A study of the impacts of website quality on customer relationship performance

One of the characteristics of online consumer behaviour is the low cost of searching for alternatives. Therefore, customer loyalty is harder to achieve in the online context than in the offline one. If a website has high information, system and service quality, customers may have greater willingness to maintain, deepen and broaden their relationship with a particular online service provider. This study develops and empirically tests a model examining the relations between website quality, customer satisfaction, customer trust and customer relationship length, depth and breadth with the online financial services. Using survey data from 656 online customers of a Taiwanese securities corporation, results indicate that website quality influences customer satisfaction and trust, except for the link between information quality and customer trust, and customer trust has a stronger impact on relationship depth and breadth than customer satisfaction. Integrating the results, this study concludes that website information quality is the most important factor in enhancing relationship length, while website system quality and service quality contribute a lot to relationship depth and breadth.

[1]  John Haywood-Farmer,et al.  A Conceptual Model of Service Quality , 1988 .

[2]  Katherine N. Lemon,et al.  A Dynamic Model of Customers’ Usage of Services: Usage as an Antecedent and Consequence of Satisfaction , 1999 .

[3]  Chin-Lung Hsu,et al.  Consumer behavior in online game communities: A motivational factor perspective , 2007, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[4]  Chechen Liao,et al.  The roles of habit and web site quality in e-commerce , 2006, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[5]  J. Steenkamp,et al.  Generalizations about trust in marketing channel relationships using meta-analysis , 1998 .

[6]  Magnus Söderlund.  Measuring customer loyalty with multi‐item scales , 2006 .

[7]  Yi-Ching Hsieh,et al.  A Study of the Impacts of Service Quality on Relationship Quality in Search-Experience-Credence Services , 2004 .

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

[9]  A. Rangaswamy,et al.  Customer satisfaction and loyalty in online and offline environments , 2003 .

[10]  Larry Hatcher,et al.  A Step-by-Step Approach to Using the SAS System for Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling , 1994 .

[11]  S. Bell,et al.  Customer relationship dynamics: Service quality and customer loyalty in the context of varying levels of customer expertise and switching costs , 2005 .

[12]  Venkatesh Shankar,et al.  Customer value, satisfaction, loyalty, and switching costs: An illustration from a business-to-business service context , 2004 .

[13]  Amy L. Ostrom,et al.  Consumer Trade-Offs and the Evaluation of Services , 1995 .

[14]  S. Hunt,et al.  The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing , 1994 .

[15]  Henry H. Emurian,et al.  An overview of online trust: Concepts, elements, and implications , 2005, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[16]  Philip Hans Franses,et al.  The impact of satisfaction and payment equity on cross-buying: A dynamic model for a multi-service provider , 2001 .

[17]  Yi-Ching Hsieh,et al.  Maintaining a committed online customer: A study across search-experience-credence products , 2005 .

[18]  Jagdip Singh,et al.  Consumer Trust, Value, and Loyalty in Relational Exchanges , 2002 .

[19]  Richard T. Watson,et al.  Service Quality: A Measure of Information System Effectiveness , 1995, MIS Q..

[20]  Soumitra Dutta,et al.  Business Transformation on the Internet , 1999 .

[21]  P. Kotler.  Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control , 1972 .

[22]  R. Oliver.  Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective On The Consumer , 1996 .

[23]  R. Bagozzi,et al.  On the evaluation of structural equation models , 1988 .

[24]  E. Anderson,et al.  The Antecedents and Consequences of Customer Satisfaction for Firms , 1993 .

[25]  Min Xie,et al.  Measuring web-based service quality , 2002 .

[26]  E. Turban,et al.  Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective , 1999 .

[27]  T. Hennig-Thurau,et al.  The impact of customer satisfaction and relationship quality on customer retention: A critical reassessment and model development , 1997 .

[28]  Eun-Ju Lee,et al.  The effects of utilitarian and hedonic online shopping value on consumer preference and intentions , 2006 .

[29]  P. Verhoef.  Understanding the Effect of Customer Relationship Management Efforts on Customer Retention and Customer Share Development , 2003 .

[30]  Horst Treiblmaier,et al.  What Keeps the E-Banking Customer Loyal? A Multigroup Analysis of the Moderating Role of Consumer Characteristics on E-Loyalty in the Financial Service Industry. , 2006 .

[31]  Judy Chuan-Chuan Lin,et al.  Towards an understanding of the behavioural intention to use a web site , 2000, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[32]  Anol Bhattacherjee,et al.  Individual Trust in Online Firms: Scale Development and Initial Test , 2002, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[33]  Alhassan G. Abdul-Muhmin.  Instrumental and interpersonal determinants of relationship satisfaction and commitment in industrial markets , 2005 .

