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E-Service Quality Essay

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The main objectives of this report were to:

1. Evaluate and compare the e-service quality of five websites in the utilities sector on the dimensions of control, two-way communication and responsiveness on the basis of a given questionnaire. The companies examined were British Gas, Scottish Power, Scottish Hydro Electric, EDF Energy and E.ON Energy.

2. Critique the content of the questionnaire, developing an argument for why the questionnaire is comprehensive, or how it can be improved by deleting and/or adding dimensions to assess e-service quality.

To begin addressing these objectives, secondary research was carried out in order to gain a sound understanding of e-service quality concept and its …show more content…

References...................................................................................................................10
7. Appendices..................................................................................................................12

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Definition of e-Service Quality
E-service quality (e-SQ) is a study of the quality of service received over the internet. This can be defined as the extent to which a website facilitates efficient and effective shopping, purchasing and delivery (Zeithaml et al., 2000).
Over the next four years, it is estimated that the number of online buyers in the UK will rise by over half of the UK’s current population, from 26.9 million to 31.8 million (marketresearch.com). Clearly, this is a very large and profitable market, with businesses securing increasing numbers of sales online each year (British Retail Consortium). Higher website quality leads to higher profitability levels (Vanitha et al, 1999), therefore having an efficient and effective website is crucial for obtaining sales, and e-SQ is a major factor in securing customer loyalty (Cristobal et al, 2007).

Some academic researchers have created comprehensive scales to measure e-SQ. Since SERVQUAL is the definitive measurement of service quality (Wilson et al, 2008), it stands to reason that many scales measuring e-SQ would be based

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