Journal of Services Marketing

Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet

Mary LongCharles McMellon
Article information:
To cite this document:
Mary LongCharles McMellon, (2004),"Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet", Journal of Services
Marketing, Vol. 18 Iss 1 pp. 78 - 90
Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/08876040410520726
Downloaded on: 31 January 2015, At: 05:16 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 33 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 3703 times since 2006*
Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)

Swinder Janda, Philip J. Trocchia, Kevin P. Gwinner, (2002),"Consumer perceptions of Internet retail service quality",
International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 13 Iss 5 pp. 412-431 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09564230210447913
Gwo-Guang Lee, Hsiu-Fen Lin, (2005),"Customer perceptions of e-service quality in online shopping", International Journal of
Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 33 Iss 2 pp. 161-176 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09590550510581485
Jessica Santos, (2003),"E-service quality: a model of virtual service quality dimensions", Managing Service Quality: An
International Journal, Vol. 13 Iss 3 pp. 233-246 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09604520310476490

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by 374558 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service
information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit
www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of
more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online
products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics
(COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.


Exploring the
determinants of retail
service quality on the
Internet
Mary Long and
Charles McMellon
The authors
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)
Mary Long is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Lubin
School of Business, Pace University, New York, USA.
Charles McMellon is Assistant Professor of Marketing at
Frank G. Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University,
Hempstead, New York, USA.
Keywords
Internet, Customer services, SERVQUAL,
Consumer behaviour, Marketing, Retailing
Abstract
A multidimensional measure of perceived online service
quality was developed based on consumers' comments
about their experiences with online retailers. These
comments were organized and compared to the SERVQUAL
scale. A survey was administered to adults who had made
online purchases or role-played the experience. While
reflective of the SERVQUAL dimensions, the new measures
became less reliant on interpersonal interactions and more
technologically relevant. A new dimension also emerged
that reflects consumers' concerns for the geographic
distance and facelessness of their experience. The study
points to areas of improvement for online service quality.
Electronic access
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0887-6045.htm
Journal of Services Marketing
Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2004 . pp. 78-90
# Emerald Group Publishing Limited . ISSN 0887-6045
DOI 10.1108/08876040410520726
78
Traditional viewpoints for examining how
consumers evaluate services rely heavily on the
personal aspects of the service encounter.
However, services are increasingly being
delivered in a non-traditional fashion (i.e. via
the Internet) without an in-person interaction
occurring.
Service quality has frequently been evaluated
in terms of five dimensions: tangibility,
reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and
empathy using the SERVQUAL scale
(Parasuraman et al., 1988). Bitner et al. (1990)
observe that the majority of the scale items used
to measure these dimensions are related to the
human interaction aspect of service delivery.
But the electronic delivery of retail services
differs in many ways from the traditional
``bricks and mortar'' store. Without this human
interaction component in the electronic delivery
of services, consumers must either evaluate
these dimensions differently or rely upon
different dimensions. The usual visual or audio
cues are either different or absent altogether.
For example, consumers may not be able to
discern the attitude of the service provider in an
Internet encounter in the same way they would
in a person-to-person interaction. In addition,
retail Web pages do business 24 hours a day,
seven days a week without the bounds of
geography while the traditional retail store has
specific operating hours and usually attracts
local customers. Compared with ``bricks and
mortar'' stores, switching costs are low for the
online shopper. Locating another retailer online
can be accomplished simply with a few
keystrokes, while finding an alternative physical
store may involve search costs and travel time
(van Reil et al., 2001). Additionally, Web pages
provide a more accurate record of the service
encounter because everything is recorded
digitally, while much of the traditional retail
service encounter is conversational which can
be forgotten. Information search and
purchasing on the Internet also require a level
of computer literacy not required in a
traditional retail space. Without this level of
technical literacy, consumers can become
frustrated and purchases may be aborted.
Online retailing also entails new and different
safety and privacy issues for the consumer, such
as credit card fraud by hackers and the use of
personal information in promotional targeting.
 Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet
Mary Long and Charles McMellon
Finally, the electronic problems of heavy traffic
and inadequate computer hardware can slow
down the search and purchase process. Thus,
the differences between Internet and ``bricks
and mortar'' shopping appear significant
enough to warrant an investigation into the
determinants of retail service quality on the
Internet.
Because of the link to customer satisfaction,
the importance of service quality on the Internet
cannot be understated. Studies show that firms
that achieve high customer satisfaction also
enjoy high profitability (Anderson et al., 1994).
Since perceived service quality is an antecedent
of satisfaction (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993;
Cronin and Taylor, 1992), its role is crucial to
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)
the long-term welfare of the firm (Anderson
et al., 1994). Service quality is especially
important on the Web, since acquiring
customers is expensive. In order to make
profits, online firms need loyal customers who
will make multiple purchases over time
(Reichheld and Schefter, 2000). Moreover, a
study by Mainspring and Bain & Company
(2000) showed that the average customer must
shop four times at an online store before profits
are realized from that customer. Thus, the
purpose of this research is to examine how
consumers evaluate service quality with little or
no human interaction in an environment
radically different from the traditional retail
store (i.e. on the Internet). Specifically, we
analyze consumers' comments about their
online retail shopping and service experiences
and then use these newly developed items to
create a measure of service quality appropriate
for online transactions.
To begin with, the background issues relevant
to service quality on the Internet are briefly
presented. Our method, analysis, and results
follow next. Conclusions and future research
directions are discussed in the last section of the
paper.
Background
Much of the research in services marketing
concentrates on the constructs of service quality
and customer satisfaction in order to
characterize consumers' assessments of services
(Bolton and Drew, 1994). As defined by
79
Journal of Services Marketing
Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2004 . 78-90
Parasuraman et al. (1988), perceived service
quality is a global judgment, similar to an
attitude, of a service's excellence or superiority.
Customer satisfaction, a closely related term,
also plays into customers' assessments of
services and the two terms are frequently used
interchangeably, particularly in the popular
press (Parasuraman et al., 1994). Specifically,
satisfaction is ``a summary cognitive or affective
reaction to a service incident (or sometimes a
long-term service relationship)'' (Rust and
Oliver, 1994, p.2). In general, research on
satisfaction has focused on customer
evaluations of a specific transaction involving a
product or service (Holbrook and Corfman,
1985; Oliver, 1981; Olshavsky, 1985) while
research on service quality has examined
customer evaluations of the overall excellence
or superiority of a service (Zeithaml, 1988).
Two schools of thought exist regarding the
direction of causality between service quality
and customer satisfaction. Rust and Oliver
(1994) view quality as one of the service
dimensions which make up the consumers
satisfaction judgment. Other researchers
(Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Reidenbach and
Sandifer-Smallwood, 1990; Woodside et al.,
1989) also contend that quality leads to
satisfaction. In the past, Parasuraman et al.
(1988) have taken the opposite viewpoint
± incidents of customer satisfaction over time
result in perceptions of service quality. Teas
(1993) notes that global or overall attitude has
been the focus in most service quality research
while transaction-specific incidents have been
the focus in most satisfaction research. This
may be the basis for the two conflicting
viewpoints on causality.
More recently, Parasuraman et al. (1994)
developed a conceptual model that examines
service quality and customer satisfaction from