[34]  V. Mittal,et al.  Attribute-Level Performance, Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions over Time: A Consumption-System Approach , 1999 .

[35]  James C. Anderson,et al.  STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING IN PRACTICE: A REVIEW AND RECOMMENDED TWO-STEP APPROACH , 1988 .

[36]  Naveen Donthu,et al.  The Internet Shopper , 1999 .

[37]  Raymond R. Burke.  Do you see what I see? The future of virtual shopping , 1997 .

[38]  R. J. Kent,et al.  The Global Internet Shopper: Evidence from Shopping Tasks in Twelve Countries , 2001, Journal of Advertising Research.

[39]  N. L. Chervany,et al.  Initial Trust Formation in New Organizational Relationships , 1998 .

[40]  W. Reinartz,et al.  Balancing Acquisition and Retention Resources to Maximize Customer Profitability , 2005 .

[41]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  The Behavioral Consequences of Service Quality , 1996 .

[42]  L. Harris,et al.  The four levels of loyalty and the pivotal role of trust: a study of online service dynamics , 2004 .

[43]  R. Watson,et al.  Attractors: Building Mountains in the Flat Landscape of the World Wide Web , 1998 .

[44]  Peter C. Verhoef,et al.  Customer Equity: Building and Managing Relationships as Valuable Assets , 2002 .

[45]  Hung-Pin Shih,et al.  An empirical study on predicting user acceptance of e-shopping on the Web , 2004, Inf. Manag..

[46]  Naveen Donthu,et al.  Using the technology acceptance model to explain how attitudes determine Internet usage: The role of perceived access barriers and demographics , 2006 .

[47]  M. Holbrook,et al.  The Chain of Effects from Brand Trust and Brand Affect to Brand Performance: The Role of Brand Loyalty , 2001 .

[48]  Charles J. Kacmar,et al.  The impact of initial consumer trust on intentions to transact with a web site: a trust building model , 2002, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[49]  Judy Chuan-Chuan Lin,et al.  Predicting customer behavior in the market-space: a study of Rayport and Sviokla's framework , 2002, Inf. Manag..

[50]  J. Nunnally.  Psychometric Theory (2nd ed), New York: McGraw-Hill. , 1978 .

[51]  Paul A. Pavlou,et al.  Consumer Acceptance of Electronic Commerce: Integrating Trust and Risk with the Technology Acceptance Model , 2003, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[52]  Jaishankar Ganesh,et al.  Understanding the Customer Base of Service Providers: An Examination of the Differences between Switchers and Stayers , 2000, Journal of Marketing.

[53]  James C. Anderson,et al.  An approach for confirmatory measurement and structural equation modeling of organizational properties , 1987 .

[54]  K. Fang,et al.  Effects of network quality attributes on customer adoption intentions of Internet Banking , 2006 .

[55]  David M. Szymanski,et al.  Customer satisfaction: A meta-analysis of the empirical evidence , 2001 .

[56]  Devon S. Johnson,et al.  Cognitive and affective trust in service relationships , 2005 .

[57]  Gilbert A. Churchill.  A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing Constructs , 1979 .

[58]  William J. Kettinger,et al.  Perceived Service Quality and User Satisfaction with the Information Services Function , 1994 .

[59]  P. K. Kannan,et al.  Implications of loyalty program membership and service experiences for customer retention and value , 2000 .

[60]  Yi-Ching Hsieh,et al.  Website quality and customer's behavioural intention: an exploratory study of the role of information asymmetry , 2005 .

[61]  Yu-Chen Chen,et al.  Extrinsic versus intrinsic motivations for consumers to shop on-line , 2005, Inf. Manag..

[62]  Alan Dick,et al.  Customer loyalty: Toward an integrated conceptual framework , 1994 .

[63]  Shankar Ganesan.  Determinants of Long-Term Orientation in Buyer-Seller Relationships , 1994 .

[64]  Papassapa Rauyruen,et al.  Relationship quality as a predictor of B2B customer loyalty , 2007 .

[65]  Ruth N. Bolton,et al.  A Dynamic Model of the Duration of the Customer's Relationship with a Continuous Service Provider: The Role of Satisfaction , 1994 .

[66]  Xianggui Qu,et al.  Multivariate Data Analysis , 2007, Technometrics.

