Service quality expectation of e-customers

Abstract

The rapid growth of the Internet and the fast rate at which organisations are shifting their business online brought to existence new forms of service expectations. Some organisations saw this online phenomenon as a way of expansion and others as a way of survival. Hence organisations strive to satisfy the human perception of service quality. This study evaluates the different methodologies that have been used to measure online service quality. It also assesses the existing tools that seek to quantify e-customers' expectations. Finally it adapts the E-S-Qual and E-RecS-QUAL scales developed by Parasuraman et al (2005) to evaluate the expectations of University of Malta students as they shop online. Correlation tests, using Cronbach's were carried out in order to check for internal consistency within the seven dimensions. This research concludes that as people shop more online, the perception towards a number of quality characteristics changes. The study also confirms which quality characteristic is the most and the least important for e-customers. Results also indicate that the perception of quality varies along with the product types. The results are valuable for organisations delivering an online service as well as for other researchers who will further investigate this area.