marketing dissertation

Sample Dissertation - 3

LS Business Publishing

LS Education Group

i

Please note that the dissertation below is an example of a typical detailed research

dissertation. For the Undergraduate Major Project module candidates are

expected to utilise only 10000 words for their research dissertations.

For more details you are advised to refer to the Module Guide

document which is made available under the Assignment Question of the Module

Assessment section of the IMSS.

ii

This is a sample pass answer for the December 2013 assessment. Extracting or copying any part of this answer

is strictly prohibited.

iii

ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY

UNDERGRADUATE MAJOR PROJECT

Analysis of impact of online retailing service quality on customer satisfaction:

a case study of ABC SUPERMARKETS

iv

December 2, 12, 2013

v

Abstract

We have witnessed an extensive growth of internet based services in twentieth century, from

multi-organizations to small merchant that are implementing online services. Providing

quality e-service is the major challenging concern for online retail delivery channel which is

the important for customer purchasing decision and their satisfaction. This study will analyse

the impact of online retailing service quality provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS on

customer satisfaction. The study started with the review of earlier literature to reveal the

significant service quality factors that influence customer satisfaction and to concentrate on

other study area. Five e-service quality dimensions of online shopping or purchasing were

investigated with a view to exploring the dominant factors of service quality and customer

satisfaction. Researcher applied deductive research approach and quantitative research

strategy to get better understanding of the research. Non probabilistic convenience sampling

is for obtaining relevant data without giving extensive effort. Data is analyzed and presented

using SPSS windows software. To conduct this research, a total number of 100 samples are

used. Among the 100 respondents, 21 were not used because they were incomplete. Finally,

the discussion and conclusion were presented by illustrating the finding of research

questions answers. Here, the e-service quality factors i.e., efficiency, privacy, reliability,

fulfilment, and responsiveness is found to be the core online service quality factors in ABC

SUPERMARKETS .

vi

Keywords: Online retailer, Online shopping, Service quality, Online service quality,

Customer satisfaction, ABC SUPERMARKETS .

Contents

Signed Statement ........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Acknowledgement ......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... v

1 Chapter One: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Case Company Overview: ABC SUPERMARKETS ..................................................... 3

1.3 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................. 3

1.4 Aims of the Study ............................................................................................................. 5

1.5 Objectives of the Study .................................................................................................... 5

1.6 Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 5

1.7 The Structure of the Study ............................................................................................... 5

1.8 1.6 Conclusion:................................................................................................................. 6

2 Chapter Two: Literature review .............................................................................................. 7

2.1 Definition & Characteristics of Services .......................................................................... 7

2.2 Online Retailing Services ................................................................................................. 7

2.3 Tools of Measuring Online Service Quality .................................................................... 8

2.3.1 SERVQUAL ............................................................................................................. 8

2.3.2 E-SERVQUAL ......................................................................................................... 9

2.4 E-S-Qual ......................................................................................................................... 10

2.5 Customer Satisfaction & Online Service Quality .......................................................... 10

2.6 Conceptual Framework .................................................................................................. 11

2.7 Hypothesis: ..................................................................................................................... 13

3 Chapter Three: Methodology................................................................................................. 14

3.1 Research Philosophy ...................................................................................................... 14

Positivism & Interprevitism ........................................................................................... 14

Justification of Positivism .............................................................................................. 14

3.2 Research Approach ........................................................................................................ 15

3.3 Research Strategy ........................................................................................................... 15

vii

3.4 Data collection Techniques ............................................................................................ 16

3.5 Data Analysis Procedure ................................................................................................ 18

3.6 Ethical Consideration ..................................................................................................... 19

3.7 Data Quality ................................................................................................................... 19

3.8 Limitation ....................................................................................................................... 19

4 Chapter Four: Results: ........................................................................................................... 20

4.1 Cronbachs Alpha: .......................................................................................................... 20

4.2 Pearson correlation ......................................................................................................... 22

4.3 Hypothesis testing .......................................................................................................... 24

4.4 Regression Analysis: ...................................................................................................... 25

5 Chapter Five: Analysis and interpretation ............................................................................. 27

6 Chapter six: Conclusion, recommendation and further research scope ................................. 30

6.1 Conclusion:..................................................................................................................... 30

6.2 Recommendation ............................................................................................................ 30

6.3 Scope of further research: .............................................................................................. 31

7 References: ............................................................................................................................ 32

Appendix 1: Questionnaire ........................................................................................................... 35

List of tables and figures

Table 1: Structure of the Study according to the Chapter ............................................................... 5

Table 2: SERVQUAL Dimensions ................................................................................................. 9

Figure 1: Relationship between E-Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction based on E

SERVQUAL. ................................................................................................................................ 12

Table 3: E-Servqual Dimensions .................................................................................................. 12

Figure 2: Sampling Technique Classification ............................................................................... 16

Table 4: Cronbachs Alpha (CA) and Mean average .................................................................... 21

Table 5: Pearson Correlations ....................................................................................................... 22

viii

Table 6: Model summary for regression between overall customer satisfaction and

independent variables .................................................................................................................... 25

Table 7: Regression results for impact of online customer service quality on customer

satisfaction .................................................................................................................................... 25

1

1 Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Background

Mr. Jason is a service holder. He got three children. He has to work hard in office and fails to

manage time for family. He spends busy days all over the week and cant manage time to go

for shopping and go on recreational places with the family. He finds it difficult to manage

time to go to stores and buy necessary things for himself and for the family. It would be great

if he had found any solution to this problem as it is almost impossible to go on without

having necessary things.

Online stores appeared to be the solutions to the problems faced by the busy people like Mr.

Jason. They are very busy and they cant manage to go to markets and choose their desired

goods. So online shopping offers them the opportunity of choosing their desired goods and

buys them instantly. Customers dont need to worry about getting the products as online

stores offer home delivery service. Some of them offer free home delivery service for specific

regions.

The number of people purchasing online is very huge all over the world. The number is high

in developed countries as those people have better access to internet and online banking.

Research shows that revenue from internet is 4.6 billion which has been increasing steadily

(Minitel report 2011). Availability of such technologies made online shopping more

preferable. Online retailers have to go deeper to understand the reason behind peoples

interest in online shopping. Customers are busy and have less time to go for shopping. The

concept of online shopping has made things easier. New mobile applications are developed to

make shopping experience easier which is available in every mobile OS platform.

Though online shopping sounds very smart and time saving, some customers dont prefer

online shopping because of the risk associated with it. As online stores are paid by credit

cards, there is a possibility that the credit cards and bank account of the customers will be

hacked. Strong and save online payment systems are present, but hackers develop new ways

of bluffing safety systems. Online security breakdown of SONY made the customers

concerned about the safety issues regarding credit card where personal information of almost

77 million people was hacked from the server of SONY (The Guardian 2011). Number of

such examples is remarkable. So it is really tough to convince the conservative customers

about the safety of online shopping.

2

Increase in the number of internet users means that the number of prospective customers of

online shopping is also increasing (Morganosky 2011). Along with the broadband internet

facility, mobile internet service is very popular as people move with their smartphones and

can do almost everything using that small device using internet (Oppenheim 2006). The

growth of online marketplace in United Kingdom gives a strong platform to the online

marketers for developing online business. Organizations and individuals engaged in online

business have to monitor and analyze the behaviour and trends of the customers to identify

their changing demand and problems. It is possible to reach new customers if the market is

analyzed properly. Marketers can take feedback from the customers to identify the factors

properly. Two way communications is very effective in these situations.

