E-Service Quality from Attributes to Outcomes: The Similarity and Difference between Digital and Hybrid Services

Natalia Vatolkina,Nadezhda Kamynina,Elena Gorbashko,Olga Fedotkina

doi:10.3390/joitmc6040143

Abstract

Our research goal is to offer an e-service quality model based on experience and multidimensional quality and compare its applicability for e-services to find differences and similarities in consumer perceptions and behavioral intentions. Additionally, we seek to compare attributes that compose quality dimensions for hybrid and digital e-services. The study was based on an online survey conducted in July–September 2019 among citizens and foreign residents in the Russian Federation. Respondents had to answer questions concerning a specific e-service brand to capture real consumer behavior. The data of 365 questionnaires were analyzed using the Spearman correlation to determine the relationship between the model components. Customer experience is a valid outcome variable in the e-service model that strongly influences customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions. The model proved to be equally valid for hybrid and digital e-services. The key differences between digital and hybrid e-services lie within the distribution of e-service attributes between quality dimensions. Ease of use and perceived usefulness are the most essential attributes that have a direct influence on customer satisfaction. The findings show the necessity of best practices diffused between different types of e-services and present an opportunity to widely spread research findings between different e-service sectors.

Highlights

The service sector contributes to the key macroeconomic indicators of the world economy development, produces the largest share of global GDP, leads in the total employment rate, and creates sustainable opportunities for equality and social wellbeing
E-service quality dimensions show a moderate impact on the According to our findings, e-service quality dimensions show a moderate impact on the consumer consumer intention to continue using a service, which confirms the means-end chain theory, when a intention to continue using a service, which confirms the means-end chain theory, when a customer customer starts with a judgment of specific attributes and progresses to perception or more abstract starts with a judgment of specific attributes and progresses to perception or more abstract concepts like concepts like quality, experience, and satisfaction
The study results show that customer voice includes the perception of customer experience, e-service quality, and satisfaction based on both customer requirements and expectations

Summary

Introduction

The service sector contributes to the key macroeconomic indicators of the world economy development, produces the largest share of global GDP, leads in the total employment rate, and creates sustainable opportunities for equality and social wellbeing. The growth of the service sector is driven by digital transformation, the growing penetration rate of Internet and mobile technologies, the emergence of new business models, and the increasing attractiveness of the sharing economy [1,2,3,4]. It has led to dramatic changes in service production systems [5] and consumer behavior [6] and the emergence and fast development of electronic services. Electronic service is a general term that refers to services rendered through information technologies via the Internet [7,8,9,10]. There is no commonly agreed definition of digital service, and authors

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