The Role of Eservice Quality: A Web2Store Shopping Perspective

Abstract

Advances in technology have changed the services offered by retailers, as well as consumers' shopping behavior in today's multi-channel settings. Consumers' use of e-services by brick-and-mortar stores is conceived as Web-to-Store (Web2Store) shopping. With the increased use of e-services in cross-channel contexts, a critical issue is how Service Quality (eSQ) affects consumers' behavioral intentions and evaluation in the brick-and-mortar store. The cross-over influence of eSQ has not been explored in previous research, which focused on the scale of eSQ or the effects of eSQ in the purely electronic channel. This paper provides a conceptual model to identify the scale and effect of eSQ in the cross-over context of Web2Store shopping. Based on the literature review, we suggest the hierarchical framework of eSQ with twelve subdimensions as first-order factors and four dimensions as second-order factors. Using the theoretical perspectives of service quality and customer value, we link eSQ to consumers' behavioral intentions and evaluation in the brick-and-mortar store through Web-based service value. In addition, our model explains the moderating effect of consumers' interaction readiness and relationship proneness on the relationship between eSQ and Web-based service value in the context of Web2Store shopping.