Evaluating website quality: which decision criteria do consumers use to evaluate website quality?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Longstreet ◽  
Stoney Brooks ◽  
Mauricio Featherman ◽  
Eleanor Loiacono
Keyword(s):  
Quality Evaluation ◽  
Survey Methodology ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Consumer Decision Making ◽  
Website Quality ◽  
Cue Utilization ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Dimensions ◽  
Nomological Validity ◽  
Insight Into

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine which design and operational attributes of e-commerce websites consumers use to assess website quality. Cue utilization theory is used to examine the explanatory power, robustness and relevance of the WebQual model. Results indicate which WebQual dimensions are the most relevant and salient to website users. These dimensions are categorized by their perceived and confidence values. A second study is conducted about how website users evaluate and utilize the WebQual dimensions.Design/methodology/approachSurvey methodology was utilized to provide insight into the nomological validity of the WebQual model by examining it through a cue utilization lens.FindingsThe first study categorizes the WebQual dimensions on their ability to provide a diagnostic measure of website quality, and consumer confidence in their ability to use these cues when judging the website's overall quality. The second study presents results of each dimension in relation to the quality evaluation of an actual e-commerce website. Additional analysis also revealed gender differences in cue utilization.Originality/valueThis study provided insight into WebQual-based research and identified original differences in cue utilization across genders. Results suggest that it may be beneficial for brand managers to focus on a subset of quality dimensions, rather than assume that consumers are comfortable using all website attributes to formulate quality judgments. These, results contribute to multiple literatures by providing a model that developers can utilize to focus on the deterministic characteristics of overall website quality. Further, the cue utilization perspective provides additional avenues for fruitful further research into consumer decision-making in the e-commerce context.

Service quality and customer satisfaction in Ghanaian retail banks: the moderating role of price

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bedman Narteh
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Survey Methodology ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Bank Managers ◽  
Quality Dimensions ◽  
Service Quality Dimensions ◽  
Retail Banks

Purpose Various models and scales exist in the literature to measure retail bank service quality without any attempt at integrating them and the moderators have often been under explored. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the SERVQUAL and BSQ models and moderated the resulting scale with price in order to examine service quality and customer satisfaction with retail bank services in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach The study is quantitative and the survey methodology was used to collect data from 560 retail bank customers. The result was analyzed through structural equation modeling. Findings The study provides an expanded model for measuring retail bank service quality as seven of the eight latent constructs emerged as service quality dimensions when moderated with price. It is significant to also note that five of the constructs – tangibles, reliability, assurance, empathy and price – from the direct relationship emerged as the dimensions of retail bank service quality that positively and significantly predicted customer satisfaction. Practical implications The study provides insight into customer behavior with the quality of retail bank services in Ghana. The resulting broader dimensions provide an integrated and expanded model as well as pointers to bank managers on service quality and customer satisfaction cues to enable them attract, serve and retain customers. Originality/value The study is the first of its kind to integrate two of the popular models to measure retail bank service quality and to use price as a moderator of this relationship. The resulting scale, which comprised of variables from the two models, provides support for the approach used in the current study.

Preparing for a crisis: examining the influence of fear and anxiety on consumption and compliance

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elyria Kemp ◽  
My (Myla) Bui ◽  
McDowell Porter, III
Keyword(s):  
Survey Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
Fear And Anxiety ◽  
Negative Feelings ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose This research aims to examine the unique emotional distress experienced during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. It explores the role of fear and anxiety, what fueled it and how fear and anxiety impacted consumption and behaviors of conformity and compliance. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory assessment of the emotions and behaviors of individuals during the early part of the coronavirus outbreak (early March 2020) was conducted by sending a questionnaire to a national panel (n = 42). The insight offered from these individuals, in conjunction with prior literature, provided the basis for the development of a conceptual model that was tested using survey methodology (n = 691). Findings Both exploratory and empirical research indicate that ruminative thoughts were positively related to feelings of fear and anxiety, whereas trust in leadership was negatively related to fear and anxiety. Feelings of fear and anxiety were also associated with purchasing in large quantities, in compliance with guidelines to slow the spread of the virus and the management of negative feelings through consumption. Practical implications Important insight for marketers and public policymakers in how fear and anxiety might be both tempered and mitigated during emergencies is offered. Originality/value This research provides new insight into what fuels fear and anxiety during a pandemic and investigates how fear and anxiety impacts consumption and behaviors of conformity and compliance.

