Exploring consumer evaluations of e‐services: a portal site

The commercial importance of e‐services, accessed via Internet or mobile phone, grows steadily. There is a clear need to develop a better understanding of how consumers evaluate these services and develop e‐loyalty. An empirical study of an Internet portal was tied in with extant theories about service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. Data were collected by means of an on‐line survey. The effect of customer satisfaction with three service components on value perception and overall satisfaction was measured. Customers’ overall satisfaction was influenced by their satisfaction with the core service, supplementary services and the user interface. A strong positive effect of overall satisfaction on the intention to continue using the portal was found. Noteworthy was the predominant effect of satisfaction with supplementary services on value perception. No significant direct effects were found of satisfaction with the user interface on value perception. Some implications as well as future research directions are provided.

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