國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
1
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 The implications of e-service
Due to the rapid advancement of information and communication technologies, businesses have either created new Internet-based services or expanded their existing services to include an Internet platform. These things have resulted in stronger customer relationships. There are various types of e-services delivered through established and emerging e-platforms such as content sharing, problem solving, information provision, trading, social networking, entertainment, and other applications. These e-services have unique features that distinguish them from the services provided by general onsite establishments. First, general services are delivered by people (employees) to people (customers), whereas e-services are delivered by platforms (e-platforms) to people (customers). This digitized interface can simultaneously provide services anytime, anywhere to anyone for a marginal cost.
Unlike commodity selling, in which money is made through cost reduction, e-service business profits are generated through revenue expansion (Rust et al., 2003), which is based on enhancing services and creating higher customer satisfaction. Various digitized experiences can be created over the Internet to produce different sources of revenue. Customers of e-platforms expect a specific quality of services based on the easy and open access to information that the Web embodies, and they thus experience a variety of results from e-services due to the dynamic extensions in social and mobile technologies.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
2
1.2 The importance of service quality
Although e-services are significantly different from general services, e-service providers must still pay attention to service quality, which is the degree of correlation between the service that customers receive and their expectations for those services (Lewis and Booms, 1983; Smith and Houston, 1982). According to Parasurnan et al.
(1985), service deviation includes the following gaps or discrepancies between (1) customers’ expectations and management’s perceptions, (2) management’s perceptions and service-quality specifications, (3) service-quality specifications and service delivery, (4) service delivery and external communications, and (5) expected and perceived service. These deviations can influence customer satisfaction and future purchases.
Service deviations can result from numerous scenarios. For example, a business might not have an adequate understanding of its customers and thus offer a service that does not meet its customers’ needs. Likewise, a business might promise more through one of its communication channels, such as advertising, than it can deliver, thus raising its customers’ expectations too high (Parasurnan et al., 1985). Mistakes can also occur during the service delivery process that leaves the customer dissatisfied.
All of these situations can cause service deviations.
Service deviations also exist in e-services. Because e-services lack the element of face-to-face interaction, e-service providers can have a difficult time educating their customers about how to use their e-platform and what e-services they provide.
Furthermore, customers using e-platforms must explore and fulfill the desired e-service by themselves. If the platform lacks clear navigation or intuitive design, the customers’ perception of the e-service’s quality may decrease due to the platform’s
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
3
faults. Therefore, e-service providers must be aware of which areas tend to generate service deviations and then endeavor to make improvements accordingly.
1.3 Customer behavior on e-platforms
Theoretically, dissatisfied customers will leave their current provider and find an alternative, but in practice there are many cases in which customers contemplate e-service deviations but continue patronizing the e-platform. On May 11, 2011, the world online storage provider Dropbox was shown to have misled its customers with a deceptive description in a help article on its Website. Dropbox told its users that the files they uploaded to Dropbox were encryption protected and that even Dropbox employees could not access them. However, an individual working for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revealed that Dropbox could, in fact, see the content of its customers’ files. This behavior placed Dropbox users at risk for having their content stolen or searched involuntarily. Dropbox adjusted the wording of its help article to avoid misleading its customers but did not explain how or if it intended to prevent the accessing of its customers’ files without permission. Despite these security and privacy issues, the number of Dropbox users has not decreased. As of December 2011, Dropbox still had 2.4 million unique users in the U.S., and the number only increased in 2012.
The online photo-sharing platform Instagram is another example. It updated its privacy policy and terms of service in December 2012, at which time it claimed that Facebook, the social networking platform that acquired Instagram, could use the photos uploaded by Instagram’s users in any way they chose without obtaining permission. Instagram also told its customers that to receive customized ads and discounts, they must allow Instagram to integrate their accounts with advertising
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
4
options. The new terms received instantaneous and intense criticism from users, and the co-founder of Instagram quickly went on record to clarify that while the images belonged to users, Instagram would not stop developing advertising products. Despite this immediate declaration, many agreed that the incident had damaged the company’s reputation. However, as with Dropbox, the number of Instagram’s global users has only increased.
Similar situations have occurred with Facebook and Google. Dissatisfied Facebook users can publish their complaints on a fan page named “The Complaint Department.” Since January 2013, at least 300 complaints have been posted, with the most frequent being account hacking, during which photos and other content are deleted and the account can be used to deceive other people. Other complaints include poor functioning, people posting content that makes others uncomfortable and the ads that appear to the right of a user’s page. Some annoyed users even claimed that they would say “Goodbye” to Facebook if their complaint was not solved. However, Facebook still had at least 640 million daily users in January 2013, according to Alexa estimates. Google’s official complaint forum, “Google Search Forum,” also hosts numerous user complaints, most of which involve search results that users have deemed inappropriate. Likewise the quality of some search results does not meet users’
expectations, or the results provide personal or incorrect information. There have also been complaints from users who were unable to access their own accounts or get the search engine to function correctly. However, none of the aforementioned complaints have resulted in a decrease in users. According to Alexa, Google and Facebook are still ranked first and second among the world’s top 500 sites, respectively, and both logged at least 600 million daily visitors between February 2012 and February 2013.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
5
These cases indicate that a fair number of customers tend to stay with an e-service provider despite experiencing service deviation, and this prompts the question: why would a customer continue to use a deficient platform? To answer this, the types of service deviations, the differences among the e-services provided, and customers’ perceptions of them, must be determined to calculate the losses and gains involved in e-service deviations.
1.4 Research objective
The objective of this study is to understand customers’ perceptions of service deviations on e-platforms. To achieve this, we seek answers to the following two key questions: (1) what types of service deviations do e-platform customers experience?
and (2) why do customers choose to stay with an e-platform after experiencing a service deviation?
To answer the first question, we reviewed the literature on service quality and deficiencies to build a data-collection framework for e-service deviation cases. We further examine studies of service deficiency-related customer behavior and apply switching-cost theories to form proposition about how customers calculate the gains and losses involved in e-service deviations. We then test these proposition to form an understanding of the unique characteristics and customer perceptions of e-service deviations.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
6