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ABSTRACT

Creating business over the Internet seems relatively easy to some companies. However, to ensure flawlessintegration of processing between consumers and the business is not merely an easy task to handle. If anonline company is to be successful, all aspects of its service must be closely integrated in terms of systems,networks, procurement, shipping and consumer support. Since service quality is increasingly recognised as animportant aspect of electronic commerce, many practitioners and academicians focused on how to improveonline services to attract potential consumers and on how to retain current consumers. Most organisationshave encountered problems and challenges in furnishing Internet service quality. This paper presents empiricalfindings on consumers’ and organisations’ perceptions of Internet service quality with respect to transportationservice companies in Malaysia. The result of the empirical study indicated that reliability was the most importantdeterminant to consumers and appearance is the most important determinant to the organisations. Thefindings and the result of the empirical study would be used to provide guidelines and references for e-retailerson online retail service quality.

Keywords: e-Service quality, e-Service quality perceptions, service quality guidelines

Noor Habibah Arshadhabibah@tmsk.uitm.edu.my

Tel: 603-5521124

Fauziah Ahmadfauziah@tmsk.uitm.edu.my

Tel: 603-55211204

Norjansalika Janomnorjan@tmsk.uitm.edu.my

Tel: 603-55211204

Faculty of Information Technology & Quantitative SciencesUniversity of Technology MARA (UiTM)40450 Shah Alam, SelangorFax:6 03-55435501

EMPIRICAL STUDY ON ELECTRONIC SERVICE QUALITY

1. INTRODUCTION

e-Business or e-Enterprise is the term used to define abusiness that has a virtual presence or Web site on theInternet either to promote brand awareness or enablee-Commerce [2]. Meanwhile, electronic commerce refersgenerally to al l forms of transactions relating tocommercial activities, including both organisations andindividuals that are based on the processing andtransmission of digitized data.

Since service quality is increasingly recognised as animportant aspect of electronic commerce, manypractitioners and academicians have focused on howto improve online services to attract potentialconsumers and on how to retain current consumers.Most organisations have encountered problems andchallenges in furnishing Internet service quality

In Malaysia, Internet retailing is still a new business

area. Not all Malaysians are exposed to the onlinetransaction over the Internet and most often they aresti l l hesitant to make on-l ine purchasing due toproblems associated with security, reliability, threat offraud, and etc. Information search and purchasing onthe Internet also require a certain level of computerliteracy which is not required in a traditional retailspace. Without this level of technical literacy, consumerscan become frustrated and purchases maybe aborted[9].

The purpose of the study is to determine consumers’and organisations’ perceptions on the Internet servicequality of online ticketing in Malaysia’s bus and traintransportations. This study used the elevendimensions of perception proposed by Santos [13]which are: reliability, security, efficiency, ease of use,information, appearance, linkage, structure and layout,

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support, communication and incentive to explore thereliability of each dimension with the respondentsperception. This research will find out which area ofInternet Service Quality dimensions match with bothof these groups perception. The findings and the resultof the empirical study could be used to provideguidelines and references for e-retailers on online retailservice quality.

2. ON-LINE TICKETING IN MALAYSIA’STRAIN AND BUS WEBSITES

Train and bus ser vices have been operating andbecame the main public transportation in Malaysiadecades ago. The mode of payment for ticket purchasehas always been cash and direct at the counter. Onlylately, when the Internet has penetrated into mostbusinesses activities, this ticket transaction process hasalso been modified. Currently, most of the bus and trainoperators have websites, establishing themselves overthe Internet and, at the same time, offering informationto the customers. They are aware that their existencein the Internet is crucial since most consumers are on-line now.

Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) is the only railwayoperator in Malaysia, which offers passengers freight,courier, property rental, lease, and container haulageservices. For passengers, KTMB offer long and shortdistance travel using trains and commuter services.KTMB, even though wholly owned by the governmentof Malaysia, is run as a private sector organisation whichis responsible for its own revenue and operations.Operation for more than 120 years, KTMB (previouslyknown as Malayan Railway Administration) trains hasundergone various changes from first steam locomotivein 1885 to diesel engines in 1958 and now electrifiedrail system in 1995. Not only changes to the train andlocomotives, but the services provided have alsomatured through time, from manual ticketing toe-Ticketing system [7].

