quality attributes operate mainly as satisfiers and which essentially create consumer dissatisfaction? • What recommendation can be advanced to improve the service quality of online purchasing and, in turn, buyer satisfaction?

4. Basic Ideas(1/3) • Key service quality dimensions in traditional retailing • 5 dimensions (Parasuraman) - Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy / SERVQUAL • Two innovative dimensions in the retailing environment (Hedvall&Paltschik) - Willingness and ability to serve, Physical and psychological access • 5 dimension scale measurement in the retailing environment (Dabholkar) - Physical aspects, Reliability, Personal interaction, Problem solving, Policy • Applying above models to 2 different settings (Mehta) - service-intensive retailing / goods-intensive retailing - SERVQUAL for service-intensive / 5 dimensions for goods-intensive • Service quality dimensions tend to be contingent on different industries and various service types even within one industry

5. Basic Ideas(2/3) • Service quality dimensions and Internet commerce • Personalization (Hoffman and Novak) • Lack of prompt responsiveness fore-mail inquiries (Griffith and Krampf) • Accessibility, communication, credibility, understanding, appearance and availability (Cox and Dale) • 13 e-service quality dimensions (Zeithaml) • 19 quality dimensions (Yang) – 3 categories • 5 dimensions for end-user satisfaction (Doll and Trokzadeh) • Considering Web site as an “Information System” • Design features (Rice) • Transaction security and personal information privacy (Balfour) • Undue information download waiting time (Dellaert and Kahn) • Information quality, system use, system design quality (Liu and Arnett)

6. Basic Ideas(3/3) • Negative and Positive attributes • The causes of dissatisfaction and satisfaction can be different (Johnston) • Asymmetric effect (Mittal) - Positive performance of a service quality attribute has less impact on overall consumer satisfaction than negative performance of the same attribute • Customer feedback - consumer complaints and compliments are exception-reporting mechanism for identifying weaknesses to be corrected or strengths to be reinforced

7. Positive Statements Satisfied Attributes Yes Service Quality Dimensions Is the anecdote related to Internet Purchasing experience Negative Statements Dissatisfied Attributes Anecdote No Delete it Research Method • Content analysis of consumer reviews • 2 Online consumer review sites : ratingwonders.com, gomez.com • Ten of the most influential online health product companies • 1,078 useful consumer anecdotes • Coding words / Classifying into two categories • 14 dimensions and 42 sub-dimensions Anecdote Coding Process

8. Key Service Quality dimensions • Among 14 dimensions, 7 dimensions are highly associated with the Internet retailing environment • Responsiveness, credibility, ease of use, reliability, convenience, communication, access • E-mail inquiry • A quick and responsive e-mail service is a distinct and important feature for both the access and the responsiveness dimensions • Prompt delivery : inventory management and sales forecasting • Ease of use : effective navigation • Slow response time : low server capacity

9. Newly identified service quality dimensions • Convenience • Time and location flexibility • Continuous improvement • Continuously update the level of customer service and online system • Collaboration • Internal : conditions of close cooperation between separate functional departments of the company and their respective employees • External : cooperation between employees of individual firms and their business partners • Aesthetics • Providing visitors with a positive image • Rendering customers’ surfing experience enjoyable • Security and Privacy

10. Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction drivers • Satisfied Categories • Responsiveness, credibility, ease of use, reliability, convenience (78.2%) • Dissatisfied Categories • Responsiveness, reliability, ease of use, credibility, competence (76.7%) • Negative performances on service attributes such as reliability, competence, and personalization are more likely to lead to consumer dissatisfaction, compared to the ability of positive performances on these attributes to gain consumer satisfaction

11. Conclusions • 14 service quality dimensions by analyzing 1,078 anecdotes • Key dimensions : responsiveness, credibility, ease of use, reliability, convenience, access • Prompt delivery is important means of reducing dissatisfaction and increasing customer satisfaction • Improving demand forecasting accuracy, and/or integration of e-commerce servers and fulfillment systems • Accountability and accuracy, reliable customer services • Interactive communication • Companies should take steps to insure prompt response to customers’ e-mail inquiries • Ease of use • Primary determinant of customer adoption of a new information technology • Essential for consumers to achieve an enjoyable and efficient shopping experience • Trustworthiness and believability of an online retailer • Reliable and prompt services