both transaction-specific as well as global
perspectives. It is a global framework in which
customers' global impressions about a firm
stem from an aggregation of transaction
experiences. Parasuraman et al. (1994) suggest
that since SERVQUAL reveals consumers'
global perceptions of a firm's service quality,
future modifications of the scale could take
transaction-specific service quality into
account.
 Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet
Mary Long and Charles McMellon
In the next sections we discuss how service
quality is measured and the current research in
measuring service quality on the Internet.
Measuring service quality
Although initial qualitative research by
Parasuraman et al. (1985) suggested that
consumers use ten criteria in evaluating service
quality, development of the SERVQUAL scale
indicated that there were five key underlying
dimensions to service quality ± tangibles (physical
facilities, equipment and appearance of
personnel), reliability (ability to perform the
promised service dependably and accurately),
responsiveness (willingness to help customers and
provide prompt service), assurance (knowledge
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)
and courtesy of employees and their ability to
inspire trust and confidence), and empathy
(caring, individualized attention the firm provides
its customers) (Parasuraman et al., 1988, p. 23).
Moreover, evaluation of service quality involves a
comparison of customers' expectations of the
service before it occurs with their perceptions of
the service after the encounter (Parasuraman et
al., 1985). Thus, the SERVQUAL scale is
comprised two sets of matched items measuring
expectations and perceptions.
Whether or not it is necessary to measure
customer expectations in service quality
research, as Parasuraman et al. (1988) contend,
is still open to further investigation. Although
Cronin and Taylor (1992) argue that measuring
customer perceptions is sufficient, for the
purpose of this study we are following
Parasuraman et al.'s conceptualization since it
has been widely utilized in other studies and
there is strong theoretical support
(Parasuraman et al., 1994).
While the SERVQUAL scale has been used in
numerous studies, Parasuraman et al. (1994)
recognize that service quality is a multifaceted
construct and no agreement exists as to the
number of dimensions or their
interrelationships. Similarly, Bolton and Drew
(1994) note that different service dimensions
are relevant in different industries, hence the
need to develop multiple scale items that
adequately capture a particular study context.
Service quality on the Internet
Research on consumer evaluations of online
services is still in its early stages (van Riel et al.,
80
Journal of Services Marketing
Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2004 . 78-90
2001) and insights into the differences between
evaluations of service offerings on the Internet
versus the physical marketplace are still needed
(Gronroos et al., 2000). In this section we
review the work thus far on the
conceptualization of online service quality and
development of measures.
In line with their past research on traditional
service quality, Zeithaml et al. (2000)
conducted a study of e-service quality (defined
as ``the extent to which a website facilitates
efficient and effective shopping, purchasing,
and delivery'', p. 11) using focus groups of
consumers who had purchased on the Web.
They uncovered 11 dimensions of e-service
quality which were similar to those found
in their previous research on service quality
in the pre-Internet age including
reliability, responsiveness, access,
assurance/trust, security/privacy, and
customization/personalization. However,
some new dimensions related specifically
to technology were revealed ± ease of
navigation, flexibility, efficiency, site
aesthetics, and price knowledge. In addition,
personal service was not considered critical in
e-service quality except when problems
occurred or consumers were making complex
decisions.
Several researchers have developed scales to
measure online service quality and related
constructs. For example, Chen and Wells
(1999) developed a scale to measure ``attitude
toward the Web site'', an overall evaluation of
the site. Subjects rated corporate and
institutional Web sites on a set of 141
adjectives. This study resulted in a measure
with three dimensions: entertainment,
informativeness, and organization.
Using a sample of college students, Yoo
and Donthu (2001) developed a scale
± SITE-QUAL ± to measure the perceived
quality of an Internet shopping site. This
resulted in a nine-item scale with four
dimensions: ease of use, aesthetic design,
processing speed, and security.
Loiacono et al. (2002) used several sources
including literature review, interviews with Web
surfers and designers, and a study of a large
organization's standards for Web site design to
come up with items for their measure of Web site
quality, termed WebQualTM. They then refined
 Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet
Mary Long and Charles McMellon
the scale by using student responses to a selected
group of Web sites. Their finalized scale contained
36 items and 12 dimensions: informational
fit-to-task, interactivity, trust, response time, ease
of understanding, intuitive operations, visual
appeal, innovativeness, flow-emotional appeal,
consistent image, online completeness, and better
than alternative channels.
Yang and Jun (2002) examined perceptions of
service quality by sampling both Internet
purchasers and non-purchasers. They found six
service quality dimensions were perceived by
Internet purchasers: reliability, access, ease of
use, personalization, security, and credibility.
However, seven dimensions were present for the
non-users. Unique to non-purchasers were the
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)
dimensions of responsiveness and availability,
while the credibility dimension did not come up.
The study described in this paper is
different in that we used the Parasuraman
et al. (1988) framework as a springboard for
our research. Unlike the other scale
development studies, we measure both
expectations and perceptions of online
service quality, thus providing a richer view of
how well online providers are meeting
customers needs. While other studies have
modified or added items to the SERVQUAL
scale based on a particular industry's
characteristics, this study identifies broad
themes that cut across online service and retail
shopping encounters.
As described in the Method section, we first
identify the relevant service quality survey items
by examining consumers' online comments
about their Internet retail and service
transaction experiences. Since consumer
comments pertain to both transaction-specific
experiences as well as global assessments of
online providers, this study fits in well with
Parasuraman et al.'s (1994) revised model of
customer satisfaction and service quality. We
then test our scale with consumers who made
purchases online, examining the differences
between our items and those of the original
SERVQUAL scale.
Method
Development of our service quality scale for
retail Internet sites followed Churchill's (1979)
81
Journal of Services Marketing
Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2004 . 78-90
protocols of domain specification, sample item
generation, data collection, measure
purification, and validity assessment. For
domain specification, Parasuraman et al. (1988)
defined perceived service quality as a global
judgment, similar to attitude, of a service's
excellence or superiority. We apply this
definition to encompass any retail service on the
Internet.
Our sample pool was generated by examining
consumer comments about service at Internet
sites where consumers had shopped online.
Three distinct sets of consumer comments from
online Internet sites were analyzed. A total of
500 Internet Usenet postings (i.e. e-mailings to
bulletin boards) were found by searching for the
terms ``on-line customer service'' or ``Internet
customer service'' using Hotbot's Discussion
Group search engine. A search on Yahoo!
under the subject of ``consumer opinion''
yielded 33 category matches specifically related
to online services. An online review service,
Gomez.com, provided 250 more consumer
comments. These consumer comments covered
a wide range of online services including
banking, brokerage, retail (music, clothing,
books, computer hardware, software), travel,
and Internet service providers.
To assist in organizing the comments, we
used the five dimensions of service quality
identified by Parasuraman et al. (1988)
± tangibles, reliability, responsiveness,
assurance, and empathy ± as an initial
framework. Since our data collection method
differed from that used by Zeithaml et al.
(2000) in their study of e-service quality, we
decided to start out from this more basic
outlook on service quality dimensions rather
than try to force-fit items into their new
categories. These five dimensions would also
serve as a comparison to the final scale we
developed in order to aid understanding of the
differences between face-to-face and Internet
retail service quality. Many, but not all, items
fit easily into the SERVQUAL framework. A
total of seven categorizations emerged. These
included the original five Parasuraman et al.
(1988) dimensions which comprise the
SERVQUAL scale plus two additional
dimensions. One of the dimensions fit the
construct of ``communication'' originally used
by Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988) to develop
 Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet Journal of Services Marketing
Mary Long and Charles McMellon Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2004 . 78-90