In order to serve customers better, KTMB has launchede-Ticket system in October 2001 for the first phase,which was developed by TATA Consultant from India.Then, in November 2004, the second phase of e-Ticketwas fully developed by it ’s internal sources [7]. Thissecond phase of e-Ticket is a better implementationthan the first because the focus was towards fulfillingcustomers’ needs and wants. e-Ticket aims at usingthe Internet as another medium for sales andmarketing purposes. The customers choose and paytheir ticket electronically by interacting with the ticketserver of KTMB. Then the tickets are transmitted

electronically where customers have the options ofprinting out the tickets by themselves or have thetickets printed at the counters before departure. Aformal identif ication on ID is necessary whenpassengers board the train.

Meanwhile, bus operators in Malaysia are regulated bythe Ministr y of Transportation and controlled byLembaga Perlesenan Kenderaan Perdagangan (LPKP), anagency in charge of commerce vehicles’ permit. Someof the bus operators (108 companies) are representedby Pan Malaysia Bus Operator Association (PMBOA) [11]and some are represented by Persatuan Pengusaha BasEkspres Melayu. Currently, it is estimated that around150 companies are operating bus transportationservices in Malaysia [10]. Some of the bus operatorshave already adopted IT into their organisations byhaving websites and systems to handle their processesand transactions. Some of them are more advanced byupgrading their transaction systems and enabling on-line ticketing through their websites. Nonetheless, someof them are contented with their present conditions,profiting from conventional ways of selling bus tickets;eliminating the need to venture into new channels ofsales and marketing.

The most experienced and successful companies usingthe Web are beginning to realise that the keydeterminants of success or failure are not merely Webpresence or low price, but instead centre on deliveringelectronic service quality (e-SQ) [14]. The key elementto business achievement is quality (Cox and Dale, 2001).Without the quality management approach thatguarantees quality from its systems, staff and suppliers,a business will not be able to deliver the appropriatelevel of service quality to satisfy its consumers [2]. Thus,the reason as to why this research was conducted inorder to gather perceptions of e-Service quality and toimprove the features in the transportation’s websites.

3. INTERNET SERVICE QUALITY

Developed from the Internet marketing and thetraditional service-quality literature, the concept ofinternet service quality in e-Commerce can be definedas the consumers’ overall evaluation and judgment ofthe excellence and quality of e-Service offerings in thevirtual marketplace [14]. Zeithaml et al. [14] uncovered11 dimensions of e-Service quality which were similarto those found in their previous research on servicequality in the pre-Internet age including reliability,responsiveness, access, assurance/trust, security/privacy,and customisation /personalisation. However, some newdimensions related specifically to technology were

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revealed – ease of navigation, flexibility, efficiency, siteaesthetics, and price knowledge. In addition, personalservice was not considered critical in e-service qualityexcept when problems occurred or consumers weremaking complex decisions [9].

Consumers often divide service-quality dimensionsinto various sub-dimensions [1]. Santos [13] proposedthat e-Service quality consists of an incubativedimension and an active dimension. The activedimension and the incubative dimension, each consistsof five or six related overlapping determinants. Theactive dimension can be defined as the good support,fast speed, and attentive maintenance that a Web sitecan provide to its consumers. It consists of reliability,efficiency, support, communications, security, andincentives. The active dimension must be achievedconsistently throughout the period that a Web siteremains active. It can increase consumer retention andencourage positive word-of-mouth referral. While theincubative dimension is defined as the proper designof a Web site, how technology is used to provideconsumers with easy access, understanding andattractions of a Web site. The majority of elements inthe incubative dimension can be developed before aWeb site is launched. It consists of ease of use,appearance, linkage, structure and layout, and content.

