The effect of perceived service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction, trust, and loyalty in e‐commerce settings

Abstract

Purpose -The paper aims to empirically investigate the relationship between perceived service quality, satisfaction, trust, and loyalty in e-commerce settings in two cultures -Malaysian and Qatariat the level of construct dimensions. Design/methodology/approach -A survey method approach was used in this study. To test the dimensionality of the perceived service quality, all 20 items were analyzed using oblique rotation and varimax rotation. The hypotheses were tested using the structural equations modeling and general linear model of univariate analysis of variance. Findings -Perceived service quality was found to have a significant impact on customer satisfaction. In turn customer satisfaction was found to have a significant effect on trust. Both customer satisfaction and trust have significant effects on loyalty through word of mouth (WOM) while WOM is an antecedent of repeat visits or repurchase intentions. Interestingly, trust does not directly influence the latter. With the exception of the effect of satisfaction on trust, we found no significant difference between the effects of perceived service quality on satisfaction, satisfaction on loyalty, and trust on loyalty among the Qatari and Malaysian customers indicating that the relationships in the model did not hold across the two cultural groups because the respondents have similar cultural background. Research limitations/implications -This study suffers from a limitation in that it uses a convenience sampling technique without a fully matched profile of the respondents. However, the satisfactory fit of the estimated model allows for the study to be a basis of a reliable comparison for future research. Practical implications -In an e-commerce setting companies can increase customer loyalty directly by improving the ease of use, the attractiveness, and the security of their website. Thus, marketers should tailor their marketing strategies to fit each marketing environment because overseas success of their business is very much a function of cultural adaptability. Originality/value -The major contribution of this study is that it is the first attempt to investigate the impact of word of mouth on trust and intention.

Service Quality, Satisfaction and Student Loyalty in Malaysian Private Education

“…(Kassim & Abdullah, 2010). Empathy plays an important role in determining the students' intention to either recommend the institution to their friends and relatives or in their decision to further their studies to the higher levels of education.…”

“…They include these factors in SERVQUAL which is a measurement instrument for measuring the quality in services (Parasuraman, et al, 1988). Based on the tests done on these five dimensions of SERVQUAL in many industries indicate that they are reliable and valid (Brysland & Curry, 2001;Kassim & Abdullah, 2010;Lee, Kim, & Ahn, 2011;Naik, Krishna, & Gantasala, 2010;Sohail, 2003;Sohail & Shaikh, 2004).…”

“…It evokes the desire to offer help that customers need by showing sympathy and compassion that match customers' thinking, feeling or emotions (Hodges & Klein, 2001;Kassim & Abdullah, 2010). Thus, the show of empathy by the institutions through their services to the customers convey the message that "We feel for you".…”

“…Reliability is related to the accuracy and dependability of the services provided (Kassim & Abdullah, 2010). Reliability shows the company meant it when it says "We deliver what we promise".…”

Influence of Service Quality and Trust on Customer Satisfaction in Judicial Agents's Service

“…충성도를 설명하는 데에 신뢰의 중요성은 여러 실증연구에서 입증되고 있다 (Lim and Razzaque, 1997;Garbarino and Johson, 1999;Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001) Ghane et al, 2011;Akbar et al, 2009;Kassim, et al, 2010;Sadeh et al, 2011). …”