Online shopping has changed the shopping experience of the customers. Now it is not

bounded by regional borders. Online business has gone global through World Wide Web and

global courier and parcel services. Many firms have launched online marketplace to reduce

the cost of selling and marketing and to stay competitive in the market through low price.

Large corporations maintain websites to notify the customers about new products and service

and to communicate with them. This is a very good way to take feedback from the customers.

Many corporations use online survey form to take feedback from customers. At present,

customers are very conscious and knowledgeable. They dont simply buy products.

Customers study about the products, compare among the products offered by different

organizations. Customers reviews are available in different online blogs, from where, the

customers share their experience about the products and services and post purchase services

offered by the sellers. Online stores offer products at relatively low cost which is one of the

influencing reasons to bring more customers online (Oppenheim 2006).

Online shopping started with limited customers and a few sellers. Then internet was not so

available and as the number of customers was limited, a few firms started online business. So

the activities of the customers were limited to buying and browsing among some products.

Comparing among most of the products was not possible (Smith 2013). In that situation, it

was very important to identify the problems of the customers and the ways how internet can

solve those problems. The best way to consider the behaviour of the customers towards

online shopping is to sort out the influencing factors (Constantinides 2011). To do that, the

design of the web site, user friendliness, security of the system, convenience and time can be

analyzed.

3

1.2 Case Company Overview: ABC SUPERMARKETS

In 1999, ABC SUPERMARKETS became a member of the ABC Group family. ABC

Groupis devoted to serve its 200 million customers each week and is continuously keeping

the promise of the beginner, Sam Walton, Saving peoples money to help them live better.

This promise is delivered through the Every Day Low Cost = Every Day Low Price

(EDLC=EDLP) strategy that supports everything that ABC Group does.

The ABC Group Stores Inc. group, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, has grown up

significantly over the last 20 years. International expansion is at the core of its growth, and

now accounts for almost 25% of its total sales. In 2009, ABC Group International topped

$100 billion net sales for the first time. ABC SUPERMARKETS is an integral part of the

international portfolio, with a contribution of 31% of sales.

The positive impact of Wal-Marts acquisition of ABC SUPERMARKETS has been felt on

both sides of the Atlantic Over the last ten years. At ABC SUPERMARKETS , they are

successfully extending their price leadership because of the global sourcing capability of their

parent company Wal-Mart. Wal-Marts focus on leveraging its global scale is also helping

ABC SUPERMARKETS to achieve an even lower cost to operate and to take their

sustainability programme to a new level.

Millions of people are able to buy their groceries online at ABC SUPERMARKETS .com,

which are delivering through 1,100 vans from over 160 nationwide stores and one dedicated

home shopping centre which is covering over 97% of the UK population. In 2009, the growth

was around 40%. At the end of 2008, ABC SUPERMARKETS Direct was launched. ABC

SUPERMARKETS Direct enables its customers to choose products from over one million

individual items online or over the phone. Collect in Store allows customers to order online

directly but have a choice to collect from a local store at a time to suit them. It is available at

more than 300 nationwide locations.

1.3 Significance of the Study

People who have access to internet are the potential customers of the firms doing business

online. At present, millions of people are using internet for communication, recreation and

social networking. As the number of internet users is not a problem, firms have to consider

their product offerings and the demand of the customers. Targeting the appropriate customer

segment is very important. At present, the number of firms doing online business is very high

4

and the number has been increasing significantly. Along with the new comers, existing firms

are coming forward to do online business because of the benefits offered by online shopping.

Marketers are studying the behaviour of the customers to understand what factors drive the

customers. Marketers with knowledge of customers interest regarding online shopping get

competitive advantage compared to other marketers. The most important factors to identify

are those, which influence customers behaviour while shopping online. Marketers have been

analysing customers behaviour for a long period of time. Those studies are separate because

of the types of customers and the types of products. Consumers behaviour is considered to

be a field of study in marketing. A chapter is found in most of the marketing books by the

name of this. It is important of analyse consumer behaviour to plan and implement marketing

strategy.

Competitive advantage can be gained by a firm, if that firm can identify and monitor the

behaviour of its consumer. Then it can ensure flexibility to go with the consumers.

Identifying the demand of the customers and finding out the best way to meet their demand is

possible, when a marketer maintain direct communication with the consumers. People

shopping online have some common characteristics. They prefer online shopping because

time is their prime consideration. Demographic factors separate online shoppers. The

behaviour of the online shoppers varies according to demographic factors. To identify other

factors influencing the online shopping trend of the customers is also important. If the

marketers consider those factors, it is possible for them to survive the competition and win

the race. Through this strategy, ABC SUPERMARKETS will be able to understand the

impact of online service quality on customer satisfaction than enable ABC

SUPERMARKETS to take competitive advantage implementing appropriate strategy.

The prime objective of this report is to sort out and analyse the influencing factors which are

liable for influencing purchasing decisions of the customers buying from ABC

SUPERMARKETS . So to identify the customers of ABC SUPERMARKETS according to

demographic factors will be of major importance. The outcome of this article will help ABC

SUPERMARKETS to understand the customers and their mind set so that ABC

SUPERMARKETS can plan and implement better marketing strategy. This article will also

enhance the knowledge of consumer behaviour of online shopping.

5

1.4 Aims of the Study

Aim of this research is to analyse the impact of online service quality of ABC

SUPERMARKETS on customer buying decision.

1.5 Objectives of the Study

Objective of this paper is as follows;

Critically analyse the attributes that are considered in measuring online service quality

for customer satisfaction in retail businesses.

Critically analyse the attributes of online service quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS

resulting customer satisfaction.

Evaluate the impact of online service quality dimensions of ABC SUPERMARKETS

on customer satisfaction.

Recommend strategies for management to improve the online service quality of ABC

SUPERMARKETS to satisfy customers.

1.6 Research Questions

Following are the research question of this paper;

What are the attributes that are considered in measuring online service quality for

customer satisfaction in retail businesses in UK?

What attributes of online service quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS resulting

customer satisfaction?

How online service quality dimensions of ABC SUPERMARKETS the impacts on

customer satisfaction?

What are the strategies for management to improve the online service quality of ABC

SUPERMARKETS to satisfy customers?

1.7 The Structure of the Study

Table 1: Structure of the Study according to the Chapter

Chapter-1 Introduction-Initial Description is provided in the first chapter where

survey question, aim of the research, objectives of the research, hypothesis,

significance of the study and background study is explained.

Chapter-2 Literature review- This chapter, literature review, is designed based on

secondary data collected from different published sources. This chapter

6

provides detailed description of online service quality and customer

satisfaction. At the end of this chapter, a conceptual framework is designed

reviewing previous literature to guide the research objective.

Chapter-3 Methodology - This section deals with the approaches and methods that fit

to the research. During the description, the author has discussed about

research approaches, methods, strategies, and philosophies. The author has

also discussed the sampling and data collection methods. Data analysis

techniques have also been discussed here.

Chapter-4 Analysis and discussion - In this section, the author has attempted to

analyse the gathered information with the help of charts, tables, pictures,

and models.

Chapter-5 Conclusion, findings and suggestive recommendations-In the last part of

this paper, conclusion and recommendation is provided. Research findings

are provided to help the interested parties understand the context broadly.

Supplementary

chapter

References and appendices-The sources that have been used while

conducting the research have been presented here.

