Experience in Adapting E-S-QUAL to Different Sectors or Settings

Throughout the last decade, we have witnessed the rise of online service quality models that aim to support managers in the evaluation and improvement of their service offerings. The existing literature indicates that among the various instruments that have been proposed, the generic parsimonious E-S-QUAL has received the most recognition. However, critics have argued that the scale is not generic but is specific for e-services that sell physical goods. Accordingly, the present study aims to resolve the matter based on two relevant sources of information. First, this study reassesses the scale in three different sectors including retail service (e-supermarket), soft retail service (e-travel agencies), and non-retail service (e-banking). Thereafter, the Delphi analysis method is used to survey experts who have previously used the scale. The overall results confirmed that the E-S-QUAL is effective in capturing the core of e-service quality. However, the results also reveal that the scale appears to be very unstable because there were important differences in the final number of dimensions (e.g., four for the e-supermarket, three for online banking and one for the e-travel agencies). The extant literature on the topic points toward online service quality as a multidimensional (rather than a unidimensional) construct. In other words, E-S-QUAL has fallen short in assessing the quality of service of e-travel agencies on its entire domain. Consequently, this study argued that the four dimensions of E-S-QUAL may have several limitations in assessing e-service quality in some sectors. In addition, the Delphi results indicate that the fulfillment dimension of E-S-QUAL is one of the prominent dimensions referring only to online services that sell physical goods. Finally, the output results confirmed the service quality–perceived value–loyalty chain. In addition, loyalty intention was shown to be a strong predictor of actual purchase.