A Conceptual Framework for Understanding and Measuring Perceived Service Quality in Net-based Customer Support

Systems

Lois Burgess School of IT and Computer Science

University of Wollongong NSW Australia Tel +61 2 42 214839

Fax +61 2 214170 lburgess@uow.edu.au

Abstract The aim of this research is to develop a scale to measure perceived service quality in net-based customer support systems. The primary question addressed by this research is: What is a valid and reliable measure that can be used for perceived service quality in net-based customer support systems? In order to answer the research question, a two-phase study is designed to 1) determine the attributes on which business customers’ judge the net-based service offering of their trading partners, and, from this, 2) develop a scale to measure the net-based service quality construct (NBSQ). This paper presents a review of relevant literature that provides the theoretical foundation for the research, and details the results of the first phase of the study. 1. Introduction From a service perspective e-commerce is a tool that addresses the desire of firms, consumers, and management to cut service costs while improving the quality of goods and increasing the speed of service delivery (Kalakota and Whinston, 1997). Whether a company is in manufacturing or in services, what is increasingly making a competitive difference is the customer service and support that is built into and around the product, rather than just the quality of the product (Zeithaml et. al., 2000). Some Companies are moving closer to their customers, expending more effort in finding new ways to create value for business customers and transforming the customer relationship into one of solution finding and partnering, rather than one of simply selling and order taking (Kambil et al., 1999). Network-based customer self-service delivery systems facilitated by telecommunications technology, specifically Internet and WWW technologies have revolutionised the service delivery concept. A Net-based customer support system is defined as “a network-based computerised information system that delivers service to a customer either directly (eg. via a browser, PDA, or cell phone) or indirectly (via a service representative or agent accessing the system) (Piccoli et al., 2003). The focus of the research is on direct service delivery systems, specifically, service delivered via a Web site connected to either a corporate Extranet or the Internet. The quality of a business’ service offering has become a key differentiator in the increasingly competitive international marketplace that firms now face (Zeithaml et al., 2000) and is viewed as the key element to business achievement. Additionally, supplementary services (information-based services, co-located with the product and delivered electronically) are recognised as a source of customer value and competitive advantage (Bharadwaj et. Al. 1993; Lovelock and Yip, 1996). NCSSs are the core infrastructure for supplementary service delivery (Piccoli et al., 2003).

Not surprisingly, interest in the measurement of service quality in electronic service environments is understandably high and measuring the quality of the electronic service encounter is now seen as a management imperative (O’Neill et al., 2001). As a consequence, businesses are spending significant amounts of time and effort determining how the new dimensions of service can be leveraged within their organisation to increase their competitive advantage as part of an e-commerce strategy. For Net-based businesses, this means providing fast, high quality, reliable service that is efficient and easy to use and seamless in delivery (Plant, 2000). Customers expect service delivered over networks (via a Web site) to be matched by easy to use, ergonomic interfaces, backed up by an information-rich, premium level of service (Chen, 2001; Plant, 2000; Stern, 1996). Although service quality research has been a major field of interest in services marketing for the past two decades (Zeithaml et al., 2000), research into the determinants of electronic service quality is still in its infancy. There has been limited research effort in this area, and as a result, limited insights gained. According to van Riel et al (2001) no generally accepted theoretical conceptualisation for consumer evaluations of electronic services has emerged. Cox and Dale (2001) support this notion, alluding to the fact that most of the dominant service quality research may not even be applicable to e-business environments. Extant studies on the determinants of electronic service quality focus on the measurement of the construct in business to consumer interactions only (see for example the exploratory work of Gilbert, 2000; Barnes and Vidgen’s 2000, 2001 and 2002) exploratory work on Web-site quality, and Zeithaml et al’s., exploratory research on eService Quality in e-tailing. There are currently no published studies that propose a measure for electronic service quality in business to business interactions. This study represents a first attempt at addressing this gap in the academic literature. The paper is organised as follows. The next section reviews prior research related to quality in IS/IT, specifically, information and web quality. It also presents a review of extant and emerging literature on quality in services marketing related to traditional and Net-based service interactions. The following sections detail the methodology used in the research, and reports the results of phase one of the study.