1.8 1.6 Conclusion:

Online retailing business can aid both the traders and the customers in many ways. The

example of Mr. Jason, which is provided at the beginning, talks about the problems of

traditional shopping and the opportunities that online shopping provides. The significance of

this research is clearly stated earlier. A lot of articles are published on consumer behaviour

and consumer behaviour in case of online shopping. A literature review is provided on that

7

2 Chapter Two: Literature review

A lot of researches are conducted and articles are published on consumer behaviour focusing

purchasing behaviour and consumer satisfaction. In this article, the literature review presents

the reviews of relevant articles on consumer satisfaction specially consumer satisfaction in

case of online purchase. Under this chapter, summary of related concepts and literatures are

presented. A clear overview is provided about the research in this chapter.

2.1 Definition & Characteristics of Services

The service sector has been gaining priority in recent years because of its contribution to the

national economy. Service industry has significant stand in global economy as the level of

diversity and types of services have increased to a great extent. As the industry is growing

larger, the number of competitors is increasing rapidly. The market of the service industry is

very competitive. To survive the competition, service providing firms have to respond faster

and ensure flexibility. The definition of services was not as good as now we see. The

definition was revised in 1990 to cope with the changing types of services (Gronroos 2010).

Services are the solutions to the problems of the customers. Service providers solve the

problems at a cost charged to the customers.

Business firms selling physical goods are not service firms. Services cant be homogeneous

and tangible. They cant be owned and reserved either. These are the distinct characteristics

of service (Gronroos 2010). Production, consumption and distribution are the immediate

processes of service. If the customer is engaged directly or indirectly in the process, then

service is generated through them. Consumers get their desired service with desired quality

when the services are generated after they have been tailored according to the need of the

customer. At present, the production firms are practicing to produce products considering the

demand of the customers. But service industry is the best to do that as each service is

generated to fulfil specific demand. Service providers have to give outmost service so that the

customers dont go to another service provider for better service.

2.2 Online Retailing Services

The online retailing services offer the attributes of home delivery service, 24 hour order

receiving service, money back guarantee, product back offer, price incentive and many more

(Mattila 2008). It increases the time of shopping and paying for them. The online shoppers

can easily make comparison among the services provided by different service providers. This

enables the shoppers to choose the best service provider at his convenience. So if the

8

customer is not satisfied with the current service provider, he can choose another one (Santos

2009).Online retailers have less bargaining option compared to that of real world retailers. So

they have to offer better goods and services to the customers to survive the completion.

Online retailers come up with some kind of competitive advantage what defines them

separately from other competitors.

2.3 Tools of Measuring Online Service Quality

2.3.1 SERVQUAL

Marketing is concerned about the satisfaction that the customers or the related parties are

going to get by the activities of marketing. The field of study of satisfaction got priority by

the researchers for few decades. The significance of service quality was focused in the

available literature on customer satisfaction (Anderson 1993). Quality of service is

considered as the assessment of customers subjective perspective of the performance of

actual service (Parasuraman et al. 2008). The results of the researches and the evaluation are

prepared based on the service types and the delivery process.

SERVQUAL offers the digital tool to manage and measure the quality of service. The article

on technology was published in 1985 for the very first time. Parasuraman and Berry, the

innovator of the tool, upgraded and stabilized the technology and published the articles on the

progress (Parasuraman 2008).SERVQUAL was designed with the belief that the quality of

service is supreme from customers assessment. The quality of service is a factor which

depends on so many other factors. According to Parasuraman (2008), 10 dimensions of

service quality are:1- Access (accessibility plus easiness of interaction), 2- Communication

(understanding the demand of customers), 3- Competence (availability of essential

knowledge and skill to provide the service), 4-Courtesy (boldness of communication

personnel), 5-Credibility (honesty and trustworthiness), 6- Reliability (uniformity of

performance and reliability), 7- responsiveness (eagerness of personnel and timeliness of

services), 8- security (threat of disbelief and independence from risk), 9- tangibles (physical

evidence of services), 10- understanding the consumer. According to Parasuraman, these

dimensions are concentrated into 5 dimensions. They are tangibility, responsiveness,

assurance, reliability and empathy. Except tangibility, reliability and responsiveness, the

dimensions are collapsed in 2 dimensions which are empathy and assurance. He formed a 22

item instrument with the objective of measuring the expectation and perception of customers.

To measure each dimension, 4th

and 5th

items are used. This technology is managed twice in

dissimilar forms, 1st to measure expectations and 2

nd to consider perceptions.

9

Table 2: SERVQUAL Dimensions

Dimensions The definition

Reliability The capability of providing services with accuracy and quality

Assurance The honesty and familiarity of employees and their aptitude to convey

self-assurance and belief.

Tangibility The presence of tools, communication resources, materials and trained

personnel

Empathy The ability of knowing the emotion of others.

Responsiveness Eagerness of helping the consumers with high quality and quick services

Another researcher Girish (2013) gave argument against the performance of SERVQUAL

stating that the assessmentof quality of service based on expectation-performance gap is

inadequate. The reason is that ample of the empirical research supported measures of quality

of service based on performance.This holds more power of explanation than the measures

based on the gap between expectancy and reality (Babakus 2012). It is also argued that

SERVQUAL gives more focus on the process of service delivery rather than other factors

like technical factors and service quality (Surprenant 2012). It can also be said that the

measurement of SERVQUAL is not considered to be adequate to clarify the technical

attribute of services.

2.3.2 E-SERVQUAL

What customers think about a website depends on their past experience of using that website

and post-interaction services that the website provides (Zeithaml 2002). In case of the

websites used for providing online retailing services, customers consider how user friendly

that website is for taking services and what the website possess to give post purchase

services. The E-Servqual cant be applied fully to consider e-services but E-Servqual can be

used to construct the dimensions (Zeithaml 2002).

Some new dimensions of e-quality have been proposed by Kaynama (2010). To add some

new dimensions, online services of 23 travel agencies were evaluated and seven dimensions

were derived using Servqual. Those seven dimensions are content and purpose (resulting

from reliability), convenience, sensitivity, navigation, design and presentation (resulting from

tangibility), context (guarantee) and personalization and customization (derived from

empathy).

10

E-SERVQL is developed by Zeithaml (2002) to measure the quality of e-services. The

research conducted by him has identified seven dimensions of the quality of service which

are privacy, fulfilment, reliability, efficiency, responsiveness, contract and compensation.

Another four dimensions that they identified which can be used to measure the perception of

the customers regarding the quality of delivery service provided by online service providers

are privacy fulfilment, reliability and efficiency. Another three dimensions are

responsiveness, contract and compensation which become salient at the time when customers

want answers to their questions or have encountered problems.

2.4 E-S-Qual

Zeithaml (2000) conceptualized definition of e-service quality at the time when this concept

was at an initial stage. It was explained that e-service quality refers to the quality of services

which is provided over internet at the form of ordering, purchasing and delivering products,

paying for the products and services, providing customer care services, take care of post-

purchase activities and customer friendliness of the website. A research was conducted by

Zeithaml (2000, 2002) on the quality of internet service on the basis of the service quality of

conventional channels of distribution. He proposed E-S-Qual based on seven dimensions.