the SERVQUAL scale. The communication . When a retail Internet site promises to
dimension appeared to capture consumer do something by a certain time, they
concerns about how they would communicate should do it.
with sellers as well as other customers in an . Retail Internet sites should provide
online environment. The second dimension services without the need to contact the
focused on ordering and shipping, i.e. the firm.
actual process of purchasing and receiving the . Retail Internet sites should provide
product. We suspect this dimension reflects easy access and understanding of
the potential insecurities that may grow out of billing.
a faceless and geographically distant purchase . Retail Internet sites should ship the
process versus the local store where a merchandise I requested.
consumer can see the salesperson and facilities . Retail Internet sites should provide
and walks out of the store with his or her their services without the need for
purchase. This process of categorizing e-mailing or phoning employees of the
consumer comments resulted in a total of 53 firm.
Internet service quality specific items. The (3) Responsiveness (individual attention)
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)

pool of sample items used in the data (seven items):

collection survey are: . Retail Internet sites should not be
(1) Tangibility (physical evidence of service) expected to tell customers exactly when
(13 items): services will be performed.
. Retail Internet sites should be visually . It is not realistic for customers to
appealing.
expect prompt service from a retail
. Retail Internet sites should work
Internet site.
well. . It is okay if retail Internet sites are too
. It should be easy to find the products
busy to respond to customer requests
you are looking for at the retail Internet
promptly.
sites you go to. . It is not realistic for customers to
. Retail Internet sites you visit should
expect prompt service when e-mailing
present the product with the
employees of these firms.
information you need.
. Retail Internet sites should not have to
. Retail Internet sites should not be
organized. have tech support online.
. Retail Intern sites should have no
. Retail Internet sites should not have to
traffic problems. answer any question you might have
. Retail Internet sites should not be too about their service.
confusing.
. Retail Internet sites do not always have
. Retail Internet sites should allow for to be willing to help customers.
forward and backward navigation. (4) Assurance (trust and confidence) (seven items):
. Retail Internet sites you visit should
. Customers should be able to trust retail
present the product in a visual manner Internet sites.
so that you can see everything that you
. Customers should feel welcome at a
need to see. retail Internet site.
. Retail Internet sites should be easy to . Retail Internet sites should have
navigate. pictures of employees.
. Retail Internet sites should not be too . Customers should be able to feel safe in
complex their transactions with retail Internet
. Retail Internet sites should keep their sites.
records accurately. . Retail Internet sites should have secure
. Retail Internet sites should have transactions.
up-to-date equipment. . Retail Internet sites should give
(2) Reliability (performance and dependability) assurance about privacy of information
(five items): you give to them.
82
 Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet
Mary Long and Charles McMellon
. Retail Internet sites should not be
expected to be operating all of the time.
(5) Empathy (understanding of other's feelings)
(three items):
. Retail Internet sites should not be
expected to give customers individual
attention.
. Retail Internet sites cannot be expected
to give customers personal attention
. It is unrealistic to expect these retail
Internet sites to have their customers'
best interests at heart.
(6) Communication (clarity/content/intent)
(13 items):
. Retail Internet sites should not have
too many advertisements or banners.
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)
. Retail sites should have clear
instructions.
. When customers have problems, the
retail Internet site should communicate
in someway that it is sympathetic and
reassuring.
. Retail Internet sites should not have
too much information.
. Retail Internet sites should not have
customer message boards.
. Retail Internet sites should send a
welcome letter to new customers.
. Retail Internet sites should have
customer chat rooms.
. Retail Internet sites should have
customer feedback mechanisms (e.g.
customer survey).
. Retail Internet sites should have a
signed e-mail response.
. Retail Internet sites should not have
user written reviews or comments.
. Retail Internet sites should not send
out unsolicited commercial e-mail.
. Retail Internet sites should be
e-mailing you with suggested products
based on your profile.
. Retail Internet sites should send a
follow-up confirming an order.
(7) Ordering/shipping/packaging (the purchase
process) (five items):
. Retail Internet sites should have a
variety of shipping options.
. Retail Internet sites should have an
acceptable return policy.
. Retail Internet sites should allow for
ease of purchase.
83
Journal of Services Marketing
Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2004 . 78-90
. Retail Internet sites should allow for
ease of cancellation.
. Retail Internet sites should ship
merchandise in good packaging.
The 53 items proposed to measure service
quality on the Internet were measured on
seven-point Likert-type scales anchored by
``strongly disagree'' and ``strongly agree''. A
total of 18 items were reverse coded. The 53
items were used twice, once to describe
expectations and once to measure perceptions
of an Internet site. Parasuraman et al. (1985)
point out that there is general agreement among
researchers and managers of service firms that
measuring perceived service quality requires
comparing a consumer's expectations and
perceptions of the service encounter. Questions
regarding expectations were asked about the
retail Internet site the respondents intended to
visit (e.g. ``Retail Internet sites should have no
traffic problems''). The perception questions
were answered after they had visited the site,
either role-playing a purchase or actually
purchasing an item (e.g. ``The retail Internet
site you went to had no traffic problems'').
Data collection was accomplished by utilizing
student survey administrators from two
northeastern US universities who were offered
extra credit to find individuals who were about
to purchase an item from a retail Internet site.
The students were trained to administer the
two-part survey; collecting responses to the
expectation items and leaving a second part
(perceptions) to be collected later after the
consumer visited the Internet retail site. We
chose this form of convenience sampling
because of the difficulties of finding people who
were about to purchase a product on the
Internet. In addition, the two-part survey was
difficult to administer, requiring respondents to
fill out part one, then go online and make a
purchase, then fill out part two. The complexity
of this process suggested that student
administrators might help with response rates.
The consumers were instructed to complete the
expectations scale questionnaire before going
on to the Internet to a retail site of their choice.
They were told to visit the site to make an
actual purchase. If they decided not to buy the
product, they should role-play the steps
involved in actually purchasing the item. When
 Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet
Mary Long and Charles McMellon
they were finished with this task, they
completed the perception questionnaire and
returned it. Our student administrators had to
track each survey in order to complete the
two-part process. The survey was fielded during
the pre-Christmas buying period, enhancing the
possibility of finding eligible consumers.
A total of 477 usable questionnaires were
collected. Respondents ranged in age from 14 to
72, with 55.6 per cent female and 44.4 per cent
male. This gender split appears suitable given
that a study by the Pew Internet & American
Life Project (2002) indicated that more women
than men (58 per cent vs 42 per cent) had
bought gifts online during the 2001 holiday
season. Respondents in our study reported
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)
spending an average of 11 hours per week on the
Internet. Nearly all the respondents (86 per
cent) had made an online purchase in the past.
A number of respondents actually
purchased products (n = 202) for our survey.
The items purchased (or considered for
purchase) varied from clothing to books to
camera equipment.
Adhering to the method used by
Parasuraman et al. (1988), difference scores
between expectations and perceptions were
then calculated for all items. Following the
guidelines suggested by Churchill (1979) for
purifying measures, an iterative process of
calculating coefficient alpha, eliminating items
with low item-to-total correlations, and using
principal component analysis to confirm the
number of dimensions empirically was used.
Cronbach's alpha (Cronbach, 1951) was
calculated for each of the seven dimensions that
emerged from the analysis of consumer
comments. The value of the alpha's ranged
from 0.33 to 0.74 suggesting item deletion
could improve internal consistency. After
reexamining each dimension and deleting items
based on the SPSS recommended criteria and
examination of the importance of the item to
the dimension, the new alphas ranged from
0.58 to 0.83. The communication dimension
had an original alpha of 0.0169 and a revised
alpha of 0.2714 with two items left in the
dimension. Thus, the communication
dimension was dropped from further analysis.
Parasuraman et al. (1988) also dropped
communication from their final scale. In all, 22
items were dropped.
84
Journal of Services Marketing
Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2004 . 78-90
SPSS principal component analysis was then
used to examine the dimensionality of the scale
for further purification (Tabachnick and Fidell,
1989). Varimax rotation was used for clearer
interpretation of the components. A total of 31
items were entered for analysis. A general rule
of thumb suggests that sample size should be at
least five times the number of items. Thus, with
n = 477, the sample size appears adequate. A
total of 12 more items were dropped because of
loading scores less than 0.10. We used a 0.5
cutoff for loading scores (Comrey, 1973) to
identify the components. In addition, the Scree
plot showed a clear drop after the fifth
component. This resulted in a new 19 item,
five-component Internet service quality scale.
The remaining components were tangibility,
assurance, reliability, responsiveness, and the
new dimension, purchasing process, which
focused on ordering and shipping. The
empathy dimension dropped out of the final
analysis. Consumers may feel that electronic
commerce is less likely to have a personal
component compared with a traditional service
encounter. The five-component solution
accounted for 58.1 per cent of variance.
As a second check, we also examined the
items using an oblique rotation. The factor
structure did not change significantly.
Additionally, the dimensions were not highly
correlated, with correlations ranging from
0.142 to 0.329. The Varimax rotated scale
items and component loadings are shown in
Table I.
Reliability and validity
Reliability of the final scale dimensions was
assessed using Cronbach's (1951) alpha. As
shown in Table I, alphas for the five dimensions
range from 0.51 to 0.83. Nunnally (1967)
suggests that a range of alphas between 0.50
and 0.80 is acceptable.
One method of validity assessment is to see if
the measure behaves as expected in relation to
other conceptually related variables (Churchill,
1979). In developing the original SERVQUAL
scale, the researchers examined the association
between the dimensions and customers' ratings
on a separate measure of service quality
(Parasuraman et al., 1988, 1991).
SERVQUAL validity was further assessed by
examining its association with the consumer's
 Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet Journal of Services Marketing
Mary Long and Charles McMellon Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2004 . 78-90