2. The concept of quality in services and IS research

With the infusion of technology into services and the potential of information and communication technology (I&CT) in reducing the cost of service delivery, interest amongst academic researchers from both services marketing and information systems disciplines has been heightened. Research in service quality and its measurement has spawned more than 20 years of academic enquiry. Early research (Sasser et al.,1979; Lehtinen and Lehtinen,1982; Gronroos,1982) in services sought to determine what constitutes service quality from a customer perspective. It was generally agreed that service quality judgements come from comparisons between what customers feel a company should offer (expectations) and the company’s actual service performance (perceptions) (Zeithaml et al., 2000). Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985) reinforced this view in their exploratory study of service quality across businesses in a number of service industries. Their study added support for the notion that service quality is a function of the expectations-perceptions gap. Parasuraman et al’s, work resulted in the identification of 10 dimensions used by customers in their assessment of service quality. The 10 service quality

dimensions then formed the basis for the development of a scale (SERVQUAL) to measure service quality in face-to-face service interactions. Extension of the research to other contexts resulted in refinement of the scale and reduction of the dimensions to 5 (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles). The SERVQUAL scale has since been widely used to measure service quality in numerous studies across a range of settings (IS Departments; Airlines; Ocean Freight Shipping; Universities; Health Providers; Professional Services; International Markets; Purchasing; Advertising; Banking). Early conceptualisations of services were created to capture the interpersonal nature of service encounters (Meuter et al., 2000), and may not be adequate to capture specific characteristics of customer interactions with self-service technologies (e-services) (SSTs) (Dabholkar et al.,1996). Currently, several approaches to studying online service have been proposed. The first, proposes the use of existing services theory (Gilbert, 2000; Gronroos et al., 2000; Parasuraman and Grewel, 2000; Kaynama and Black, 2000; Zeithaml, et al., 2000; O’Neill, et al., 2001). A second category utilises generated new categories for self-service technologies (SSTs) (Dabholkar et al., 1996; Meuter, et al., 2000) or e-services (Szymanski and Hise, 2000; van Riel, et al., 2001; Wang and Tang, 2001; Ruyter et al., 2001). The third category utilises information systems and web quality theory (Barnes and Vidgen, 2000; 2001; 2002; Aladwani and Palvia, 2001). These studies have centred on consumer interactions with a range of self-service technologies (for example, ATMs; Automated call centre technology; Web sites and touch screen technologies). However, to date, there have been no published studies that have identified the attributes of electronic service as perceived by business customers, nor have any viable scales for measuring service quality in this context emerged in the academic literature. Preliminary research on electronic service quality (e-SQ) sought to extend the 1985 work of Parasuraman et al. into the electronic trading environment. Gilbert (2000) used a redefined SERVQUAL instrument to measure the service expectations and perceptions of customers of Internet businesses in Singapore. Gilbert concluded that the amended SERVQUAL scale was a viable instrument for measuring online service quality. An exploratory study of e-SQ undertaken by Zeithaml et al., in 2000, developed a conceptual model of e-SQ and identified attributes of online service from a consumer perspective. The purpose of the study was to extend their earlier work on service quality into the electronic service delivery environment. The study was limited to a single context, e-tailing, therefore, limiting its generalisability to other service contexts. The authors have since extended this study (Zeithaml, et al., 2002) to develop eSERVQUAL (as yet unpublished) and are currently working on testing the scale in e-tailing. Other recent studies by researchers in services include Gronroos et al. (2000); Parasuraman and Grewel (2000); Kaynama and Black (2000); and O’Neill, et al. (2001). Studies undertaken by IS researchers over the past two years (Szymanski and Hise, 2000; van Riel, et al., 2001; Wang and Tang, 2001; Ruyter et al., 2001; Barnes and Vidgen, 2000; 2001; 2002; Aladwani and Palvia, 2001) have developed conceptual models of web quality, or instruments to measure the quality construct. These studies were developed from the longstanding body of IS literature that examines numerous aspects of data quality, information quality, software/system quality, documentation quality, information systems service quality, global information systems quality function and emerging literature on web quality. Existing web quality research is limited in that it discusses the meaning of some aspects of web quality in a descriptive manner without delineating its major dimensions or providing scales to measure it (Aladwani and Palvia, 2001). Another limitation of past research is that it focusses mainly on the

