Evaluating the Role of Electronic Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction on Consumer's Purchase Intentions

The rapid expansion of information and communication technologies in daily business activities is the most important long-term trend in the business world. Accordingly, large growth potential is forecasted especially for the provision of products and services via the Internet. If and how this potential can be exploited depends largely on an Internet retailer’s ability to meet customers’ expectations in the virtual shopping environment. Evidence exists that service quality delivery through websites is an essential strategy to success. To deliver superior service quality, managers of companies with web presences must first understand how customers perceive and evaluate online customer service. The goal of this article is to evaluate the role of e-service quality, overall service quality, and customer satisfaction on Iranian consumers’ purchase intentions regarding online shopping. Data from a survey of 229 online consumers were used to test the research model. The results show that responsiveness and security/privacy affect overall service quality and customer satisfaction. Site aesthetics has a direct impact on overall service quality, but assurance/trust, reliability and personalization were not significantly related to overall service quality or customer satisfaction. The results also indicate that overall service quality has a direct and positive impact on customer satisfaction and that customer satisfaction has a direct impact on consumers’ purchase intentions.