The Web’s interactive features, multimedia content, andcapacity for inexpensive customisation haveincreasingly attracted the attention of commercialenterprises [8, 3]. Non-price competitive advantageshave become ever more critical because instant priceand technical comparisons on the Web are essentiallycost-free and feasible for consumers [6]. A sense ofloyalty that comes from an online company offeringbetter service than its competitors is the determiningfactor in consumer loyalty [12]. Therefore, focusing onquality of service is the primary concern of Internet-based e-Commerce [4].

The Internet, if properly utilised, can be a powerful toolto increase overall service offerings and create a higherstandard in various industries [5]. e-Service quality cannot only offer online commercial companiescompetitive advantages in the market place, but alsoinvolve consumers in the product-development process,through quick feedback and enhanced consumerrelationships.

This research works to evaluate the perceptions ofconsumers and transportation organisation based onthe eleven dimensions that was proposed by JessicaSantos to represent the overall quality of Internet retailservice which are reliability, security, efficiency, ease of

use, information, appearance, linkage, support, structureand layout, communication and incentives.

4. RESEARCH MODEL

Based on Jessica Santos’ model of e-service quality,research model in Figure 1 was proposed. In this study,all the eleven dimensions were proposed as the factorsin determining Internet Service Quality in onlinetransportations ticketing.

In l ine with this research f inding, the fol lowinghypotheses were proposed:

H1: The consumers’ perceptions on reliability ofe-Service quality is positive

H2: The consumers’ perceptions on security ofe-Service quality is positive

H3: The consumers’ perceptions on efficiency ofe-Service quality is positive

H4: The consumers’ perceptions on ease of useof e-Service quality is positive

H5: The consumers’ perceptions on informationof e-Service quality is positive

H6: The consumers’ perceptions on appearanceof e-Service quality is positive

H7: The consumers’ perceptions on linkage ofe-Service quality is positive

H8: The consumers’ perceptions on structure andlayout of e-Service quality is positive

H9: The consumers’ perceptions on support ofe-Service quality is positive

H10: The consumers’ perceptions on communicationof e-Service quality is positive

H11: The consumers’ perceptions on incentive ofe-Service quality is positive

H12: The organisations’ perceptions on reliabilityof e-Service quality is positive

H13: The organisations’ perceptions on securityof e-Service quality is positive

H14: The organisations’ perceptions on efficiencyof e-Service quality is positive

H15: The organisations’ perceptions on ease of useof e-Service quality is positive

H16: The organisations’ perceptions on informationof e-Service quality is positive

H17: The organisations’ perceptions on appearanceof e-Service quality is positive

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H18: The organisations’ perceptions on linkage ofe-Service quality is positive

H19: The organisations’ perceptions on structureand layout of e-Service quality is positive

H20: The organisations’ perceptions on supportof e-Service quality is positive

H21: The organisations’ perceptions on communicationof e-Service quality is positive

H22: The organisations’ perceptions on incentiveof e-Service quality is positive

5. RESEARCH APPROACH

The main objective of the questionnaire survey was toelicit responses from consumers and organisations onthe online ticketing services. The research was addressed

using a survey design, which was a relatively inexpensiveand effective way of obtaining information on a largenumber of cases. Due to resource constraints, a convenientsampling approach was adopted, whereby the samplecomprised of consumers who used bus and traintransportation services. These respondents were laterdivided into two groups: consumer and organisation. 240questionnaires were distributed among transportation’sconsumers in the Klang Valley. 30 questionnaires weredistributed to on-line ticketing retailers, 10 questionnairesto employees of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB)and another 20 to on-line ticketing bus organisations. Inaddition, relevant secondary data was gathered to furtherfacilitate and validate responses generated from thequestionnaires.

Figure 1: Research Model

RELIABILITY

SECURITY

EFFICIENCY

EASE OF USE

INFORMATION

APPEARANCE

LINKAGE

STRUCTUREAND LAYOUT

SUPPORT

COMMUNICATION

INCENTIVE

CONSUMERS ORGANISATION

H1

H2

H3

H4

H5

H6

H7

H8

H9

H10

H11

H12

H13

H14

H15

H16

H17

H18

H19

H20

H21

H22

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6. SURVEY’S RESULTS AND FINDINGS

The survey questionnaire captured background data of respondents profile as well as their on-line buying experience.This section also reports the results of consumers’ and organisations’ perceptions.