Table I Results of PCA analysis

Component loadings
Item 1 2 3 4 5
Factor 1 Tangibility (physical evidence of service) ( = 0.83)
Easy to navigate 0.766 Ð 0.168 Ð Ð
Easy to find the products 0.703 Ð 0.272 Ð 0.215
Presented the product with the information you needed 0.688 Ð 0.300 Ð Ð
Had clear instructions 0.686 0.237 Ð Ð Ð
Not too confusing 0.674 0.187 Ð 0.281 Ð
Worked well 0.573 0.159 0.185 Ð 0.216
No traffic problems 0.571 Ð 0.132 0.257 0.138
Factor 2 Assurance (trust and confidence) ( = 0.82)
Secure for transactions 0.193 0.819 0.213 0.146 Ð
Felt safe in your transactions 0.204 0.792 0.131 0.179 Ð
Gave assurances about privacy Ð 0.786 0.190 0.115 Ð
Factor 3 Reliability (performance and dependability) ( = 0.72)
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)

Provides their services at the time they say they do 0.211 0.230 0.766 0.167 Ð
Promises to do something by a certain time, they do it 0.219 0.124 0.749 0.104 0.170
Keeps their records accurately 0.274 0.238 0.612 0.127 Ð
Factor 4 Purchasing process ( = 0.58)
Acceptable return policy 0.150 0.218 Ð 0.748 Ð
Order cancellation easy Ð 0.103 0.205 0.700 Ð
Variety of shipping options Ð Ð 0.164 0.618 0.122
Factor 5 Responsiveness (individualized attention) ( = 0.51)
Had tech support on-line Ð Ð Ð 0.112 0.690
Answered every question you asked about their service Ð Ð 0.179 Ð 0.683
Willing to help customers 0.149 208 Ð Ð 0.682
Note: ``Ð'' indicates less than 0.10

intention to recommend the service standardized regression coefficients for intention

(Parasuraman et al., 1991, 1988; Boulding et al.,
1993). In line with these previous studies, we
asked two seven-point scale questions, one
attitudinal and one behavioral, which should be
related to the perception of online service quality:
(1) The retail Internet site you went to had an
over quality of (anchored by excellent and
poor); and
(2) I would recommend the retail Internet site I
visited to a friend(anchored by strongly
agree and strongly disagree).
Table II shows the results of regression
analyses using the responses to these two
questions as the dependent variables. The
regression results indicate that our new service
quality scale is related to intention to recommend
(F = 27.624, sig = 0.000; adj. R2 = 0.24) and the
overall quality of the site (F = 35.256,
sig. = 0.000; adj. R2 = 0.29). Examination of the
85
to recommend the site visited indicate that
tangibility (0.343) is the most important
component followed by assurance (0.240),
purchasing process (0.191), reliability (0.144),
and responsiveness (0.121). Examination of the
standardized regression coefficients for the
overall quality measure indicate that tangibility
(0.384) is the most important component
followed by purchasing process (0.301),
assurance (0.203), responsiveness (0.103), and
reliability (0.080). These findings suggest that
the new scale behaves as expected in relation to
associated constructs.
Discussion
The newly developed scale consists of
dimensions that are now more context specific
 Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet Journal of Services Marketing
Mary Long and Charles McMellon Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2004 . 78-90

