Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the key convenience dimensions of online shopping, as convenience has been one of the principal motivations underlying customer inclinations to adopt online shopping.Design/methodology/approach: The authors first employ in‐depth focus group interviews with online consumers to identify the attributes of online shopping convenience and then develop and validate an instrument of five key dimensions to measure online shopping convenience by analyzing data collected via a Web‐based questionnaire survey.Findings: The five dimensions of online shopping convenience are: access, search, evaluation, transaction, and possession/post‐purchase convenience.Practical implications: Online retailers can employ the five‐factor measurement instrument to assess the degree of customer perceived online shopping convenience. This instrument can assist managers in identifying and overcoming key obstacles to the delivery of a highly convenient online shopping service to customers, and also helps them enlarge their loyal customer base.Originality/value: This study focuses on uncovering the key dimensions of convenience and their associated sub‐dimensions specific to the context of online shopping. Theoretically, the identified dimensions and their related sub‐items comprise a validated scale for measuring Web‐based service convenience and can serve as building blocks for further studies in e‐commerce customer relationship management.
1 November 2004 in International Journal of Operations & Production Management
The purpose of this paper is to set forth a reliable and valid means of measuring online service quality based on a broad conceptual framework which integrates theory and conceptualization in customer service quality, information systems quality, and product portfolio management, into online service quality. An ethnographic content analysis of 848 customer reviews of online banking services was employed to identify salient online service quality dimensions. The most frequently cited online service quality attributes, along with literature review and personal interview results, were utilized to develop the survey questionnaire. Subsequent to the pre‐test, a Web‐based survey was undertaken to verify and test the online service quality model. A confirmatory factor analysis produced six key online service quality dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, competence, ease of use, security, and product portfolio. This paper includes a discussion of the managerial and theoretical implications of this online service quality model.
1 July 2004 in International Journal of Service Industry Management
This exploratory research intends to extend our understanding of service quality and customer satisfaction within the setting of online securities brokerage services. Based upon conceptual frameworks from the areas of services marketing and information systems management, the authors uncovered 52 items across 16 major service quality dimensions by content analysis of 740 customer reviews. The results indicate that primary service quality dimensions leading to online customer satisfaction, with the exception of ease of use, are closely related to traditional services while key factors leading to dissatisfaction are tied to information systems quality. In addition, major drivers of satisfaction and dissatisfaction are identified at the sub‐dimensional level. Theoretical contribution and managerial implications of the findings are further discussed.
Firms doing business in foreign institutional environments face pressures to gain social acceptance (commonly referred to as legitimacy) and difficulty in evaluating market information, both of which undercut firm performance. In this article, the authors argue that firms can design governance strategies to deal with foreign institutions to secure both social acceptance and firm performance. Using a Chinese sample of manufacturers that export products to various foreign markets through local distributors, the authors develop and test a model that bridges the effects of institutional environments and governance strategy on channel performance. Specifically, they find that firms can use two governance strategies, contract customization and relational governance, to deal with both legitimacy and efficiency issues and to safeguard channel performance. Thus, international channel managers are advised to maintain an integrated management of legitimacy and efficiency in foreign marketing channels.