6.1 Respondents’ ProfileFrom the total of 250 respondents, 40% were online consumers and the remaining 60% represented non-onlineconsumers. Since this research focused on online consumers perception of web-based service quality, only responsesfrom the 100 respondents were utilised for the analysis of this study. Basically, both genders were equally represented inthis research with Male 51% and Female 49%. The majority of the respondents were in the age group of 18 to 25 (51%). Mostof the respondents were bachelor’s degree holders (49%) and either working in private sector (34%) or students (34%). Ofall the online consumers, the majority (84%) of them have occasional buying experience of less than four times.

6.2 Cronbach’s alpha Test of ReliabilityCronbach’s Alpha Test was conducted to evaluate both consumers and organisations’ perception of Internet service qualityin order to determine the reliability of each of the eleven determinants for both groups. The statements tested will beconsidered as reliable and consistent if the value of Cronbach’s Alpha is more than 0.7.

Table 1 illustrates that all determinants for consumer perceptions were reliable and consistent except communication,0.584, and linkage, 0.687. The reliability test on support was considered the most reliable and consistent followed byinformation, appearance, reliability, security, incentives, ease of use, efficiency and lastly, structure and layout. It was foundthat e-Ticketing web sites provide a lot of different supports, for example user-friendly guidelines pages and frequently askquestions (FAQs) services. Malaysian consumers felt that it was important for the retailers to provide them with a lot ofsupport, since transaction will not involve any face-to-face interaction. The dimension linkage was rated lowest as notreliable and consistent. Linkage refers to how the link between websites affect the overall service quality via the Internet.Consumers felt that too much linkage may mess up the content and thus lead to complicated services. Most of thempreferred simple and fast services.

Table 1: Cronbach’s Alpha Test of Reliability for Consumers

Item Cronbach’s Alpha Result

Appearance 0.854 Reliable and consistentCommunication 0.584 Not Reliable and consistentEase of Use 0.818 Reliable and consistentEfficiency 0.762 Reliable and consistentIncentives 0.819 Reliable and consistentInformation 0.866 Reliable and consistentLinkage 0.687 Not Reliable and consistentReliability 0.848 Reliable and consistentSecurity 0.835 Reliable and consistentStructure and Layout 0.715 Reliable and consistentSupport 0.872 Reliable and consistent

*alpha > 0.7 shows that the variable measurement is consistent and reliable

Table 2 summarises reliability tests of the eleven determinants for organisations. It showed that all determinantswere found to be reliable and consistent except for incentive. One of the reasons to give incentive is to raise loyaltyamong consumers. Bus and train transportations e-Ticketing can be considered as micropayment transactions,which involve small amount of money. Thus, to an organisation, this feature might not need be emphasised to gainconsumer loyalty.

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Table 2: Cronbach’s Alpha Test of Reliability for Organisations

Item Cronbach’s Alpha Result

Appearance 0.888 Reliable and ConsistentCommunication 0.836 Reliable and ConsistentEase of Use 0.907 Reliable and ConsistentEfficiency 0.774 Reliable and ConsistentIncentives 0.559 Not reliable and ConsistentInformation 0.868 Reliable and ConsistentLinkage 0.851 Reliable and ConsistentReliability 0.869 Reliable and ConsistentSecurity 0.765 Reliable and ConsistentStructure and Layout 0.788 Reliable and ConsistentSupport 0.755 Reliable and Consistent

*alpha > 0.7 shows that the variable measurement is consistent and reliable

6.3 Results of Hypotheses TestingCorrelations Coefficient Test was conducted to identify consumers’ and organisations’ perception with the elevendeterminants on the quality of Internet service quality. Results of the correlation coefficient test conducted forconsumers, as in Table 3, shows that there was a statistically significant positive relationship between consumers’perception with all determinants of e-Service quality perceptions being studied in this research.

