Services Quality Dimensions of Internet Retailing: An Exploratory Analysis

1. Services Quality Dimensions of Internet Retailing: An Exploratory Analysis By: Zhilin Yang Robin T. Peterson Shaohan Cai Presented by: Isabel Mosqueda Article 10

2. Purpose/Objective • To extend what is known about service quality in terms of the context of internet retailing. • When properly utilized, the internet can be an effective device for maintaining superior service offerings and creating a higher standard in the retail sector.

3. Purpose/Questions • What dimensions do customers 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 recommendations can be advanced to improve the service quality of online purchasing and, in turn, buyer satisfaction.

4. Key services quality dimensions in traditional retailing Parasuraman, A. (1985): 10 Dimensions: Tangibles Reliability Responsiveness Communication Credibility Security Competence Courtesy Understanding the customer Access Parasuraman, A. (1988): 5 Dimensions: Tangibles Reliability Responsiveness Assurance Empathy Developed a global measurement for service quality (SERVQUAL) Previous Work

5. Previous Work • Hedvall & Paltschik (1989): • Identified 2 innovative dimensions: • “willingness and ability to serve” • “physical and psychological access” • Dabholkar, P.A. (1996): • 5 Dimension scale measuring service quality: • Physical aspects • Reliability • Personal interaction • Problem solving • Policy • Siu and Cheung (2001): • 6 Dimension scale measuring service quality: • Personal interaction • Policy • Physical appearance • Promise • Problem solving • Convenience

6. Previous Work • Mehta, S.C. (2000): • Two settings • Service-intensive retailing • Goods-intensive retailing

7. Previous Work • Service quality dimensions & internet commerce • Hoffman & Novak (1997): • Personalization is required for internet firms to conceptualize the internet as a unique consumer marketplace. • Griffith & Krampf (1998): • Investigated websites of top 100 retailers • Lack of prompt responsiveness – most common negatively reaction from consumers. • Cox & Dale (2001): • Proposed that traditional dimensions, don’t apply to internet retailing, such as: • Competence • Courtesy • Cleanliness • Comfort & friendliness • Helpfulness • Care • Commitment • Flexibility

8. Previous Work • Zeithaml, V.A. (2001): • 13 internet service quality dimensions: • Reliability • Responsibility • Access • Flexibility • Access • Flexibility • Ease of navigation • Efficiency • Assurance/trust • Security • Price knowledge • Site aesthetics • Customization/personalization • Yang, Z. (2001): • 19 dimensions sorted into 3 categories: • Product cost and availability • Customer service • Online information systems

9. Doll & Torkzadeh (1988): 5 quality dimensions influencing end-user satisfaction: Content Accuracy Format Ease of use Timeliness Rice, M. (1997): Reasons that induced users to revisit website: Content Layout Ease of locating information Ease of navigation Emotional experience Balfour, A. (1998): Reasons that induced users to revisit website: Transaction security Personal information privacy Dellaert & Kahn (1999): Negatively affected consumers: Download waiting time Liu & Arnett (2000): Reasons that induced users to revisit website: Information quality System use System design quality Previous Work

10. Previous Work • Negative and positive attributes • Johnston, R. (1997): • Classified all dimensions into 3 factors: • Satisfied • Dissatisfied • Dual factors • Mittal, V. (1998): • Positive performance: • Less impact on overall consumer satisfaction than negative performance

11. Methodology • Study of content analysis of consumer reviews related to their online purchasing experience • 3 criteria established to collect samples: • Consumers allowed to rate & review their online shopping experience • Consumers should not be financially motivated to express their opinions favoring the reviewed companies • Consumers should be encouraged to post both satisfied & dissatisfied reviews • Ratingwonders.com & gomez.com met all criteria for survey/study • 1078 useful consumer anecdotes • Anecdotes classified into 2 categories: • Satisfied attributes • Dissatisfied attributes

12. Methodology • The coding process:

13. Results • Study identified 14 dimensions of service quality • Responsiveness • Credibility • Ease of use • Reliability • Convenience • Communication • Access • Competence • Courtesy • Personalization • Continuous improvement • Collaboration • Security/privacy • aesthetics • Identified 42 sub-dimensions in internet retailing • 85.4% were satisfying anecdotes • 87.5% were dissatisfying anecdotes

14. Conclusion • Initial step to improve service quality: • Listen to the customers • Management should focus on key dimensions to increase satisfaction: • Responsiveness • Credibility • Ease of use • Reliability • Convenience • Access • Reduce dissatisfaction & increase customer satisfaction: • Prompt delivery & prompt response to customer’s concerns and e-mail inquires • Online retailers should fulfill all vital functions customers required: • Design user friendly pages • Adequate information retrieval speed. • The study conducted has 2 possible shortcomings: • Obtaining biased results from self-selected sample of internet consumers might be higher than is desirable. • Consumer complaints & complements generally reflect extreme satisfaction & dissatisfaction, but did not identify neutral factors.