The role of access convenience of common service centres (CSCs) in the continued use of e-government

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 437-453
Author(s):  
Kriti Priya Gupta ◽  
Harshit Maurya
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Continuance Intention ◽  
Is Success ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Government Services ◽  
Quality Dimensions ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to understand the role of access convenience of common service centres (CSCs) in determining the e-government continuance intention from the perspective of citizens who are dependent on these centres for using e-government services, in developing countries such as India. The study uses the DeLone and McLean’s information systems (IS) success model as a theoretical basis and analyses the effect of access convenience of CSCs (AC), on the three quality dimensions (namely, information quality [IQ], system quality [SyQ] and service quality [SQ]), and the e-government continuance intention. The effects of the three quality dimensions on continuance intention are also analysed. Design/methodology/approach The primary data were collected from the field surveys conducted at various CSCs in Uttar Pradesh state of India using convenience sampling technique. The study sample included 358 respondents who use e-government services through CSCs. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized relationships in the proposed model. Findings The findings of the study suggest that CSCs’ access convenience has a significant positive impact on the e-government continuance intention. The findings also confirm the significant positive impact on all the three quality dimensions of e-government i.e. IQ, SyQ and SQ. Though the findings do not provide support for the impact of IQ and SyQ on the e-government continuance intention but the impact of SQ on the e-government continuance intention is found to be significantly positive. Research limitations/implications The explanatory power of the model indicates the scope of including more variables in determining the continued usage of e-government. Future studies may extend the present study by including concepts such as trust, satisfaction and security/privacy concerns of citizens. The present study has failed to support the impact of IQ and SyQ on the intention to continue using e-government services. Future studies may test the model in different contexts with different respondents to further examine these relationships. Future studies may also see the association between the continuance intention and actual use of e-government services. Practical implications The government should provide accessible CSCs to the citizens which are conveniently available to them. To diffuse the e-government services successfully among all citizens, the government needs to see that sufficient numbers of CSCs are available in the areas where people lack the required infrastructure for using the e-government services. The government also needs to ensure that the CSCs are fully functional and equipped with facilities for providing the best quality services. Originality/value The study combines the quality constructs from the IS success model with AC, for predicting the e-government continuance intention. The joint use of these constructs has provided a model with high explanatory power, which is able to explain 76.6% variation in the continued usage of e-government services. The study also contributes to the existing literature by presenting AC as a strong determinant of the e-government quality dimensions.

The mediating impact of stickiness and loyalty on word-of-mouth promotion of retail websites

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 1828-1849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjit Kumar Roy ◽  
Walfried M. Lassar ◽  
Gul T. Butaney
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Website Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Quality Dimensions ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to develop and empirically test a model which examines the relationship between e-servicescape dimensions, website quality dimensions, website stickiness, website loyalty and word-of-mouth (WOM). The role of WOM in influencing consumer behaviour is documented in literature. However, despite its growing importance, research on the antecedents of WOM in the e-retail context is sparse. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected by circulating the questionnaire using an online survey from the graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in a large university in the northeastern USA. Out of 660 questionnaires distributed, 509 were usable. Data were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Findings – Results show that website stickiness and website loyalty are two different constructs which form the immediate antecedents of WOM. Results also show the indirect effects of e-servicescape and website quality dimensions on WOM. Practical implications – The findings of the study provides a better understanding of the factors likely to influence the WOM behaviour of e-retail store customers. Findings also provide valuable insights into the factors which managers need to focus on to make their e-retail website increasingly stickier. Originality/value – The contribution of the paper lies in eliciting the differences between stickiness to and loyalty to retail websites and extending the research on e-servicescapes.