Table II Results of regression analysis

Factor B Beta t Sig. of t
For question: The retail Internet site you went to had an overall quality of (excellent/poor)
Tangibility 0.473 0.384 9.377 0.000
Assurance 0.250 0.203 4.961 0.000
Reliability 0.127 0.103 2.511 0.012
Purchase process 0.369 0.301 7.332 0.000
Responsiveness 0.090 0.080 1.959 0.051
R = 55, R2 = 0.30, adj. R2 = 0.29
For question: I would recommend the retail Internet site I visited to a friend
(strongly agree/strongly disagree)
Tangibility 0.219 0.343 8.112 0.000
Assurance 0.154 0.240 5.682 0.000
Reliability 0.090 0.144 3.409 0.001
Purchase process 0.122 0.191 4.518 0.000
Responsiveness 0.070 0.121 2.875 0.004
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)

R = 50, R2 = 0.25, adj. R2 = 0.24

to service quality on the Internet. These
dimensions reflect aspects of the retail Internet
environment that are unique or less likely to be
a key focus in a traditional ``brick and mortar''
retail store. They are also conceptually similar
to the dimensions of e-service quality found in
the qualitative study by Zeithaml et al. (2000).
Specifically, tangibility, defined by
Parasuraman et al. as the physical evidence of
service, now captures the virtual evidence of
service such as navigation and presentation of
product, and is more focused on the Web site's
ease of use. Assurance, defined as trust and
confidence, continues to reflect safety of
transaction concerns, but has also added
privacy concerns on the Internet.
Responsiveness captures consumers' concerns
with how the Web site will interact with them
on a practical level. Reliability, defined as a
performance and dependability dimension,
remains as originally conceptualized by
Parasuraman et al. The purchasing process
dimension focuses on the consumer's concerns
with how the item will be shipped and ease of
backing out of a purchase. In this context,
consumers may be looking for some type of
reassurance due to the geographic distance and
less personal aspects of the service encounter.
To further aid in understanding the data, the
mean differences between expectation and
perception scores for the individual items of the
finalized scale were also examined (see
Table III). Independent sample t-tests showed
86
that there were significant differences between
the means of all expectation and perception
items (p = 0.000). Each of the 19 items for the
scale had a higher expectation than perception
score. This is an important point for Internet
retailers. Consumer expectations are not being
met on the Internet. This could lead to a
decline in customer satisfaction and eventually
impact sales. The five single items with the
largest gaps dealt with consumers' concerns
regarding responsiveness (i.e. tech support and
answering questions), reliability (i.e. doing what
they say they will do and accuracy of records),
and order cancellation. The responsiveness gap
suggests a need for more interaction between
retailer and consumer. The reliability and
cancellation gaps suggest a general uneasiness
and distrust among customers with Internet
retailers. Overall, these results underscore the
need for improvement in all areas of Internet
service quality.
Conclusions
Prior research has suggested that measures of
service quality should be industry specific (e.g.
Bolton and Drew, 1994). The current
SERVQUAL scale (Parasuraman et al., 1988)
relies heavily on items which pertain to
person-to-person interactions not found in
online transactions. In addition, the Internet
service experience is different in other ways
 Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet Journal of Services Marketing
Mary Long and Charles McMellon Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2004 . 78-90

Table III Differences between expectations and perceptions

Item df Mean Difference

Tangibility
E ± easy to navigate 477 6.62
P ± easy to navigate 475 6.18 0.44
E ± easy to find products 479 6.71
P ± easy to find products 477 6.05 0.66
E ± product with info needed 479 6.63
P ± product with info needed 475 6.01 0.62
E ± clear instructions 479 6.64
P ± clear instructions 473 5.96 0.68
E ± not too confusing 478 6.57
P ± not too confusing 475 5.90 0.67
E ± site worked well 479 6.68
P ± site worked well 477 6.17 0.51
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)

E ± no traffic problems 479 6.30

P ± no traffic problems 474 5.82 0.48

Assurance
E ± secure transactions 479 6.76
P ± secure transactions 475 6.12 0.64
E ± safe transactions 479 6.71
P ± safe transactions 474 6.00 0.71
E ± privacy assurances 479 6.77
P ± privacy assurances 474 6.01 0.76

Reliability
E ± do what they say they will do 478 6.67
P ± do what they say they will do 464 5.64 1.03
E ± timely service 476 6.60
P ± timely service 466 5.66 0.94
E ± keep accurate records 475 6.61
P ± keep accurate records 463 5.59 1.02

Purchase process
E ± acceptable return policy 479 6.58
P ± acceptable return policy 475 5.66 0.92
E ± easy order cancellation 479 6.39
P ± easy order cancellation 468 5.33 1.06
E ± shipping options 478 6.14
P ± shipping options 471 5.66 0.48

Responsiveness
E ± technical support 477 5.62
P ± technical support 468 4.59 1.03
E ± answered your questions 479 6.27
P ± answered your questions 461 4.94 1.30
E ± willing to help 477 6.24
P ± willing to help 474 5.55 0.69
Notes: t-test shows all mean differences significant at p = 0.000; E = expectations; P = perceptions