Later, he published an article on the comparison between the dimensions of Serviqual and E-

S-Qual (Zeithaml 2002).He said that Serviqual dimensions are eligible to be applied to e-

service quality. But this is not enough as more dimensions are present in e-service. A lot of

dimensions of e-service quality are linked with technology. At the initial stage, E-S-Qual

comprised of 11 dimensions. The research conducted by Parasuraman (2008) developed

seven dimensions for e-service quality which are split in to two core dimensions. Another

recovery dimension was also added. Privacy, fulfilment, availability of system and efficiency

are the four core dimensions of E-S-Qual. Contact, compensation and responsiveness are the

three dimensions in the second scale under the title of E-RecS-Qual (Parasuramanet al. 2008).

The dimension of surface is offered by E-RecS-Qualon the basis of customer evaluation

perspective and experience. These are also viewed as the pasts to the implementation of e-

service (Rowley 2006).Both of the measurements validate better psychometric attributes

according to the outcomes from validity and consistency tests and built on the research

accompanied on the subject.

2.5 Customer Satisfaction & Online Service Quality

The process of developing sustainable relationship between the customers and the sellers

through better value creation and customer care is reputed worldwide (Zeithaml 2000). The

11

quality of service is a kind of competitive advantage that ensures that a firm can enjoy a

sustainable growth over a period of time. At present, the number of people using internet is

increasing remarkable as well as the number of potential customers of online retailers. These

customers are knowledgeable and have access to product and service information. A lot of

websites are present in web world where people share their experience of using products and

services. So the customers purchasing online can easily identify the best product for him at

the best price. The related services are also important. If a person buys a product and feels

that he needs to return that, then if the quality of service is not satisfactory, the customer will

switch the supplier. The quality of delivery service depends on time, cost and behaviour. So

the quality of service provided by the online sellers has become a major issue to be

considered for the success of the online sellers. To be successful, along with the products, an

online retailer has to focus on the services to be provided to the customers. Quality is the key

element for the success in business (Dale 2009).So quality has to be ensured at all level of

business process. Without the presence of quality management approach, the promise of

delivering quality products and services wont be possible as quality is the sum of trained

employees, updated systems, proper business process and bargaining power.

Customer satisfaction and the quality of services are two important concepts of marketing

(Spreng 2006). If a firm can deliver high quality services to its customers, the customers get

satisfied and become loyal to that firm. Loyal customers are very important for a firm as they

never leave the firm if the current level of services is provided by that firm (Schaupp 2005). It

is admitted by many studies that there is direct relationship between customer satisfaction and

service quality (Sureshchandar 2012). In case of online retailers, the quality of service is

crucial for their success.

2.6 Conceptual Framework

On the basis of the literature review, the relationship between customer satisfaction and

quality of service has been shown in figure-3.From the model of Eservqual, five dimensions

of e-service quality is selected. Websites are measured by E-Serviqual (E-SQ) as observed by

consumers. E-SQ is a modern method of measuring the websites which is based on the

upgraded principles of Serviqual. It also includes some dimensions used in Serviqual. The

scale of E-Servqual consists of a recovery scale and a core which are represented by three

dimensions and four dimensions respectively (Zeithaml 200, 2002). To measure the

perception of the customers towards the quality of delivery made by the online sellers, the

core scale is used. Recovery scale is active when a consumer is facing problem regarding

12

products and services or has any query regarding products and services. In such cases, three

dimensions developed for recovery scale become salient. The core scale talks about the

excellence of the website, but the recovery scale focuses on the real performance of the firm,

so the performance of the website is not solely focused.

E-Servqual is used worldwide and is very useful to measure the performance of the service

quality of the websites. In this research, E-Servqual has been used for providing reference.

Figure 1: Relationship between E-Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction based on

E-SERVQUAL.

Table 3: E-Servqual Dimensions

Efficiency Efficiency is the consumers capability of accessing websites effectively,

looking for the preferred goods & services. Searching for required

information and comparing them with other available information at

minimal effort is also the part of efficiency (Zeithaml 2002). Efficiency can

be explained as the swiftness of searching, downloading and browsing

(Jessica 2013).

Fulfillment Fulfilment is a firms real performance based on the promise made by the

firm over the online activities and combines accuracy of facility promises.

An example can be having goods in stock and on-time shipping (Cristian,

&Iulian, 2007).

Reliability Reliability refers to websites technical functions i.e. the level of websites

Efficiency

Fulfillment

Privacy

Reliability

Responsivenes

s

Customer Satisfaction

13

availability and functionality (Cristian 2007). Jessica (2003) said

reliability is the capability of performing the assured services accurately

and consistently, a part of which is updating the online resources, quick

response to consumer queries and precision of web based retailing and

payment.

Privacy Websites collect a lot of information of the customers including personal

information and bank information which are required to complete

transaction. This dimension refers to the assurance that such data is kept

secured (Zeithaml, 2002). The concept of privacy states that firms keep the

customer related information confidential and dont give them to 3rd parties

without prior permission of the customers. All kind of information

including the sensitive information stored by the firm are under this

consideration (Wolfinbarger 2012)

Responsiveness Responsiveness can be measured by the firms ability of providing proper

information to the consumersif that is required solving a problem (Zeithaml

2002). Responsiveness includes very fast response to the customers, taking

initiative to solve customer problem as fast as possible and calling back the

customers quickly if required (Lamb et al. 2009).

2.7 Hypothesis:

H1: Efficiency has significant positive correlation with customer behaviour

H2: Fulfilment has significant positive correlation with customer behaviour

H3: Reliability has significant positive correlation with customer behaviour

H4: Privacy has significant positive correlation with customer behaviour

H5: Responsiveness has significant positive correlation with customer behaviour

14

3 Chapter Three: Methodology

This chapter will demonstrate the process of conducting this research; the research

methodology. A simple and comprehensive methodology is the primary key to solve a

research problem easily. Zimamund et al, (2009) discussed this particular criterion in his

writing where he indicated that the outcome of a research is pretty much dependent on the

method of conducting the research. This particular chapter has facilitated the author to

develop the research in a proper manner by determining the specific philosophy, appropriate

proposal, sampling style, analysis technique in terms of ethical consideration of a research.

3.1 Research Philosophy

Philosophy is the main base of performing any job. The importance of this factor can be

analyzed by the characteristics of different philosophical question (Hughes, 2004). The

degree of creativity and the eagerness to know the unknown are determined by the broadness

and exposedness to philosophy. Two widely used research philosophies are positivism and

inteprevitism.

Positivism & Interprevitism

People believes in the positivism approach of research philosophy denote that the course of

any action is predetermined and subject to experiment. This issue can better be described by

the objective point of view of the event, not by intercepting the occurrence (Zeithmal, 2009).

This is the logic of vagueness and inaccessibility where the preparation of action can really.

Reality is so often described in terms of a single variable that the similarity and relation with

the ecological balance is often misinterpreted. The interpretivism philosophy considers the

formal learning process with regular reinforcement and the researcher only can influence the

process of the learning with little or no assistance for the learner.

Justification of Positivism

With the understanding of four main types of research philosophies the positivism seems to

be the accurate philosophy for this particular research. As the main object of this philosophy

is to figure out the cause-effect relationship and value free testing (Ghauri & Gronhaug,

2005) the process of negatively testing the hypothesis is mostly related to the definition of a

real world which is given by the followers of this philosophy. As positivism is the most

recognized way for carry out the data collection process of a research the author has been

convinced to use this philosophy for this particular research.

15

3.2 Research Approach

It is important to decide whether inductive approach or deductive approach will be used for

this research. Based on that, the research articles will be used to understand the present

context of study. If deductive approach is used, the researcher generates a hypothesis using

theory. Once a hypothesis is developed, that is tested and the hypothesis is either accepted or

rejected. If inductive approach is used, then data is collected first. Then collected data are

analyzed and a theory is developed based on the analysis (Saunders 2009).

