Electronic Service Quality and Value

Abstract

Electronic service quality (ESQ) is essential for explaining consumer value perceptions in B2C e-commerce contexts. However, we argue that focusing too narrowly on ESQ without considering consumer knowledge-related resources could lead managers to devise myopic strategies. Our research is inspired by, and intends to contribute to, service-dominant logic, service logic, and service science. These perspectives suggest that firms and consumers cocreate value by integrating their resources. However, the literature in these areas relies on conceptual development, and further empirical research is needed. The empirical study reported here is the first cross-sectional test that confers similar salience to both consumer resources, in the form of consumer expertise (and its antecedents), and firm resources, as represented by ESQ (and its antecedents), to explain value perception in a B2C e-commerce context. We provide evidence that both consumer expertise and ESQ directly and positively affect value perception, the magnitude of the effect of consumer expertise (ESQ) on value perception being smaller as ESQ (consumer expertise) increases, and vice versa. Our results offer interesting insights for designing successful e-commerce strategies. For instance, the negative interaction effect we found suggests that consumer expertise and ESQ behave as substitutes to some extent. Therefore, firms might reduce the expert/nonexpert value gap by incorporating in their websites tools addressed to palliate nonexperts’ disadvantages, or by upgrading these tools when available. Thus, recommender systems might be upgraded using information derived from experts’ e-buying behavior and opinions, instead of considering only overall data from consumers with a similar taste profile.