Role of E-Service Quality (E-SQ) on Customers’ Online Buying Intention: An Extended Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract

With rapid growth in the field of communication, technology, and higher internet penetration, extensive usage of electronic services has become inevitable. Therefore, electronic services (e-services) have become very popular and one of the key determinants contributing toward e-business success. Consequently, it becomes essential to measure and evaluate customers’ perceived E-Service Quality, which affects their purchase intention to buy online. Therefore, the current study examines the effect of customers’ perceived E-SQ on their online purchase intention, as an extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior. The study included 449 samples of online buyers from Rajasthan state of India. To test reliability and validate the constructs of the measurement model, Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used using SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 24.0 software. Further, Structural Equation Modelling was used to validate and test empirically the causal relations between the constructs of the measurement model. The results revealed that judgments related to online websites have a strong positive relationship with the key features of E-SQ (e.g., reliability, responsiveness, personalisation, convenience, trust, and ease of navigation). Further, in addition to this, results also indicate that Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) can completely predict and explain the determinants of E-SQ, influencing customers’ online purchase intention. Therefore, this study helps in providing scale measurement of online purchase websites to identify their E-SQ strengths and weaknesses, which can help them improve upon their weaknesses and try serving their customers better in the electronic marketplace.

Keywords

• Electronic service quality (E-SQ)
• online buying
• purchase intention (PI)
• theory of planned behavior (TPB)