An investigation of perception differences regarding e-service quality dimensions among e-service customers

Abstract

Diffusion of Internet usage and proliferation of electronic commerce activities have forced many service companies to implement the online extensions and provide all or some services via high quality web sites. Therefore, determining the quality dimensions of their web sites and understanding how customers perceive them have become vital issues for those companies. Although much research has been performed to provide better insights into the customer perceptions of the respected quality dimensions, the effects of customer differences on those perceptions have remained a neglected matter. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the quality dimensions of e-service sites are perceived differently by the different e-service customer categories. The research data was collected from 488 e-service customers determined through the convenience sampling process and conducted by using a paper-pencil questionnaire in July, 2007. When the e-service customers were categorized in terms of their income levels, Internet experiences, daily Internet usage times and puchase interests on the net, the perceptions of the e-service quality dimensions were found to be significantly different among the categories. The findings and discussions of present study contribute valuable insights for both researchers and practitioners working on e-commerce and e-service areas in Turkey.