Website Service Quality in Ireland: An Empirical Study

Despite the fact that service quality is a critical determinant of website success, studies show that consumers frequently view the service quality delivered through websites as unsatisfactory. This paper outlines a study that investigated the dimensions of website service excellence valued by Irish customers of a small-to-medium enterprise specialising in gifts. The E-S-QUAL measurement instrument was applied to the customers who purchase products online from this retailer, in order to determine their purchasing patterns and the dimensions of e-service quality that they value. The results of this study indicate the effectiveness of the instrument in determining gaps in e-service quality. The findings will be of benefit both to practitioners and researchers seeking to improve their understanding of the factors that contribute towards the creation and maintenance of consumer satisfaction in Irish online transactions.

[1]  David M. Szymanski,et al.  E-satisfaction: an initial examination , 2000 .

[2]  Allard C. R. van Riel,et al.  Exploring consumer evaluations of e‐services: a portal site , 2001 .

[3]  Charles A. McMellon,et al.  Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet , 2004 .

[4]  J E Swan,et al.  What attributes determine quality and satisfaction with health care delivery? , 1994, Health care management review.

[5]  Steven A. Taylor,et al.  Servperf versus Servqual: Reconciling Performance-Based and Perceptions-Minus-Expectations Measurement of Service Quality , 1994 .

[6]  Richard T. Vidgen,et al.  An Integrative Approach to the Assessment of E-Commerce Quality , 2002, J. Electron. Commer. Res..

[7]  R. Teas,et al.  Consumer Expectations and the Measurement of Perceived Service Quality , 1993 .

[8]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Culture′s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values , 1980 .

[9]  Joseph P. Cannon,et al.  Understanding the Influence of National Culture on the Development of Trust , 1998 .

[10]  F. Fukuyama.  Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity Penguin London , 1995 .

[11]  J. E. Swan,et al.  SERVQUAL revisited: a critical review of service quality , 1996 .

[12]  Steven A. Taylor,et al.  Measuring Service Quality: A Reexamination and Extension , 1992 .

[13]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. , 1988 .

[14]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Evaluating service encounters: The effects of physical surroundings and employee responses. , 1990 .

[15]  Stephen W. Brown,et al.  Consumer and provider expectations and experiences in evaluating professional service quality , 1989 .

[16]  Jos van Iwaarden,et al.  Perceptions about the quality of web sites: a survey amongst students at Northeastern University and Erasmus University , 2004, Inf. Manag..

[17]  Sohel Ahmad.  Service failures and customer defection: a closer look at online shopping experiences , 2002 .

[18]  V. Zeithaml,et al.  E-S-QUAL A Multiple-Item Scale for Assessing Electronic Service Quality , 2004 .

[19]  Minjoon Jun,et al.  Internet users' perceptions of online service quality: a comparison of online buyers and information searchers , 2003 .

[20]  V. Zeithaml.  Service excellence in electronic channels , 2002 .

[21]  M. Gilly,et al.  eTailQ: dimensionalizing, measuring and predicting etail quality , 2003 .

[22]  A. Woodside,et al.  Linking service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intention. , 1989, Journal of health care marketing.

[23]  Perceptions of responsiveness in service delivery. , 1995, Journal of hospital marketing.

[24]  Kenneth L. Bernhardt,et al.  Comments on Christian Grönroos' Strategic management and marketing in the service sector , 1984 .

[25]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  A MULTIPLE-ITEM SCALE FOR MEASURING CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY , 1988 .

[26]  Jessica Santos.  E‐service quality: a model of virtual service quality dimensions , 2003 .

[27]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research , 1985 .

[28]  Emin Babakus,et al.  An empirical assessment of the SERVQUAL scale , 1992 .

[29]  Gregory R. Heim,et al.  Comparing e‐service performance across industry sectors , 2006 .

[30]  W. Mangold,et al.  Adapting the SERVQUAL scale to hospital services: an empirical investigation. , 1992, Health services research.

[31]  J. Carman.  Consumer perceptions of service quality: an assessment of the SERVQUAL dimensions , 1990 .

[32]  David Gefen,et al.  On the Need to Include National Culture as a Central Issue in E-Commerce Trust Beliefs , 2006, J. Glob. Inf. Manag..

[33]  Bradley S. O′Hara,et al.  The Effects of Country of Origin on Trust and Ethical Perceptions of Legal Services , 1995 .

[34]  L. Zucker.  Production of trust: Institutional sources of economic structure, 1840–1920. , 1986 .

[35]  B. Dale,et al.  Service quality and e‐commerce: an exploratory analysis , 2001 .