Knowledge reuse through electronic knowledge repositories: a multi theoretical study

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 741-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter P. Chhim ◽  
Toni M. Somers ◽  
Ratna Babu Chinnam
Keyword(s):  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Organizational Outcomes ◽  
Knowledge Reuse ◽  
System Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge Repositories ◽  
Downstream Effects ◽  
Technical Factors ◽  
Electronic Knowledge Repositories ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose This study provides insight into factors surrounding knowledge reuse through electronic knowledge repositories (EKR). Design/methodology/approach A multi-theoretical framework is proposed that views knowledge reuse from both socio-technical and expectation confirmation model perspectives. Survey data are used to test associated hypotheses derived from the literature. Findings Results confirm the explanatory power of this approach to predict greater knowledge reuse and greater continuance of use. Research limitations/implications Results suggest social and technical factors modelled interdependently affect knowledge reuse and lead to greater performance, knowledge sharing and continuance of use. Practical implications Practical and managerial recommendations for enhancing enablers of knowledge reuse via EKR are offered. Originality/value This study models enablers to knowledge reuse and resulting downstream effects on organizational outcomes. It provides an original framework for studying knowledge reuse within an EKR or knowledge management system perspective.

Explaining undergraduates’ behavior intention of e-textbook adoption

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-Hua Hsiao ◽  
Kai-Yu Tang
Keyword(s):  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Survey Methodology ◽  
Behavioral Control ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Model Comparisons

Purpose – The current study aims to investigate college students' behavioral intentions to adopt e-textbooks for their studies according to well-known theoretical intention-based models. Design/methodology/approach – This paper empirically assesses five theoretical models of technology acceptance, including the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the technology acceptance model (TAM), the decomposed TPB model (DTPB), the combined model of TAM and TPB (C-TAM-TPB), and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). The survey methodology and structural equation modeling (SEM) were employed to examine and compare these five models. Moreover, explanatory power, goodness-of-fit indices, and model parsimony were taken into consideration in the model comparisons. Findings – Both TPB and TAM provided less effective but adequate predictive behavioral power. However, TPB appeared to be more parsimonious than TAM and the other models. By focusing on specific beliefs of attitude, social and control influences, DTPB shares many of the same advantages as TPB and TAM, but is less parsimonious. Similarly, C-TAM-TPB, an augmented version of TAM that incorporates social influences and behavioral control, is superior to TPB and TAM in terms of its explanatory power of behavioral intention to use e-textbooks. Overall, however, the results indicated that UTAUT appeared to be the best model in terms of the metrics of parsimonious fit and explanatory power. Originality/value – Theoretical comparison of different models is important. This is believed to be the first study to present model comparisons by investigating undergraduates' intention to adopt e-textbooks as tools for their on-campus learning in Taiwan.

scholarly journals The provenance and effects of entrepreneurial inspiration

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Rienke Van Ewijk ◽  
Ghulam Nabi ◽  
Wiebke Weber
Keyword(s):  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Entrepreneurial Intentions ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entrepreneurial Experience ◽  
Affect Infusion Model ◽  
Dependent Sample ◽  
Moderating Role ◽  
Insight Into

PurposeBuilding on authoritative studies on inspiration in the field of psychology (e.g. Thrash and Elliot, 2013, 2014), this study aims to clarify how entrepreneurial inspiration – an emotional state of personal attraction toward entrepreneurship – is created and how it affects entrepreneurial intentions. First, receptiveness to inspiration is introduced as a potential entrepreneurial feeling trait that constitutes a universal enabler of entrepreneurial inspiration alongside typically idiosyncratic inspirational triggers. Second, this study proposes to reinforce the theoretical base of the relation between entrepreneurial inspiration and entrepreneurial intentions by applying the affect infusion model (AIM) and empirically testing its explanatory power.Design/methodology/approachHypotheses are tested through independent and dependent sample t-tests and hierarchical regression analyses with an interaction effect. Data originate from a pre-post course survey among 342 entrepreneurship students from various countries and institutions.FindingsThe results confirm a positive relation between receptiveness to inspiration and entrepreneurial inspiration. Receptiveness to inspiration precedes and increases with entrepreneurial experience, suggesting that it can be both inborn and cultivated. In line with the AIM, entrepreneurial inspiration stimulates only the entrepreneurial aspirations of participants without entrepreneurial experience. Experienced individuals, on the other hand, derived more entrepreneurial inspiration from their courses, but this was not translated to higher entrepreneurial intentions. Instead, they could benefit from this inspiration in other ways proposed in the literature, such as enhanced opportunity recognition.Originality/valueThis study provides much needed, theory-informed, insight into the formation of entrepreneurial inspiration. Furthermore, it is the first research to propose and test a specific theoretical underpinning of the relation between entrepreneurial inspiration and entrepreneurial intentions, which also accounts for the moderating role of entrepreneurial experience. Finally, the rare multi-country, multi-institution nature of the sample reinforces the external validity of the findings.