Therefore, hypotheses 1 to 11 are accepted. Briefly, in term of consumers’ perception, the survey results indicatedthat reliability (0.794) was the most important determinants compared to the other ten. Consumers felt that thepromise of accurate and consistent services, including frequency of updating the web sites, prompt reply toconsumer enquiries, and accuracy of online purchasing and billing were the most important. Hence, it is importantfor the companies to maintain their e-Commerce sites and make it easy for consumers to enquire about merchandise,check the status of their orders, and file complaints or send compliments.

Table 3: Consumers Perception with e-Service Quality

Variables Value P-Value

H1: There is a positive relationship between consumers perception and reliability 0.794(**) 0.000H2: There is a positive relationship between consumers perception and security 0.687(**) 0.000H3: There is a positive relationship between consumers perception and efficiency 0.638(**) 0.000H4: There is a positive relationship between consumers perception and ease of use 0.791(**) 0.000H5: There is a positive relationship between consumers perception and information 0.774(**) 0.000H6: There is a positive relationship between consumers perception and appearance 0.776(**) 0.000H7: There is a positive relationship between consumers perception and linkage 0.582(**) 0.000H8: There is a positive relationship between consumers perception and structure 0.662(**) 0.000

and layoutH9: There is a positive relationship between consumers perception and support 0.753(**) 0.000H10: There is a positive relationship between consumers perception and 0.726(**) 0.000

communicationH11: There is a positive relationship between consumers perception and incentives 0.441(**) 0.000

Note ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level

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Ease of use (0.791) was the second most important determinant of e-service quality rated by consumers. There wasa very high demand for a Web site that was easy to find, use and navigate within. Some Web sites offer the optionof internal search, which allows consumers to search within the site by product, feature or keyword. This attributewas highly rated – a finding that has also been noted by other researchers.

Appearance (0.776) was also considered to be an important element of online service quality. Web users commentedpositively on pleasant eye-catching colours, complementary colours, simple appealing colours, and colours that werecoordinated with the logo or brand image of the product. In contrast, they were annoyed by too many or too few colours,poorly matched colours, dark and boring colours. Another important factor is the size of a web page. Web users preferredthe size of web page that can fit into one screen. Oversized pages and graphics, or having to scroll to view the wholepage, were not appealing to Web users.

Linkage (0.582) was not considered as an important determinant because consumers felt that too much linkage maymess up the content and thus led to confusing and complicated services. It was also not necessary to offer incentiveto consumers in order to encourage them to use online ticketing because it will not increase consumer retention.Consumers will buy ticket transportation based on their needs to reach certain destinations. To them, online tickettransportation is not a regular buying activity. Online ticket is sought for its convenience otherwise they would goto the traditional ticket counter. This may be the reason why incentive was rated the lowest of all the determinants.

Table 4 : Organisations’ Perception With e-Service Quality

Variables Value P-Value

H12: There is a positive relationship between organisations’ perception and reliability 0.692(**) 0.000H13: There is a positive relationship between organisations’ perception and security 0.757(**) 0.000H14: There is a positive relationship between organisations’ perception and efficiency 0.809(**) 0.000H15: There is a positive relationship between organisations’ perception and ease of use 0.852(**) 0.000H16: There is a positive relationship between organisations’ perception and information 0.853(**) 0.000H17: There is a positive relationship between organisations’ perception and appearance 0.879(**) 0.000H18: There is a positive relationship between organisations’ perception and linkage 0.771(**) 0.000H19: There is a positive relationship between organisations’ perception and structure 0.775(**) 0.000 and layoutH20: There is a positive relationship between organisations’ perception and support 0.649(**) 0.000H21: There is a positive relationship between organisations’ perception and 0.839(**) 0.000 communicationH22: There is a positive relationship between organisations’ perception and incentives 0.596(**) 0.001

Note ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level

Table 4 tabulates the results of correlation coefficient test for the organisations. It shows that all eleven determinantsof e-Service quality measuring from organisations perspectives were significant. Therefore, H12 to H22 were allaccepted. Briefly, in terms of organisations’ perception, the survey results indicate that appearance (0.879) was themost important dimension among the other eleven. When designing a web page, organisations paid muchattention on appearance that can attract Web surfers for initial and repeat visits. It is important for Web sitedesigners to design a page by using sound and video files, coloured backgrounds and Java applets. Manyorganisations also focus on the functional presentation of content in preference to novelty and visual appeal.

