Process drivers of e-service quality: Analysis of data from an online rating site

Managers of e-service operations are increasingly challenged to ensure high quality in their electronic services. Many researchers have studied how perceptions of e-service quality dimensions relate to perceptions of higher order evaluations such as overall satisfaction and customer loyalty. However, in this study, we turn toward operational practice, examining relationships between e-service process attributes and e-service quality dimensions. Our intent is to identify potential drivers of e-service quality that managers may use as levers to improve their operations. The study employs a cross-sectional regression analysis of publicly available data collected from an online rating site. The study sample consists of over 1000 online retailers from several retailing industry segments. The data collection and analysis are innovative due to the lack of operations management research utilizing public data sources and the increased generalizability of results obtainable from multi-sector data sets. The results identify operational drivers associated with customer ratings of e-service quality, and provide guidance for future research on drivers of e-service quality. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.