[67]  Gregory T. Gundlach,et al.  The Structure of Commitment in Exchange , 1995 .

[68]  D. W. Barclay,et al.  The Effects of Organizational Differences and Trust on the Effectiveness of Selling Partner Relationships , 1997 .

[69]  Bo Edvardsson,et al.  Defining relationship quality for customer‐driven business development: A housing‐mortgage company case , 2006 .

[70]  P. Bentler,et al.  Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis : Conventional criteria versus new alternatives , 1999 .

[71]  Bernd W. Wirtz,et al.  Customer retention management in the B2C electronic business , 2003 .

[72]  Katherine N. Lemon,et al.  The Theoretical Underpinnings of Customer Asset Management , 2002 .

[73]  Mark S. Johnson,et al.  The Different Roles of Satisfaction, Trust, and Commitment in Customer Relationships , 1999 .

[74]  F. Reichheld,et al.  E-LOYALTY: YOUR SECRET WEAPON ON THE WEB , 2003 .

[75]  Albert H. Segars,et al.  Assessing the unidimensionality of measurement : a paradigm and illustration within the context of information systems research , 1997 .

[76]  Hsiu-Fen Lin,et al.  The Impact of Website Quality Dimensions on Customer Satisfaction in the B2C E-commerce Context , 2007 .

[77]  Chin-Lung Hsu,et al.  Why do people play on-line games? An extended TAM with social influences and flow experience , 2004, Inf. Manag..

[78]  P. Turnbull,et al.  Marketing and investment banking II: relationships and competitive advantage , 1996 .

[79]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Choosing among Alternative Service Delivery Modes: An Investigation of Customer Trial of Self-Service Technologies , 2005 .

[80]  V. Mittal,et al.  Satisfaction, Repurchase Intent, and Repurchase Behavior: Investigating the Moderating Effect of Customer Characteristics , 2001 .

[81]  Bart J. Bronnenberg,et al.  Exploring the implications of the internet for consumer marketing , 1997 .

[82]  Chang Liu,et al.  Exploring the factors associated with Web site success in the context of electronic commerce , 2000, Inf. Manag..

[83]  Rolph E. Anderson,et al.  Customer loyalty in e-commerce: an exploration of its antecedents and consequences , 2002 .

[84]  Ruth N. Bolton,et al.  A Multistage Model of Customers' Assessments of Service Quality and Value , 1991 .

[85]  R. Rust,et al.  Customer Satisfaction, Productivity, and Profitability: Differences Between Goods and Services , 1997 .

[86]  Lawrence A. Crosby,et al.  Relationship Quality in Services Selling: An Interpersonal Influence Perspective: , 1990 .

[87]  Jin Yong Park,et al.  The Moderating Effect of Online Purchase Experience on the Evaluation of Online Store Attributes and the Subsequent Impact on Market Response Outcomes , 2006 .

[88]  Ming-Hui Huang,et al.  Designing website attributes to induce experiential encounters , 2003, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[89]  Ephraim R. McLean,et al.  The DeLone and McLean Model of Information Systems Success: A Ten-Year Update , 2003, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[90]  Khawaja Asjad Saeed,et al.  Toward an Integrative Framework for Online Consumer Behavior Research: A Meta-Analysis Approach , 2003, J. Organ. End User Comput..

[91]  B. Weiner.  An attributional theory of motivation and emotion , 1986 .

[92]  R. Oliver.  Whence Consumer Loyalty? , 1999 .

[93]  Chiung-Ju Liang,et al.  The behavioural sequence of the financial services industry in Taiwan: Service quality, relationship quality and behavioural loyalty , 2006 .

[94]  R. Bagozzi,et al.  Representing and testing organizational theories: A holistic construal. , 1982 .

[95]  J. Munuera-Aleman,et al.  Brand trust in the context of consumer loyalty , 2001 .

[96]  Michael Zeisser,et al.  Marketing to the digital consumer , 1996 .

[97]  Joseph P. Cannon,et al.  An Examination of the Nature of Trust in Buyer–Seller Relationships: , 1997 .

[98]  Cristiana Raquel Lages,et al.  The STEP Scale: A Measure of Short-Term Export Performance Improvement , 2004 .

[99]  Detmar W. Straub,et al.  Trust and TAM in Online Shopping: An Integrated Model , 2003, MIS Q..

[100]  Dhruv Grewal,et al.  Consumer responses to service recovery strategies: The moderating role of online versus offline environment , 2006 .

[101]  Theresa B. Flaherty,et al.  Marketing Industrial Products on the Internet , 1998 .