From the organisations’ perspectives, Information (0.853) quantity and credibility were also considered to be animportant element of online ticket service quality. The ability to access relevant information in a purchase situation,and the degree on which consumers trust the information provided in the Web site are important when designinga web page. Providing relevant information can help retailers avoid concerns or fears that consumers may haveabout a particular product, or about the e-Retailer. Retailers are aware that consumers will want full access toinformation that will allow them to make competent and informed decisions about ticket booking and ticketpurchasing.

Organisations rated ease of use (0.852) web site as the third important determinant. A retailer having a Web sitethat is easy to use and facilitates the locating of merchandise is a dimension that is different and more specific

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than service quality dimensions previously identifiedfor traditional retail outlets. In addition, consideringthe level of ICT literacy among Malaysians, retailersthink that it is important to offer web sites which iseasy to use. This is because, in comparing the advanceduses of information and communication technologiesin the other developed countries, e-Commerce is stillconsidered new technology in Malaysia. However,organisations ranked support (0.649) among the lastdeterminant in evaluating the online service quality.Support is constituted by the technical help, userguideline, and personal advice to consumers from aWeb site. Online retailers might feel that, since theyalready emphasised on web sites which is easy to useand navigate within, it is not important to offer supportfeatures.

It should be noted that both consumers and organisationsagreed that appearance and ease of use are among the mostimportant determinants that should be used whenmeasuring the quality of internet services. Besides that,they also concurred that incentive was the least importantdeterminant to offer in online ticketing. However, therewere some deviations between the result of consumer’sperception and organisation’s perception on reliability andsupport determinants. Based on the consumer’s perspective,they ranked reliability as the highest importantdeterminant, in contrast organisation ranked it as the 9th

place. While for support determinants, consumers ranked itat the fifth important factor that needed to be focussedupon when measuring service quality, but organisationranked it as the second last determinants.

It is interesting to note that for organisations andconsumers, security was seen as not that important whereit was ranked eight and seven places respectively. It mayseemed that to organisations, offering protection in theform of user names, passwords, and credit card guaranteeswere adequate security measures and consumers seemedconfident in those security measures.

Through the findings, it is important for the retailers toactually take actions and study their current practices andstrategies of their online e-Ticketing services. It is necessaryfor them to actually examine all the eleven determinants,so they can develop a better understanding of theirconsumers’ needs.

7. CONCLUSIONS

Results in this study provide insights on theperceptions of consumers and organisations regardingInternet service quality. Consumers have ratedReliability as the most important feature to measurequality of online services. Meanwhile, organisations

have rated Appearance be an important element ofonline service quality where appearance means theproper use of colour, graphics, images, and animations,together with the appropriate size of the Web pages.

Taking this into consideration, organisations shouldtake a few initiatives to increase reliability rating oftheir websites, for example, providing organisation’se-mail address for correspondence, allowing consumersto view or track orders’ status, enabling customisation,and assuring of system up time and updates.Nevertheless, even though Reliability is the mostimportant determinant, organisations cannot ignorethe other dimensions. All the dimensions need to beconsidered and maintained throughout the entireperiod of active e-Commerce on the website.

The determination of e-CRM factors wil l al lowcompanies to focus on developing their web site ofthose aspects that are related to consumer satisfaction.This could mean reduced costs, since elements thatare not relevant need not be included anymore. Thus,in developing the benchmark of e-CRM features forMalaysia online ticketing web site, is not only basedon the popularity of the features, but also the suitabilityand acceptance of the technology by retailers andconsumers.

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