perspectives of web designers and developers. Aladwani and Palvia’s (2001) study produced an instrument for measuring user-perceived web quality. In this study, the authors identified three dimensions of web quality from a review of extant IS literature: technical adequacy, web content and web appearance. From this, they developed a scale to measure user-perceived web quality, which they administered to students from an introductory information systems class at a business school. While the authors conclude that the scale exhibits excellent psychometric properties and good generalisability to larger populations, the use of student samples in lieu of participants from the wider web user community with a broader range of expectations and experience with web technology can result in reduced external validity. 3. Methodology The research utilises a two-phase design approach (Creswell, 1994), and uses both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques. According to Creswell (1994), The advantage of combining methods in this study is to better understand the concept, being explored or tested, in this case, on service quality.The two-phase research strategy used in this research was selected on the basis of the type of study undertaken (Creswell, 1994). The combined method of data collection was used to add scope and depth to the study (Greene et al., 1989; Brewer and Hunter, 1989) and to achieve triangulation of the results (Jick, 1979). Because the research is largely exploratory in nature, the methodology employed in phase one of the study involved in-depth interviews with employees experienced in the use of net-based customer service and support systems from a number of organisations across a range of industry sectors: Manufacturing, IT, Telecommunications, Retailing, Banking and Finance and Government sector. A total of 15 participants were recruited for the study from 13 organisations. The total number of interviews completed was determined when no new insights were gained and no new information emerged from the interviews (Creswell, 1994). Participants were chosen on the basis of their high-level and extensive experience with e-procurement and use of electronic customer service and support systems. An interview protocol was developed and used as a guide in probing participants about perceptions of their interactions with trading partner websites. Questions relating to both positive and negative service experiences were used in the interviews and participants were probed on the meaning of criteria expressed. A combination of techniques was used for the interviews. Where feasible, interviews were conducted in person at the University of Wollongong. At the request of some of the participants, telephone and email interviews were used. Participants were either contacted by telephone at their place of work at a nominated time, or sent an email message with the interview questions attached. In the face to face and telephone interviews, responses were read back to participants to ensure correct recording of responses. Email responses to the interview questions were followed up with telephone contact where clarification was required. A spreadsheet of responses was created and from this a final set of attributes generated. To ensure that the attributes represent a true reflection of the perceptions of participants involved, the list was emailed back to each of the participants for clarification, and feedback on changes that may be required. Table 1, details attributes generated from the interviews.

Table 1. Attributes of Net-based Service Quality Ease of Navigation interactivity of the site; well laid out and easy to navigate around; don’t have to “drill” too far into the site to locate information required; quantity, functionality and relevance of hyperlinks Ease of Use user-friendliness of interface and web site design; ease with which the site can be operated Simplicity simple, but functional design; simple to understand and comprehend Site Design site aesthetics; visual appeal; representation of site components Intutiveness “alert-driven” interaction between organisation and customers; system alerts the user to new

information about products; patches for downloads etc. Technical Reliability technical functionality of the site; site components and hyperlinks function properly; no broken or redundant links Speed system response time; web page load time; download time Availability site up and running and available for business 24hrs/7days per week Accessibility multiple points of contact with the organisation; ease of contact; approachability of the organisation Responsiveness timeliness of service response; service response turnaround time within 12 hours; automated immediate response for mission critical service requests Service Reliability consistent, timely, dependable and unfailing service delivery; consistent delivery on service promises Completeness “one-stop” service provision; full service provision from the website; customers don’t have to go elsewhere to access components of customer service and support Reputation organisations reputation for delivery of high quality service Flexibility a range of available service and support options; access options; download options; contact options Customisation ease with which service can be “tailored” to meet the needs of individual customers eg. customer account information displayed in customer required format when customer logs on to the site Usefulness how well the site meets customer service and support needs; relevance to site and customer objectives Presentation the way information is organised on the site; the amount, structure and representation of information; Accuracy degree to which information on the site is free of errors; correct versions of product technical support information provided Data Integrity assurance that user organisation account data is tamper proof

Table 1. Attributes of Net-based service quality

4. Current Status of the Research

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