Categorization flexibility and unconventional choices: is life an adventure?

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 1963-1986
Author(s):  
Tilottama G. Chowdhury ◽  
Feisal Murshed
Keyword(s):  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Cognitive Capacity ◽  
Purchase Behavior ◽  
Consumer Decision Making ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cross Domain ◽  
Multiple Domains

Purpose This paper proposes that categorization flexibility, operationalized as the cognitive capacity that cross-categorizes products in multiple situational categories across multiple domains, might favorably influence a consumer’s evaluation of unconventional options. Design/methodology/approach Experimental research design is used to test the theory. An exploratory study first establishes the effect of categorization flexibility in a non-food domain. Study 1 documents the moderating role of decision domain, showing that the effect works only under low- (vs high-) consequence domain. Studies 2A and 2B further refine the notion by showing that individuals can be primed in a relatively higher categorization flexibility frame of mind. Study 3 demonstrates the interactive effect of categorization flexibility and adventure priming in a high-consequence domain. Study 4 integrates the interactive effects of decisions with low- vs high-consequence, adventure priming and categorization flexibility within a single decision domain of high consequence. Findings Consumers with higher- (vs lower-) categorization flexibility tend to opt for unconventional choices when the decision domain entails low consequences, whereas such a result does not hold under decision domain of high consequences. The categorization flexibility effects in case of low-consequence decision domain holds true even when consumers are primed to be categorization flexible. Furthermore, with additional adventure priming, consumers show an increased preference for unconventional options even under a decision domain with high consequence. Research limitations/implications This study could not examine real purchase behavior as results are based on cross-sectional, behavioral intention data. In addition, it did not examine the underlying reason for presence of cross-domain categorization flexibility index. Practical implications The results suggest that stimuli may be tailored to consumers in ways that increase the salience and the perceived attractiveness of unconventional choices. Further, data reinforce the notion of cross-categorical interrelations among different domains, which could be leveraged by marketers. Originality/value This study represents the first documentation of the potential ways by which unconventional product choice might be a function of individuals’ categorization flexibility level across different types of decision domains. The findings yield implications that are novel to both categorization and consumer decision-making literature.

Rationales of gender diversity management policies and practices in India: an exploratory empirical study in the Indian IT/ITeS industry

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 667-688
Author(s):  
Shreyashi Chakraborty ◽  
Leena Chatterjee
Keyword(s):  
Survey Methodology ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Diversity Management ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Indian Context ◽  
Management Policies ◽  
Policies And Practices

PurposeThe Indian context is marked with weak anti-discrimination laws and patchy implementation of protection of civil rights of women at workplaces. The purpose of this paper is to unearth the rationales of the adoption of gender diversity management policies and practices in India, in the absence of laws and regulations.Design/methodology/approachInspiration is drawn from previous studies on diversity management in other national contexts, and a survey methodology was adopted. The lead researcher administered the questionnaires personally to all respondents to ensure that the understanding of the questions is uniform across respondents as gender diversity management is a relatively new concept in India.FindingsSize of the organisation (number of full-time employees), the influence of external organisations and perceived enhanced organisational flexibility were found to explain the adoption of gender diversity management policies and practices in the Indian IT/ITeS industry. Findings also indicate that Indian subsidiaries of foreign multinationals tend to adopt more gender diversity management policies and practices as compared to Indian-owned organisations.Research implicationsThis study provides evidence that organisations do not always enact structures or behaviours in the pursuit of normative rationality and also consider the economic value of them, establishing an organisational agency in adopting legitimated norms or practices. The study also shows that gender diversity management policies and practices are not only dependent on the enactment of laws but also are adopted because of the economic benefit perceived.Originality/valueDiversity management policies and practices have been mostly studied in national contexts with anti-discrimination laws or affirmative action programs and have been claimed to be a successor of equal employment opportunity (EEO) policies. In the absence of stringent laws to reduce or eliminate discrimination against women employees in Indian workplaces, this study contributes to the literature by determining whether the business case for gender diversity drives the adoption of gender diversity management in the Indian context.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document