Deductive approach is used for this research. So a hypothesis is developed first using existing

theory and concepts. After the hypothesis is developed, that is expressed in prepared terms.

Then the hypothesis is tested. Then the results are analyzed and finally a theory is expressed

based on the results and the findings. The deductive approach used in this research is

supported by structured methodology to increase the acceptance of this research and to

support the limitations.

3.3 Research Strategy

Research strategy refers to overall placement to the behaviour of business research (Bryman

2007).Quantitative research and qualitative research is the two different research cluster

strategies. These two are different on the basis of measurement, qualification and ontological

& epistemological foundation (Bryman 2007).

Qualitative Research:

This kind of research is conducted where generalization of a theory is emphasized which is

based on research observation. Qualitative research can be considered as the contrast of

quantitative research in most of the every aspect (Bryman 2007).

Quantitative Research:

In case of doing research using deductive approach, quantitative research is conducted. This

is done because in those cases, the objective of the research is to test a hypothesis to decide

whether a theory can be developed. Numbers are of prime concern in case of quantitative

research. The sample size used for quantitative research is very large in number. There is less

probability that the research outcome along with the researched will be biased in case of

quantitative research because statistical concepts and tools are used to conduct research and

measures are taken to increase the confidence on the statistical outcomes.

Justification

16

For doing this research, different kinds of numbers and ratio analysis are conducted.

Analyzing quantitative results and making comparison among them is also conducted, so

quantitative research is made to prepare this article. Based on the research objective,

deductive approach is selected as quantitative research is linked with deductive approach. To

complete this research, quantitative research is conducted and deductive approach is used.

3.4 Data collection Techniques

Primary Vs. Secondary

Data collection is an essential work for research where the researchers collect the data and

process them to turn them into information. Data is collected to find out the answers to the

questions set for the research (Rubin 2010). Data can be collected from primary sources and

secondary sources. Primary sources of data are those where the data collectors are the first

people to generate the data which means that no one ever collected those data from those

sources before. Secondary sources of data are those where the data collected by others are

provided. To conduct this research, primary data are collected from the customers of ABC

SUPERMARKETS after giving them a short briefing on this research. Articles published on

consumer behaviour and consumer behaviour in online business, web published information,

books and journals are used to collect secondary data.

Sampling Techniques

Sampling is very important for research. If proper sampling is not ensured, then the outcome

of the research might not be acceptable. Sample should represent the population. Probability

and non-probability are the two types of techniques for sampling. In case of probabilistic

technique, each element representing the population has equal chance to be selected as a

sample for the research. In case of non-probabilistic technique, such system is not applied.

Rather, personal judgment of the researcher is used to do sampling (Malhotra 2006).

Figure 2: Sampling Technique Classification

17

Non-probabilistic technique will be used in this research for investigation as non-probabilistic

technique is appreciated for giving extended flexibility and freedom to the researchers in

selecting the sample from the population (Parasuraman 1991). Use of professional judgment

while sampling gives better results as the numbers are not always good enough analyse the

whole thing.

Convenience sampling is thought to be one of the right methods for obtaining relevant data

without giving extensive effort. This procedure is conducted by the convenience of the

researcher to shape the basis of the sampling (Sunders 2009). The respondents are selected

based on the logic that they are found conveniently and timely. Samples, available in

researchers convenience, are selected if the qualities of proper sample are met (Malhotra

2006).

The Sample

To conduct this research, a total number of 100 samples are used where population is sixty

three million. The samples are selected in a systematic way so that they can represent the

population with minimum flaw. All samples were given a survey sheet where the research

questions were described. Among the 100 survey sheets, 21 were not used because they were

incomplete. After analyzing the age of the online shoppers of England, the age range of the

sample is set from 18 year to 59 year. As most of the customers of ABC SUPERMARKETS

18

are household customers (Dickson 2004), and their age also varies from 18 to 59, samples

which are collected to represent the target population. In United Kingdome, online shoppers

have become one of the remarkable market segments to be considered by the marketers

(Tong 2009).

Location

To work on the perception of the customers, intercept survey of the shopping centres was

conducted. Three shopping points from Stanford, London and Whitechapel were selected in

this regard. Customers using internet and having online payment access are considered for

this research. Basic criteria of having internet access, age and online shopping practice were

asked first, if the criteria are met, they were given a survey sheet. They were well briefed

about the purpose of the research so that they can answer the questions with accuracy. The

respondents responded to the survey fluently and they didnt do that for any kind of benefit.

Research Instrument

To measure a specific phenomenon, some specific instruments are used which are considered

as the research instrument. Use of paper test, paper survey, and online survey form are

research instruments. To conduct this research, survey is used to measure the impact of

quality of online retailing business and the satisfaction level of the customers of ABC

SUPERMARKETS . A questionnaire was developed to conduct the survey. The wordings of

the questions were revised several times to make sure that those questions communicate the

exact question to the respondents.

3.5 Data Analysis Procedure

Measures

To meet the goals of this research, questionnaire is used to gather the required data. The

questionnaire was developed with the questions about the factors which might be affecting

the level of satisfaction of the people buying online. Questions regarding reliability, privacy,

efficiency, fulfilment and responsiveness were set as a part of measuring the level of

satisfaction of the people shopping online (Sivdas 2010). The level of customer satisfaction

that the customers of ABC SUPERMARKETS are currently enjoying was measured through

the answers of these questions. The literature review was used to develop the initial

questionnaire. It is important to plan and design the questionnaire in a proper manner so that

19

the research objectives are can be met. A questionnaire which is not properly planned can

generate biased and vague information for research work.

3.6 Ethical Consideration

Before providing the questionnaire, the respondents were assured that the information

provided by them will be kept confidential and will only be used for the research purpose.

They will be briefed about the research and the objectives to enable them answer the

questions with confidence. Required initiatives were taken to make sure that the data are not

biased.

3.7 Data Quality

Reliability

Reliability talks about the probability of repetition of findings which is derived from a

research (Bryman 2007). In other words, reliability stands for the consistency of research

findings and the use of the same data collection procedure for analysing the research findings

(Saunders 2009). Another point of reliability is that if the same research procedure is

followed, then the same research outcome will come. If this research is conducted using

different samples but the criteria are the same, then if a research article is written based on

those information, then it will be found that there is no remarkable differences between these

two research works. .

Validity

The validity of a research refers to the similar research problem intended to be measured

(Golafshani 2003). Validity of a research depends of so many factors. Timeliness is very

important as the factors change with time. As the objective of this research is to find out the

relationship between the customer satisfaction and the online retailing service quality in ABC

SUPERMARKETS , the outcomes of this research will be valid if the factors of online

shopping, like the web site, online security system, product delivery system remain the same.

3.8 Limitation

This research is conducted by collecting information directly from the customers to find out

the relationship between the service quality of online retailing business and customer

satisfaction. As no other parties are considered to do this research, the outcome might be

biased to a single party. Only the perception of the customers is focus, but the perception of

20

the management is also very important. The respondents acted voluntarily and there is no

way to judge whether the respondent is giving his true opinion. So there is a problem with the

data collection procedure. Some questionnaires were rejected for lack of information also.

This is tough to work on the factors of humans mind. Customer satisfaction measurement is

not simple.

