PRESENTED BY:RISHIKA RAGHUVANSHI ASHISH KUMAR PAL

Introduction and review

E-service is defined as the provision of service over

electronic networks, such as the internet (Rust and Lemon 2001) and is a powerful source of competitive differentiation. Firms can also enhance their competitive advantage by involving customers in the product development process, through quick feedback and enhanced customer relationships. Thus, ensuring superior eservice quality is of most importance to companies that wish to compete in the online space.

 The service quality scales developed in mature market

have had to be adapted to Indian context and consequently very little is known about service quality perception and their consequences in India. Due to the large divergence in e service quality dimensions across various e-service types, its generally believed that 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. Though Internet is increasingly being employed as a marketing tool for communication and distribution, theres very little research on how consumers evaluate e services, the dimensions of e service quality and its affect on behavioral consumer outcomes.

 Customer retention has been found to enhance

profitability for firms in mature and highly competitive markets, especially service industries such as banking, telecommunications , hotels and airlines. This paper extends the fast growing research stream on online consumer behavior into an emerging market context by proposing, operationalising, and testing a multi-variate and composite model of the antecedents of online behavioral intentions.

 By developing and testing a composite model of inter-

relationship of constructs of e-SQ, e-Satisfaction , perceived value and their relationships with e-Loyalty related behavioural intentions, the research intends to contribute to the theoretical field of drivers of e-Satisfaction and e-Loyalty. The paper aims to addresses the following research questions: What are the determinant dimensions of e-SQ in the Indian context? Does e-SQ influence e-Loyalty (Directly/Indirectly)? Does e-SQ influence the e-Satisfaction (e-SAT) and customer perceptions of value? Does e-SAT influence e-Loyalty? Do customer perceptions of value affect e-Loyalty?

E-service quality definition and measurement

Rowley (2006) defined e service as deeds, efforts, or

performances whose delivery is mediated by information technology. e service can be construed as the provision of services through technological media wherein the personal element does not exist. e-SQ has been defined as customers overall evaluation and judgment regarding the excellence and quality of e-service delivery in the virtual market place.

 Colier and Bienstock(2006) defined e-SQ as

customers perceptions of the outcome of the service along with recovery perceptions if a problem should occur. there are two perspectives on the definition and measurement of e-SQ. These components reflect two attributes when measuredsystem attribute and service attribute. System attributes reflect the technological aspects ie efficiency,speed and security which are primarily related to the interaction of customer with the website.

 Researchers who have measured e-SQ as system

attribute only are Lociano et al., (2002) Webqual scale, Yoo and Donthu (2001), SITEQUAL scale and Barnes and Vidgens (2001) WebQual scale. However some researchers ie Zeithaml et al (2005) suggested consumer perceptions of e-SQ include both the interaction experiences with the site and post interaction service (such as delivery and returns). These researchers emphasized both system and service attributes in measurement of e-SQ.

 e-SQ is conceptualized as a multi dimensional

construct and the dimensions are extracted and validated from a survey of customer responses to the finally selected list of e-SQ attributes through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The study is multi industry in scope and covers content rich web sites which are primarily informational in nature.

Research model
Studies using composite models have established that

service quality is significant antecedent of customer satisfaction and value perceptions which in turn are significant antecedents of behavioral intentions. On the basis of previous studies it is hypothesizd that; H1: e-SQ has a positive effect on e-satisfaction. H2: e-satisfaction has a direct effect on e-loyalty related behavioral intentions (repurchase and recommendation intentions)

H3: e-SQ has direct and indirect effect (through esatisfaction and perceived value) on e-loyalty related behavioral intentions. H4: Perceived value has a positive effect on esatisfaction. H5: e -SQ has a positive effect on perceived value. H6: Perceived value has a direct and indirect effect (through e-satisfaction) on e-loyalty related behavioral intentions.

Method

Sample selection and data collection

Data were collected from respondents who are

students in leading Business schools in India. The questionnaire was uploaded on the web site the respondents filled up the questionnaires themselves . Out of a total of 259 completed questionnaires, 236 were found to be acceptable .The sample consisted of 176 males and 60 females and all the respondents were between the age group of 21-30 years and 95% of the respondents were regular users of the internet for more than 2 hours per day.

Sample and questioner design

The nine e-SQ attributes which were finalized for survey data collection based on expert opinion and pilot testing with select respondents were 1. The web sites are easy to access 2. The web sites have a high level of flexibility . 3. The web sites are reliable . 4. The web sites have high level of personalization. 5. The privacy of transactions is high. 6. The sites are aesthetically designed. 7. The online service providers are responsive. 8. Their service is prompt and timely 9. They offer high variety in their offerings

method of extraction and varimax method of rotation

The initial data collected from respondents on the nine item e-service quality (e-SQ) perceptions was initially factor analyzed to extract 3 factors (dimensions) based on principal component method of extraction and varimax method of rotation.

E-sq attributes The web sites are easy to access

The web sites have a high level of flexibility The web sites are reliable The web sites have high level of personalization The privacy of transactions is high The sites are Aesthetically designed The online service providers are responsive Their service is prompt and timely They offer high

Factor 1 (website
attributes)

Factor 2 (service
fulfillment process)

Factor3(product
offering)

.875 .795

.805 .678

.639 .768

.915

.738

e- Service Quality Scale (e-SQ)

Final modified model of e-SQ

The initial nine e-SQ attributes extracted through pilot study and expert opinion were reduced by exploratory factor analysis to a three factor solution which was further empirically validated through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). e-SQ was found to be a one dimensional construct which was tested for appropriate reliability and validity. The finally accepted measurement scale had three components of e-SQ which were all web site experience related ie
(1) Ease of access of web site (2) flexibility of web site (3) reliability of web site