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Customer reactions to a webshop’s service quality

Author

Listed:
  • Franz Hackl

    (JKU Linz)

  • Rudolf Winter-Ebmer

    (JKU Linz
    IHS
    IZA
    CEPR)

Abstract

E-commerce has become an integral part of the world’s economy. In this study we investigate the impact of service quality in e-tailing on site visits and consumer demand. Such an analysis is important given the almost Bertrand-like competitive structure. Our analysis is based on a large representative data set obtained from a price comparison site covering essentially the complete Austrian e-tailing market. Customer evaluations for a broad range of 15 different service characteristics are condensed using factor analysis. Negative binomial regression analysis is used to measure the impact of service quality dimensions on referral requests to online shops for different product categories. Our results show that the most important service quality aspects are those related to the ordering process and the firm’s website performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Franz Hackl & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2020. "Customer reactions to a webshop’s service quality," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 699-731, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:47:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s10663-019-09453-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10663-019-09453-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    E-commerce; Price comparison; Horizontal service differentiation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

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