87
 Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet
Mary Long and Charles McMellon
such as geographic distance, lower switching
costs, and a variety of technical problems
discussed earlier. For these reasons, a service
quality measure specifically designed for retail
Internet transactions was developed. While
most of the original SERVQUAL dimensions
remained in the online environment, the items
used to measure them became less reliant on
interpersonal interactions and more
technologically relevant. In addition, a new
dimension, purchasing process, emerged.
Regarding this study, a few caveats are in
order. Our sample was one of convenience in an
uncontrolled environment. The low R2 values
found in the regression analyses with the
dependent variables ± overall quality and
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)
intention to recommend ± suggest that other
dimensions are also influential in examining
online service quality. Further research is
needed to refine these scales and improve their
reliability. While the setting for this study was
realistic, a controlled experiment with
pre-defined online retail sites may have yielded
better results.
However, the results of this study do highlight
the need to improve quality in the online
environment. Our findings suggest that without
a person-to-person interaction, other cues
related to the technical aspects of the online
transaction, as well as the logistics of receiving
or returning the product, take on a heightened
importance for consumers. Online marketers
need to assess their sites for factors such as
clarity, ease of use, technical support, return
policies, and adequate shipping options.
Additionally, the differences found between
consumers expectations and perceptions have
long-term implications for online retailers.
Because online shoppers are not subject to
geographic restrictions, switching costs are low
for finding another online seller. As more
retailers and service providers enter the online
arena, it is doubtful that those firms which fail
to meet customer expectations will be able to
maintain customer loyalty. Ultimately, this will
have a negative impact on profitability.
Managers can use the online service quality
scale developed in this study to ascertain their
own service quality performance and to
pinpoint specific areas where gaps exist between
customers' expectations and perceptions of the
company.
88
Journal of Services Marketing
Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2004 . 78-90
References
Anderson, E.W. and Sullivan, M.W. (1993), ``The antecedents
and consequences of customer satisfaction for firms'',
Marketing Science, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 125-43.
Anderson, E.W., Fornell, C. and Lehmann, D.R. (1994),
``Customer satisfaction, market share, and
profitability: findings from Sweden'', Journal of
Marketing, Vol. 58, January, pp. 53-66.
Bitner, M.J., Booms, B.H. and Tetreault, M.S. (1990), ``The
service encounter: diagnosing favorable and
unfavorable incidents'', Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54,
pp. 71-84.
Bolton, R.N. and Drew, J.H. (1994), ``The impact of service
quality'', in Rust, R.T. and Oliver, R.L. (Eds), Service
Quality: New Directions in Theory and Practice, Sage,
Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 173-200.
Boulding, W., Kalra, A., Staelin, R. and Zeithaml, V.A.
(1993), ``A dynamic process model of service quality:
from expectations to behavioral intentions'', Journal of
Marketing Research, Vol. 30, February, pp. 7-27.
Chen, Q. and Wells, W.D. (1999), ``Attitude toward the site'',
Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 39 No. 5,
pp. 27-37.
Churchill, G.A. (1979), ``A paradigm for developing better
measures of marketing constructs'', Journal of
Marketing Research, Vol. 16, February, pp. 64-73.
Cronin, J.J. Jr and Taylor, S.A. (1992), ``Measuring service
quality: a reexamination and extension'', Journal of
Marketing, Vol. 56, July, pp. 55-68.
Comrey, A.L. (1973), A First Course in Factor Analysis,
Academic Press, New York, NY.
Cronbach, L.J. (1951), ``Coefficient alpha and the internal
structure of tests'', Psychometrika, Vol. 40, pp. 5-32.
Gronroos, C., Heinonen, F., Isoniemi, K. and Lindholm, M.
(2000), ``The netoffer model: a case example from the
virtual marketspace'', Management Decision, Vol. 38
No. 4, pp. 243-53.
Holbrook, M.B. and Corfman, K.P. (1985), ``Quality and value
in the consumption experience: Phaedrus rides again'',
in Jacoby, J. and Olson, J.C. (Eds), Perceived Quality:
How Consumers View Stores and Merchandise,
D.C. Heath, Lexington, MA, pp. 31-57.
Loiacono, E.T., Watson, R.T. and Goodhue, D.L. (2002),
``WebQual: a measure of Web site quality'', in
Proceedings of the AMA Winter Educators'
Conference, American Marketing Association,
Chicago, IL, pp. 432-8.
Mainspring and Bain & Company (2000), ``Profits depend on
customer loyalty'', 4 April, available at: www.nua.ie/
surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905355695&rel=true
Nunnally, J.C. (1967), Psychometric Methods, McGraw-Hill,
New York, NY.
Oliver, R.L. (1981), ``A cognitive model of the antecedents
and consequences of satisfaction decisions'', Journal
of Retailing, Vol. 57, pp. 25-48.
Olshavsky, R.W. (1985), ``Perceived quality in consumer
decision making: an integrated theoretical
perspective'', in Jacoby, J. and Olson, J.C. (Eds),
Perceived Quality: How Consumers View Stores and
Merchandise, D.C. Heath, Lexington, MA, pp. 3-29.
 Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet
Mary Long and Charles McMellon
Parasuraman, A., Berry, L.L. and Zeithaml, V.A. (1991),
``Refinement and reassessment of the SERVQUAL
scale'', Journal of Retailing, Vol. 67 No. 4, pp. 420-51.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1985),
``A conceptual model of service quality and its
implications for future research'', Journal of
Marketing, Vol. 49, Fall, pp. 41-50.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1988),
``SERVQUAL: a multiple-item scale for measuring
consumer perceptions of service quality'', Journal of
Retailing, Vol. 64 No. 1, pp. 12-40.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L. (1994),
``Reassessment of expectations as a comparison
standard in measuring service quality: implications for
further research'', Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58,
January, pp. 111-24.
Pew Internet & American Life Project (2002), ``Women
surpass men as e-shoppers during the holidays'',
available at: www.pewinternet.org/reports/
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)
reports.asp?Report=54
Reichheld, F.F. and Schefter, P. (2000), ``E-loyalty: your
secret weapon on the Web'', Harvard Business
Review, July-August, pp. 105-13.
Reidenbach, R.E. and Sandifer-Smallwood, B. (1990),
``Exploring perceptions of hospital operations by a
modified SERVQUAL approach'', Journal of Health
Care Marketing, Vol. 10, December, pp. 47-55.
Rust, R.T. and Oliver, R.L. (1994), ``Service quality: insights
and managerial implications from the frontier'', in
Rust, R.T. and Oliver, R.L. (Eds), Service Quality: New
Directions in Theory and Practice, Sage, Thousand
Oaks, CA, pp. 1-20.
Tabachnick, B.G. and Fidell, L.S. (1989), Using Multivariate
Statistics, Harper & Row, New York, NY.
Teas, K.R. (1993), ``Expectations, performance evaluation,
and consumers' perceptions of quality'', Journal of
Marketing, Vol. 57, October, pp. 18-34.
van Riel, A.C.R., Liljander, V. and Jurriens, P. (2001),
``Exploring consumer evaluations of e-services: a
portal site'', International Journal of Service Industry
Management, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 359-77.
Woodside, A.G., Frey, L.L. and Daly, R.T. (1989), ``Linking
service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioral
intention'', Journal of Health Care Marketing, Vol. 9,
December, pp. 5-17.
Yang, Z. and Jun, M. (2002), ``Consumer perception of
e-service quality: from Internet purchaser and
non-purchaser perspectives'', Journal of Business
Strategies, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 19-41.
Yoo, B. and Donthu, N. (2001), ``Developing a scale to
measure the perceived quality of an Internet shopping
site (SITEQUAL)'', Quarterly Journal of Electronic
Commerce, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 31-45.
Zeithaml, V.A. (1988), ``Consumer perceptions of price,
quality and value: a means-end model and synthesis
of evidence'', Journal of Marketing, Vol. 52, pp. 2-22.
Zeithaml, V., Parasuraman, A. and Malhotra, A. (2000), ``A
conceptual framework for understanding e-service
quality: implications for future research and
managerial practice'', Marketing Science Institute
Working Paper Series, Report No. 00-115.
89
Journal of Services Marketing
Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2004 . 78-90
Executive summary and implications for
managers and executives
This summary has been provided to allow managers
and executives a rapid appreciation of the content of
this article. Those with a particular interest in the
topic covered may then read the article in toto to
take advantage of the more comprehensive
description of the research undertaken and its results
to get the full benefit of the material present.
The traditional importance of the personal
aspects of the service encounter
Traditional ways of examining how consumers
evaluate services rely heavily on the personal
aspects of the service encounter. For example,
most of the five items in the SERVQUAL scale
± tangibility (physical facilities, equipment and
appearance of personnel), reliability (ability to
perform the promised service dependably and
accurately), responsiveness (willingness to help
customers and provide prompt service),
assurance (knowledge and courtesy of
employees and their ability to inspire trust and
confidence) and empathy (the caring,
individualized attention that the firm provides
for its customers) ± relate to the
human-interaction aspect of service delivery.
Factors that come to the fore in online
retailing
Internet retailing, however, takes place without
person-to-person interaction. The visual or
audio cues are either different or absent. In
addition, retail Web pages do business 24 hours
a day, seven days a week, unconstricted by the
bounds of geography. Switching costs are lower
for the online shopper than for the visitor to a
bricks-and-mortar store. Web pages can
provide a more accurate record of the service
encounter because everything is recorded
digitally. Information search and purchasing
online require a level of computer literacy not
required at a traditional store. Online retailing
entails new and different safety and privacy
issues for the consumer, such as credit-card
fraud by hackers and use of personal
information in promotional targeting. The
electronic problems of heavy internet traffic and
inadequate computer hardware can slow the
online search and purchase processes. Factors
 Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet
Mary Long and Charles McMellon
such as ease of navigation and site aesthetics are
important in Internet shopping.
Service quality is especially important on the
web because acquiring web customers is
expensive. One study has revealed that the
average customer must shop four times at an
online store before he or she generates a profit
for the retailer.
A measure of service quality appropriate
for online transactions
Long and McMellon examine how online
customers evaluate service quality, based on
consumers' comments about their experiences
with online retailers. The researchers use this
information to create a measure of service
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)
quality appropriate for online transactions.
The authors' newly developed scale consists
of tangibility (which formerly concentrated on
the physical evidence of service, but now also
includes such virtual evidence of service as site
navigation and product presentation, and is
more focused on the Web site's ease of use),
assurance (defined as trust and confidence,
which continues to reflect the safety of
transactions, but also includes the added
privacy concerns on the Internet),
responsiveness (which captures customers'
concerns about how the Web site will interact
with them on a practical level), reliability
(which remains centrally concerned with
performance and dependability), and the
purchasing process (which focuses on
consumers' concerns with how the purchased
item will be shipped and the ease of backing out
of a purchase).
The new service-quality scale is related to the
overall quality of a site and the purchaser's
intention to recommend the site to a friend.
90
Journal of Services Marketing
Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2004 . 78-90
With regard to the latter, tangibility is the most
important component, followed by assurance,
purchasing process, reliability and
responsiveness. With regard to the overall
quality of a site, tangibility is again the most
important component, followed by purchasing
process, assurance, responsiveness and
reliability.
Consumer expectations are not being met
on the Internet
The research measures both expectations and
perceptions of online service quality and reveals
that consumer expectations are not being met
on the internet. This could lead to a decline in
customer satisfaction and could eventually
affect sales. The items with the largest gaps
centred on consumers' concerns regarding
responsiveness (most obviously technical
support and answering questions), reliability
(retailers doing what they say they will do and
the accuracy of retailers' records) and order
cancellation. The responsiveness gap suggests a
need for more interaction between retailer and
consumer. The reliability and cancellation gaps
suggest a general uneasiness and distrust among
customers with internet retailers.
Overall, the results underscore the need for
improvement in all areas of internet service
quality. Without person-to-person interaction,
cues related to the technical aspects of the
online transaction, as well as the logistics of
receiving or returning the product, take on
heightened importance for customers.
(A preÂcis of the article ``Exploring the
determinants of retail service quality on the
Internet''. Supplied by Marketing Consultants for
Emerald.)
 This article has been cited by:

1. Yen-Chun Jim Wu, Ju-Peng Shen, Chan-Lan Chang. 2014. Electronic service quality of Facebook social commerce and
collaborative learning. Computers in Human Behavior . [CrossRef]
2. Meehee Cho, Mark A. Bonn, Sora Kang. 2014. Wine attributes, perceived risk and online wine repurchase intention: The cross-
level interaction effects of website quality. International Journal of Hospitality Management 43, 108-120. [CrossRef]
3. Min Zhang, Lili Huang, Zhen He, Alan G. Wang. 2014. E-service quality perceptions: an empirical analysis of the Chinese e-
retailing industry. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence 1-16. [CrossRef]
4. Olgun Kitapci, Ceylan Akdogan, İbrahim Taylan Dortyol. 2014. The Impact of Service Quality Dimensions on Patient
Satisfaction, Repurchase Intentions and Word-of-Mouth Communication in the Public Healthcare Industry. Procedia - Social
and Behavioral Sciences 148, 161-169. [CrossRef]
5. Nachiappan Subramanian, Angappa Gunasekaran, Jie Yu, Jiang Cheng, Kun Ning. 2014. Customer satisfaction and
competitiveness in the Chinese E-retailing: Structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to identify the role of quality factors.
Expert Systems with Applications 41:1, 69-80. [CrossRef]
6. Eman Gadalla, Kathy Keeling, Ibrahim Abosag. 2013. Metaverse-retail service quality: A future framework for retail service
quality in the 3D internet. Journal of Marketing Management 29:13-14, 1493-1517. [CrossRef]
7. Ofir Turel, Catherine E. Connelly. 2013. Too busy to help: Antecedents and outcomes of interactional justice in web-based service
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)

encounters. International Journal of Information Management 33:4, 674-683. [CrossRef]