4 Chapter Four: Results:

This chapter presented results survey using different data analysis tools. Here firstly,

Cronbach Alpha test is conducted to measure the validity of data. Mean is calculated to

measure representative value of each attributes. Pearson correlation is calculated to test

hypothesis and finally regression is run to find out the effect of online service quality

dimensions on customer satisfaction.

4.1 Cronbachs Alpha:

For measuring internal consistency among responses regarding attributes under dimensions,

Cronbachs Alpha test is conducted. Cronbachs Alpha test measures reliability and

consistency of responses under a dimension. In other word, Cronbachs Alpha test measure

the degree of correlation among responses made under a dimension. Alpha score ranges from

0 to 1. High Alpha score represent high internal consistency among responses. As per Garson

(2002), Alpha score of greater than 0.70 represent high internal consistency though consider

0.6 as highly consistent. In this paper Cronbachs Alpha test is conducted for each

dimension. To conduct that test, firstly questions are grouped under a dimension and test is

performed for the whole dimension. Thus Cronbachs Alpha result is found for dimensions of

overall customer satisfaction, efficiency, fulfilment, reliability, privacy and responsiveness.

The result of overall customer satisfaction dimension is .84 which is higher than standard

score of 0.7. So, responses under this dimension are reliable and internally consistent for

further statistical test. The result of efficiency dimension is .81 that is higher than standard


further statistical test. The result of fulfilment dimension is .74 which is higher than standard


further statistical test. The result of reliability dimension is .78 that is higher than standard


further statistical test. The result of privacy dimension is .75 which is higher than standard

21


further statistical test. The result of responsiveness dimension is .79 that is higher than

standard score of 0.7. So, responses under this dimension are reliable and internally

consistent for further statistical test.

Table 4: Cronbachs Alpha (CA) and Mean average

CA* () Mean

Overall Customer Satisfaction .84 5.60

I am satisfied with online shopping experience in

ABC SUPERMARKETS .

5.57

I am satisfied with online services provided by

ABC SUPERMARKETS .

5.58

I am satisfied with online service quality

provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS .

5.65

I am willing to purchase from ABC

SUPERMARKETS online shop in future.

5.59

Efficiency .81 5.62

I can easily find a product in website. 5.67

This is ease to access the website. 5.62

Information is well organized in this website. 5.59

The website is easy to use. 5.61

Fulfilment .74 5.61

ABC SUPERMARKETS keeps promised offer

for the customer.

5.61

ABC SUPERMARKETS is truthful regarding

services.

5.52

ABC SUPERMARKETS provide accuracy of

promises.

5.68

ABC SUPERMARKETS provide quick online

services.

5.63

Reliability .78 5.59

The website is always available to access. 5.58

22

Uploading, runnig and execution of website is

proper.

5.54

ABC SUPERMARKETS provides accuracy of

online purchasing and billing.

5.63

ABC SUPERMARKETS provides services

consistently.

5.62

Privacy .75 5.62

ABC SUPERMARKETS keeps information of

online purchase behaviour private.

5.64

ABC SUPERMARKETS does not share my

personal information with others.

5.61

ABC SUPERMARKETS protect my credit card

related information.

5.66

Online transaction with ABC SUPERMARKETS

is safe and secure.

5.56

Responsiveness .79 5.57

ABC SUPERMARKETS contacts quickly with

customers.

5.56

ABC SUPERMARKETS is interested in

customer feedback.

5.62

ABC SUPERMARKETS provides quick reply

for query.

5.54

ABC SUPERMARKETS quickly resolves

problems encountered in transactions.

5.58

Mean Average 5.60

4.2 Pearson correlation

Pearson correlation defines fluctuation in one variable is how correlated with fluctuation in

another variable. In other words, person correlation refers to the degree of linear correlation

among variables. Pearson correlation of greater than 0.30 is considered as reasonable

correlation at significance level of less than 0.01 as per Cohens (1988) guideline. Table 4.2

23

indicates that there are high correlations among variables. Hypothesises of this paper is tested

using Pearson correlation by examining correlation among diameters.

Table 5: Pearson Correlations

Correlations

1

1 Overall Customer

Satisfaction

Pearson Correlation 1

Sig. (2-tailed)

N 100

2 Efficiency Pearson Correlation .664

Sig. (2-tailed) .001

N 100

3 Fulfilment Pearson Correlation .676


N 100

4 Reliability Pearson Correlation .698


N 100

5 Privacy Pearson Correlation .629


N 100

6 Responsiveness Pearson Correlation .698


24

N 100

4.3 Hypothesis testing

First hypothesis (H1) of this paper is efficiency has significant positive relationship with

customer satisfaction. To test this hypothesis, overall customer satisfaction dimension is

regarded as proxy for customer satisfaction and it is regarded as dependent variable where

efficiency parameter is considered as independent variable. Result of Pearson correlation

represents r = .664 at significance level .001 that indicates that efficiency has significant

positive correlation with customer satisfaction. So, null hypothesis of no significant positive

relationship of efficiency variable with customer satisfaction is rejected and alternative

hypothesis is accepted.

Second hypothesis (H2) of this paper is fulfilment has significant positive relationship with



fulfilment parameter is considered as independent variable. Result of Pearson correlation

represents r = .676 at significance level .002 that indicates that fulfilment has significant


relationship of fulfilment variable with customer satisfaction is rejected and alternative


Third hypothesis (H3) of this paper is reliability has significant positive relationship with



reliability parameter is considered as independent variable. Result of Pearson correlation

represents r = .698 at significance level .001 that indicates that reliability has significant


relationship of reliability variable with customer satisfaction is rejected and alternative


Forth hypothesis (H4) of this paper is privacy has significant positive relationship with



privacy parameter is considered as independent variable. Result of Pearson correlation

25

represents r = .629 at significance level .001 that indicates that privacy has significant


relationship of privacy variable with customer satisfaction is rejected and alternative


Fifth hypothesis (H5) of this paper is responsiveness has significant positive relationship with



responsiveness parameter is considered as independent variable. Result of Pearson correlation

represents r = .698 at significance level .002 that indicates that responsiveness has significant


relationship of responsiveness variable with customer satisfaction is rejected and alternative


4.4 Regression Analysis:

Regression is run to measure the impact of independent variable on dependent variable. Here

regression analysis is conducted to measure the impact of online service quality of ABC

SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction. Responses under overall customer satisfaction

are considered as proxy for customers satisfaction which is regarded as dependent variable.

Responses are grouped under different dimensions (efficiency, fulfilment, reliability, privacy

and responsiveness) of online service quality in ABC SUPERMARKETS are considered as

independent variables. The result of regression test is as follows;

Table 6: Model summary for regression between overall customer satisfaction and

independent variables

Model Summary

Model R R Square

Adjusted R

Square

Std. Error of

the Estimate

Durbin-

Watson

1 .652a .800 .629 .16817 1.184

Adjusted R Square (R2) measures fitness of a model. It indicates how much change in

dependent variable can be explained by independent variables. The result of R2

is .629 that

indicates that 62.9% change in overall customer satisfaction can be explained by dependent

variables.