8. Rose Sebastianelli, Nabil Tamimi. 2013. An Examination of Attributes Affecting Consumers' Perceptions of E-tailer Quality.
Journal of Internet Commerce 12:3, 268-283. [CrossRef]
9. Hyun-Joo Lee, Ann Fairhurst, Hyeon Jeong Cho. 2013. Gender differences in consumer evaluations of service quality: self-service
kiosks in retail. The Service Industries Journal 33:2, 248-265. [CrossRef]
10. Min Sun Kim, Yun Ji Moon, Woo Gon Kim. 2012. How User-Created-Content (UCC) Service Quality Influences User
Satisfaction and Behaviour. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences / Revue Canadienne des Sciences de l'Administration 29:3,
255-267. [CrossRef]
11. Kuo-Chien Chang, Mu-Chen Chen, Chia-Lin Hsu, Nien-Te Kuo. 2012. Integrating loss aversion into a technology acceptance
model to assess the relationship between website quality and website user's behavioural intentions. Total Quality Management
& Business Excellence 23:7-8, 913-930. [CrossRef]
12. Seiji Endo, Jun Yang, JungKun Park. 2012. The investigation on dimensions of e-satisfaction for online shoes retailing. Journal
of Retailing and Consumer Services 19:4, 398-405. [CrossRef]
13. Kung-Jeng Wang, Tsang-Chuan Chang, Kuen-Suan Chen. 2012. Determining critical service quality from the view of
performance influence. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence 1-17. [CrossRef]
14. SuhHyunSuk, 주주주. 2011. A Study on the effect of the website quality and relationship factors on relationship quality, switching
barrier and repurchase intention in open market. The e-Business Studies 12, 127-149. [CrossRef]
15. Jasmine Yeap Ai Leen, T. Ramayah. 2011. Validation of the RSQS in apparel specialty stores. Measuring Business Excellence 15:3,
16-18. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
16. Ramakrishnan Ramanathan, Harika Karpuzcu. 2011. Comparing perceived and expected service using an AHP model: an
application to measure service quality of a company engaged in pharmaceutical distribution. OPSEARCH 48:2, 136-152.
[CrossRef]
17. Godwin Kaisara, Shaun Pather. 2011. The e-Government evaluation challenge: A South African Batho Pele-aligned service quality
approach. Government Information Quarterly 28:2, 211-221. [CrossRef]
18. Riadh Ladhari. 2010. Developing e-service quality scales: A literature review. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 17:6,
464-477. [CrossRef]
19. M.J. López Miguens, L. Rodríguez Comesana, E. González Vazquez. 2010. IMPORTANCIA DEL SITIO WEB EN LA BANCA
ONLINE: INFLUENCIA SOBRE LA CONFIANZA. Investigaciones Europeas de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa 16:3,
85-106. [CrossRef]
20. Maria Fuentes-Blasco, Irene-Gil Saura, Gloria Berenguer-Contrí, Beatriz Moliner-Velázquez. 2010. Measuring the antecedents
of e-loyalty and the effect of switching costs on website. The Service Industries Journal 30:11, 1837-1852. [CrossRef]
21. Sylvie Rolland, Ina Freeman. 2010. A new measure of e‐service quality in France. International Journal of Retail & Distribution
Management 38:7, 497-517. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
 22. Jamie Carlson, Aron O'Cass. 2010. Exploring the relationships between e‐service quality, satisfaction, attitudes and behaviours
in content‐driven e‐service web sites. Journal of Services Marketing 24:2, 112-127. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
23. Chien‐Ta Bruce Ho, Wen‐Chuan Lin. 2010. Measuring the service quality of internet banking: scale development and validation.
European Business Review 22:1, 5-24. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
24. José M. Barrutia, Jon Charterina, Ainhize Gilsanz. 2009. E-service quality: an internal, multichannel and pure service perspective.
The Service Industries Journal 29:12, 1707-1721. [CrossRef]
25. Julie E. Francis. 2009. Category‐specific RECIPEs for internet retailing quality. Journal of Services Marketing 23:7, 450-461.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
26. Marianna Sigala. 2009. E-service quality and Web 2.0: expanding quality models to include customer participation and inter-
customer support. The Service Industries Journal 29:10, 1341-1358. [CrossRef]
27. Mohammad Al‐Hawari, Tony Ward, Leonce Newby. 2009. The relationship between service quality and retention within the
automated and traditional contexts of retail banking. Journal of Service Management 20:4, 455-472. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
28. William Nance, Darin White. 2009. Service performance and procedural justice: the mediating roles of family life cycle and
culture. Journal of Services Marketing 23:3, 195-207. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
29. José M. Barrutia, Ainhize Gilsanz. 2009. e‐Service quality: overview and research agenda. International Journal of Quality and
Service Sciences 1:1, 29-50. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
30. Ilias Santouridis, Panagiotis Trivellas, Panagiotis Reklitis. 2009. Internet service quality and customer satisfaction: Examining
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)

internet banking in Greece. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence 20:2, 223-239. [CrossRef]
31. Rose Sebastianelli, Nabil Tamimi, Murli Rajan. 2008. Perceived Quality of Online Shopping: Does Gender Make a Difference?.
Journal of Internet Commerce 7:4, 445-469. [CrossRef]
32. Shin‐Ping Tucker. 2008. E‐commerce standard user interface: an E‐menu system. Industrial Management & Data Systems 108:8,
1009-1028. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
33. Felix B. Tan, Jacky P. C. Chou. 2008. The Relationship Between Mobile Service Quality, Perceived Technology Compatibility,
and Users' Perceived Playfulness in the Context of Mobile Information and Entertainment Services. International Journal of
Human-Computer Interaction 24, 649-671. [CrossRef]
34. Katariina Mäenpää, Sudhir H. Kale, Hannu Kuusela, Nina Mesiranta. 2008. Consumer perceptions of Internet banking in Finland:
The moderating role of familiarity. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 15:4, 266-276. [CrossRef]
35. Anthony D. Miyazaki, Walfried M. Lassar, Kimberly A. Taylor. 2007. Hispanic vs non‐Hispanic response to online self‐service
tasks: implications for perceived quality and patronage intentions. Journal of Services Marketing 21:7, 520-529. [Abstract] [Full
Text] [PDF]
36. Hsiu-Fen Lin. 2007. The Impact of Website Quality Dimensions on Customer Satisfaction in the B2C E-commerce Context.
Total Quality Management & Business Excellence 18:4, 363-378. [CrossRef]
37. Julie E. Francis. 2007. Internet retailing quality: one size does not fit all. Managing Service Quality: An International Journal 17:3,
341-355. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
38. Eduard Cristobal, Carlos Flavián, Miguel Guinalíu. 2007. Perceived e‐service quality (PeSQ). Managing Service Quality: An
International Journal 17:3, 317-340. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
39. Lucía Melián‐Alzola, Víctor Padrón‐Robaina. 2007. Measuring the results in B2C e‐commerce. International Journal of Quality
& Reliability Management 24:3, 279-293. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
40. David Hackman, Siegfried P. Gundergan, Paul Wang, Kerry Daniel. 2006. A service perspective on modelling intentions of on‐
line purchasing. Journal of Services Marketing 20:7, 459-470. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
41. Lucía Melián Alzola, Víctor Padrón Robaina. 2006. Quality in Electronic Commerce B2C: Perceptions, Expectations and
Importance. The Service Industries Journal 26:6, 671-687. [CrossRef]
42. Katariina Mäenpää, Antti Kanto, Hannu Kuusela, Pallab Paul. 2006. More hedonic versus less hedonic consumption behaviour in
advanced internet bank services. Journal of Financial Services Marketing 11:1, 4-16. [CrossRef]
43. Jennifer Rowley. 2006. An analysis of the e‐service literature: towards a research agenda. Internet Research 16:3, 339-359.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
44. Lucía Melián‐Alzola, Víctor Padrón‐Robaina. 2006. Tangibility as a quality factor in electronic commerce b2c. Managing Service
Quality: An International Journal 16:3, 320-338. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
45. Katariina Mäenpää. 2006. Clustering the consumers on the basis of their perceptions of the Internet banking services. Internet
Research 16:3, 304-322. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
 46. Mohammed Al‐Hawari, Tony Ward. 2006. The effect of automated service quality on Australian banks' financial performance
and the mediating role of customer satisfaction. Marketing Intelligence & Planning 24:2, 127-147. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
47. Peter Hernon, Philip Calvert. 2005. E-service quality in libraries: Exploring its features and dimensions. Library & Information
Science Research 27:3, 377-404. [CrossRef]
48. Seong Ho Kim, Ho Yeol Bang. 2005. 주주주주 주주주 주주주 주주주주 주주주 주주주 주주주주주 주주 주주. Journal of Global Academy of Marketing Science
15:1, 01-20. [CrossRef]
49. Salah Alhyari, Mohammad AlhyariToward Quality Measurement Approaches for Improving E-Government Services in Jordan
82-98. [CrossRef]
50. Jose M Barrutia, Ainhize Gilsanze-Service Quality 22-44. [CrossRef]
51. Ahmed Younis Alsabawy, Aileen Cater-Steel, Jeffrey SoarE-Learning Service Delivery Quality 89-127. [CrossRef]
52. Mahmoud Amer, Jorge Marx GómezMeasuring Quality of Electronic Services 637-654. [CrossRef]
Downloaded by University of Birmingham At 05:16 31 January 2015 (PT)