26

Table 7: Regression results for impact of online customer service quality on customer

satisfaction

Dependent Variable: Overall Customer Satisfaction

Model

Unstandardized

Coefficients

t Sig. B Std. Error

(Constant) .000 .004 -.133 .895

Efficiency .308 .005 55.895 .000

Fulfillment .339 .002 14.664 .000

Reliability .315 .003 27.776 .000

Privacy .303 .003 102.137 .000

Responsiveness .344 .003 28.883 .000

Coefficient of efficiency dimension is .308 at significance level bellow .01 that indicates that

1% improve in efficiency of online service quality can result in .308% change in overall

customer satisfaction. Coefficient of fulfilment dimension is .339 at significance level bellow

.01 which implies that 1% improve in fulfilment of online service quality can result in .308%

change in overall customer satisfaction. Coefficient of reliability dimension is .315 at

significance level bellow .01 which depicts that 1% improve in reliability of online service

quality can result in .308% change in overall customer satisfaction. Coefficient of privacy

dimension is .303 at significance level bellow .01 that indicates that 1% improve in privacy

of online service quality can result in .308% change in overall customer satisfaction.

Coefficient of responsiveness dimension is .344 at significance level bellow .01 which means

that 1% improve in responsiveness of online service quality can result in .308% change in

overall customer satisfaction.

27

5 Chapter Five: Analysis and interpretation

This chapter will represent the findings of results analysed in the previous chapters. The aim

of the study is to find out the impact of online service quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on

customer satisfaction. For measure service quality five online service quality dimensions

(efficiency, fulfilment, reliability, privacy, responsiveness) are selected from E-SERVQUAL

model and single dimension is designed naming Overall customer Satisfaction to measure

customer point of view regarding satisfaction towards online service quality proved by ABC

SUPERMARKETS . Survey is conducted on customers of ABC SUPERMARKETS and

different statistical test is conducted to reach a meaningful conclusion.

Efficiency refers to the ability to easily find a product in a website, ease of access to website,

organisation of information, and ease of using a website. It also incorporates to the ease of

searching contents, downloading and navigation. Customer perception regarding efficiency

attribute of online service quality provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS is collected through

survey and tested. This is found that all responses replied by customers about efficiency

attributes of online service quality are internally consistent and reliable as per Cronbachs

Alpha test result. Mean average score is calculated to find out the representative value of all

responses made by customers under efficacy dimension and found that mean average score is

5.62 that can replaced with all responses under this dimension. This is hypothesised that

efficiency has significant positive correlation with customer satisfaction. This is found that

efficiency has significant positive correlation with customer satisfaction. Regression is run to

find out the impact of efficiency of online service of quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on

customer satisfaction. This is found that 1% improve in efficiency of online service quality

offered by ABC SUPERMARKETS can result in .308% improve in overall customer

satisfaction.

Fulfilment defines as accuracy of promises made on website such as timely delivery and

having products in stock, truthfulness regarding services, keeping promised offer for the

customers and providing quick online services. Customer reaction about fulfilment dimension

of online service quality provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS is collected. This is found

that all responses replied by customers about fulfilment attributes of online service quality are

internally consistent and reliable as per Cronbachs Alpha test result. Mean average score is

calculated to find out the representative value of all responses made by customers under

fulfilment dimension and found that mean average score is 5.61 that can replaced with all

responses under this dimension. This is hypothesised that fulfilment has significant positive

correlation with customer satisfaction. This is found that fulfilment has significant positive

correlation with customer satisfaction. Regression is run to find out the impact of fulfilment

of online service of quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction. This is

found that 1% improve in fulfilment of online service quality offered by ABC

SUPERMARKETS can result in .339% improve in overall customer satisfaction.

Reliability indicates the technical functioning quality of a website such as availability to

access, accuracy in purchasing and billing, consistency of providing services and proper

28

uploading, running and execution. Customer view about reliability dimension of online

service quality provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS is collected. This is found that all

responses replied by customers about reliability attributes of online service quality are



reliability dimension and found that mean average score is 5.59 that can replaced with all

responses under this dimension. This is hypothesised that reliability has significant positive

correlation with customer satisfaction. This is found that reliability has significant positive

correlation with customer satisfaction. Regression is run to find out the impact of reliability

of online service of quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction. This is

found that 1% improve in reliability of online service quality offered by ABC


Privacy includes keeping information of customer private, not sharing personal information

of customer with third party, protecting credit card related information and ensuring

transaction with safety and security. A survey is conducted to gather customer opinion pricy

dimension of online service quality provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS . This is found that

all responses replied by customers about privacy attributes of online service quality are



privacy dimension and found that mean average score is 5.62 that can replaced with all

responses under this dimension. This is hypothesised that privacy has significant positive

correlation with customer satisfaction. This is found that privacy has significant positive

correlation with customer satisfaction. Regression is run to find out the impact of privacy

efficiency of online service of quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction.

This is found that 1% improve in privacy of online service quality offered by ABC


Responsiveness is the ability of online service provider to appropriate inform quickly to

customers, resolving problem encountered by customers, being interested in customer

feedback, providing quick reply for information, and providing prompt service. Customer

responses are collected about responsiveness attribute of online service quality provided by

ABC SUPERMARKETS . This is found that all responses replied by customers about

responsiveness attributes of online service quality are internally consistent and reliable as per

Cronbachs Alpha test result. Mean average score is calculated to find out the representative

value of all responses made by customers under responsiveness dimension and found that

mean average score is 5.57 that can replaced with all responses under this dimension. This is

hypothesised that responsiveness has significant positive correlation with customer

satisfaction. This is found that responsiveness has significant positive correlation with

customer satisfaction. Regression is run to find out the impact of responsiveness of online

service of quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction. This is found that

1% improve in responsiveness of online service quality offered by ABC SUPERMARKETS

can result in .344% improve in overall customer satisfaction.

29

Finally it can be said that efficiency, fulfilment, reliability, privacy responsiveness parameters

of online service quality has significant positive correlation with customers satisfaction.

Regression result shows that online service quality has significant positive impact on

customer satisfaction.

30

6 Chapter six: Conclusion, recommendation and further research scope

6.1 Conclusion:

The main research question of this paper is to find out the impact of online service quality of

ABC SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction. To answer this research question,

researcher reviewed conceptual framework comprising of five independent variables such as

efficiency, fulfilment, privacy, reliability and responsiveness. Researcher intended to measure

impact of independent variables on dependent variable of customer satisfaction. A

questionnaire survey is conducted on 100 customers of ABC SUPERMARKETS and

responses are categorized under different variables. Multiple correlations are conducted

among independent variables of efficiency, fulfilment, privacy, reliability, responsiveness

and dependent variable of customer satisfaction to find out the relationship among them. This

is found that efficiency, fulfilment, privacy, reliability and responsiveness have significant

positive relationship with customer satisfaction. Multiple regressions are run to find out the

impact of five parameters (efficiency, fulfilment, privacy, reliability, and responsiveness) of

online service quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction. The regression

findings supports that improve in online service quality will improve customer satisfaction

proportionately. Hence it is likely to increase sales of ABC SUPERMARKETS as satisfied

customer will made repeat purchase online.

Moreover, the regression result also strongly supports the importance of considering the five

independent variables which has influenced customers to purchase online. In general, the

result supports the theoretical norms, the conceptual model, and the article review of previous

research. Finally, all evidences of the findings show that the independent variable of e-service

quality is the most significant factor which has affects upon the customers satisfaction and online purchasing. The purpose of this study is to use and refine E-SERVQUAL model in

order to find out the influential factors of online purchasing. Hence, todays each and every kind of service oriented industry has a prime concern upon customer satisfaction. Online

shopping is not outside this concern. Major factors in findings section are also responsible for

the satisfaction regarding e-service quality. So, these are the influential factors of customers satisfaction and their purchasing decision online.

6.2 Recommendation

In this study, the findings section contains some results. The following recommendations will

be helpful for the managerial implications of the e-retailers:

The e-retailers have to develop their website with the considerations of the given results.

Websites should be well coordinated and that will help customers to make purchase decisions smoothly.

Managers have to be more careful about prompt delivery of goods or services to the customer.

In case of taking purchase online decisions, privacy policy plays a vital factor role on the basis of customer view point. For this reason, managers should maintain an

effective privacy policy regarding customers personal information.

31

It is suggested that, managers should establish a good communication with the customers so that they can easily get contacted with e-retailers to get any kind of

necessary information.

6.3 Scope of further research:

As mentioned before, data collection is done through using non-profitability sampling

method in the six stores of ABC SUPERMARKETS Whitechapel and Stratford, London.

Therefore, customers attitude and behaviour from those two districts presented through this

paper that may not represent UKs general online market, precisely. UK is a very large

country where different regions and different cities where customer psychology differs by

cultures, behaviours and attitudes. More participants from different towns should be taken in

next research to represent result more generally.

Again, due to lack of time for data collection, only 100 participants have been interviewed.

As a result, more time should be spent in further research to investigate more sample or

participants.

This paper reveals the impact of online service quality on customer satisfaction. Quality

online serve only improve customer satisfaction but also enhance brand image, brand equity,

brand loyalty and profitability. Further research can be done to reveal the impact of online

serve quality on customer brand image, brand equity, brand loyalty, profitability etc.

32

7 References:

Anderson, E.W. and Sullivan, M.W. 1993. The antecedents and Consequences of Customer

Satisfaction for Firms, Marketing service, Vol-12(no.2):125-43

Babakus, E. and Boller, G.W. 2012. An empirical assessment of the SERVQUAL scale,

Journal of Business Research, Vol. 24, pp. 253-68

Bryman, A. & Bell, E. 2007.Business Research Methods.2nd edition. New York, USA:

Oxford University Press.

Churchill, G.A. and Surprenant, C. 2012.An investigation into the determinants of customer

satisfaction, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 19, pp. 491-504.

Cohen, J. 1988. Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Science (2nd ed.). Lawrence

Erlbaums Associates: New Jersey.

Cohen, J. 1988. Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Science (2nd ed.). Lawrence

Erlbaums Associates: New Jersey.

Constantinides .2011.Conceptual foundations and marketing issues, Journal of Direct, Data

and Digital Marketing Practice (2011) 9, 231244.

Cox, J., & Dale, B.G. 2012. Service quality and e-commerce: an exploratory analysis,

Managing Service Quality, Vol. 11, No.2, pp. 121-131.

Cristian, V.H. and Iulian, C. 2007.Theoretical Framework for Quality Evaluation of Tourism-

Related Websites Services, EconamyInfomatics, 1-4/2007.

Dale, B.G.2009.,Managing Quality, 13rd ed., Basil Blackwell, Oxford.

Garson, D. (2002). Guide to writing empirical papers, theses and dissertations. CRC Press.

Ghauri, P. and Gronhaug, K. (2005). Research Methods in Business Studies (third

edition). Prentice Hall.

Girish N. P., Rapp, A. 2013.Influence of Electronic Decision Aids on Consumer Shopping in

Online Store, Department of Marketing, School of Business, University of Connecticut.

Golafshani, N. (2003). Understanding reliability and validity in qualitative research.The

Qualitative Report, 8 (4), 597-607.

33

Grnroos, C. 2010. Service Management and Marketing: a customer Relationship

Management Approach, 12nd Ed, England: John Wiley & Sons, ltd.

Jayawardhena, C. 2011. Measurement of service quality in internet banking: the development

of an instrument, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 20, pp. 185-207,(online) Available

at: www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1832998&show... (Accessed: 25th Sep.

2013).

Jessica S. 2013.E-service quality: model of virtual service quality dimensions Managing

Service Quality, Valume 13, Numeber 3, , pp.233-246.

Kaynama, S.A and Black, C.I. 2010. A proposal to assess the service quality of online travel

agencies, an exploratory study, Journal of Professional service marketing, Vol21/1, pp.63-68.

Lamb, Hair, McDAniel, 2009.Marketing, South-Western Cengage Learning, pp 352-355

Mattila, M., Karjaluoto, H. &Pento, T. 2008.Internet adoption factors in Finland, University

of Lyvaeskyla.

Morganosky , M.A., and Cude ., B.J. 2011. Consumer response to online grocery shopping

.International Journal of retail & distribution management, 31(1), 16-29.

Oppenheim C. and Ward L. 2006. Evaluation of web sites for B2C ecommerce, Aslib

Proceedings: New Information Perspectives, 58(3), 237260.

Parasuraman, A.,Zeithaml, V. and Malhorta, A. 2008. E-S-QUAL: a multiple-item scale for

assessing electronic service quality, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 64 No. 1, pp. 12-40

Rowley, J. 2006. An analysis of the eservice literature: Towards a research agenda. Internet

Research, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 339359.

Santos, J. 2009. E-service quality: a model of virtual service quality dimension,Management

Service Quality, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 233-46.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., &Tornhill, A. (2009).Research Methods for Business Students.5th

edition. England: Pearson Education Limited.

Schaupp, L.C. and Belanger, F. 2005.A conjoint analysis of online consumer satisfaction,

Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 95-111.

34

Sivadas, E., Baker-Prewitt, J. (2010), An examination of the relationship between service

quality, customer satisfaction, and store loyalty, International Journal of Retail &

Distribution Management, Vol. 28 No.2, pp.73-82.

Smith and Rupp, 2013.Revolutionizing the voting process through online strategies, Online

Information Review, 31(1), 16-29.

Spreng, R.A., Mackoy, R.D. 2006.An Empirical Examination of a Model of Perceived

Service Quality and Satisfaction.Journal of Retailing 72 (2), 201-14.

Sureshchandar G.S., and R.N. Anantharaman, 2012. The relationship between service quality

and customer satisfaction a factor specific approach; Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 16,

No. 4, pp. 363-379.

The guardian .2011.online security [online] available at:

http://www.theguardian.co.uk[Accessed: 8th September 2013].

Wolfinbarger, M. F. and Mary C. G. 2012..comQ: Dimensionalizing, Measuring and

Predicting Quality of the E-tail Experience, Working Paper No. 02 100, Marketing Science

Institute, Cambridge, MA.

Yang, Z. & Jun, M. 2012. Consumer Perception of E-service Quality: From Internet

Purchaser and Non-purchaser Perspectives,Journal of Business Strategies, 19, 1, 19-41.

Yang, Z. (2012) Customer perceptions of service quality in internet-based electronic

commerce. Proceedings of the 30th EMAC Conference, Bergen, pp. 8-11. , (online) Available

at: www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1464118&show... (Accessed: 25th Aug.

2013).

Zeithaml, V. 2000. Service quality, profitability, and the economic worth of customers: what

we know and what we need to learn, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 28

No. 1, pp. 67-85.

Zeithaml, V., Parasuraman, A. and Malhotra, A. 2002. Service Quality Delivery Through

Websites: A Critical Review of Extant Knowledge, Journal of the Academy of Marketing

Science. 30(4): 362-375.

35

Appendix 1: Questionna

marketing dissertation

Documents

quality eservice

eservice quality factors

customer satisfaction

online services

online retailer

research dissertations

case study of abc supermarkets

online retail delivery