EVALUATING THE INFLUENCE OF E-SERVICE QUALITY AND CONSUMER

PERCEPTION ON ONLINE SHOPPING STORES TO COSTUMER PURCHASE

INTENTIONS

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Nowadays, it can be observed how technology affects every business industry, in

which it became now a tool for marketing products to target costumer. However, in

today's fiercely competitive consumer products market, companies are constantly

striving to understand what drives their customers' purchasing decisions. Madahi and

Sukati (2012) describe that the purchase intention has become complicated and

significant. A study finds out that there are six factors that restrains consumers to buy

from online sites – fear of bank transaction and faith, traditional shopping more

convenient than online shopping, reputation and services provided, experience,

insecurity and insufficient product information and lack of trust (Daroch, B., et. al, 2021).

Moreover, according to a 2023 survey conducted in the Philippines, approximately

54.45 percent of respondents found it challenging to do online shopping as there was

no guarantee of product quality. Additionally, around 40 percent were concerned about

the high shipping costs associated with online shopping (Balita C., 2023).

Purchase intention denotes a consumer's inclination or desire to acquire a

product or service (Li et al., 2022). It is a crucial concept in marketing since it helps

businesses and marketers understand what drives consumer behavior and how they

can influence it (Morwitz, 2012).

E-service quality is a crucial determinant of costumer purchase intentions as it

plays a vital role in shaping customer perceptions, influencing customer satisfaction,

and leading costumer decision to make a purchase. According to a study in Taiwan e-

service quality had a positively significant effect on customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Online customer satisfaction and loyalty had a positively significant effect on online

repurchase intentions. Finally, the results indicated that a greater e-service quality will

increase online customer satisfaction, build customer loyalty, and encourage online

repurchase intentions (Liu, T., 2012). Consumer perception of online shopping stores is

directly influenced by the experiences with e-service quality in which positive

experiences with these dimensions could foster purchase intentions. Bilal et al. (2022)

established a positive correlation between consumers' emotional attitudes and

their intentions to make online purchases. The quality of the online services provided by

these platforms has a significant impact on customers' overall experience and

subsequent purchase decisions. When customers perceive high e-service quality, it

leads to increased levels of satisfaction. This perception is based on various factors

such as website design, ease of navigation, product information, payment security,

customer support, and timely delivery. According to Swapna Datta Khan & Mohd Aarif in

2023 that by focusing on website design, navigation, product information, payment

security, and customer support, online businesses can enhance customer satisfaction

and drive increased purchase intention, ultimately leading to business growth and

success.

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of e-service quality

and consumer perception on online shopping stores to costumer purchase intentions.

While existing studies have explored the relationship between these factors, there are

still several research gaps that necessitate further investigation. Many studies focus on
specific industries or cultural contexts, limiting the generalizability of their findings.

Previous studies also highly focus on satisfaction in which while it is important, it's not

the sole driver of purchase intentions. With this, understanding the role of consumer

perception, which encompasses factors beyond satisfaction, is crucial. The current

study attempts to fill this research gap. Offering valuable contributions, and promising

positive social impacts, this study enriches our understanding of consumer behavior and

provides practical insights that can benefit businesses in the evolving landscape of

online commerce. The study's contribution lies in its insights into the unique preferences

and attitudes of online stores costumers and their impact on customer purchase

intentions. The potential social impact of this research is substantial, as it can guide

businesses in tailoring their services to better serve this age group, help educators and

parents in promoting responsible online shopping habits, and assist policymakers in

safeguarding the interests of young consumers in the digital realm.

Research Objectives

The main focus of this research is to evaluate the influence of e-service quality

and consumer perception on online shopping stores to costumer purchase intentions.

This study seeks to establish whether e-service quality and consumer perception

on online shopping stores, as predictive factors, have a substantial impact on the

purchase intentions of online store costumers.

To accomplish this, the study has set forth the following research objectives:

To ascertain the level of E-service quality in terms of:

1.1 Tangibility
 1.2 Information Quality

1.3 Responsiveness

1.4 Trust

1.5 Personalization

2. To describe the level of Consumer Perception on Online Shopping Stores in

terms of:

2.1 Product Information

2.2 Mode of Payment

2.3 Convenience

2.4 Consumer Attitude

2.5 Easy Accessibility

2.6 Flexibility

3. To measure the level of Consumer Purchase Intentions in terms of:

3.1 Sensory Experience (SE)

3.2 Brand Images (BI)

3.3 Design-driven Products (DP)

3.4 Perceived Value (PV)

3.5 Emotional Attitude (EA)

3.6 Purchased Intention (PI)

4.1. To determine the significant relationship between E-service Quality and

Consumer Purchase Intentions.

4.2. To determine the significant relationship between Consumer Perception on

Online Shopping Stores and Consumer Purchase Intentions.

 5. To determine the domains of E-service Quality and Consumer Perception on

Online Shopping Stores significantly influence Consumer Purchase Intentions.

Statement of the Problem

This study primarily looked into the relationship between the E-service Quality
and Consumer Perception on Online Shopping Stores to Consumer Purchase
Intentions.
Specifically, it sought to answer the following:

1. What is the level of E-service quality in terms of:

1.1 Tangibility

1.2 Information Quality

1.3 Responsiveness

1.4 Trust

1.5 Personalization

2. What is the level of Consumer Perception on Online Shopping Stores in terms

of:

2.1 Product Information

2.2 Mode of Payment

2.3 Convenience

2.4 Consumer Attitude

2.5 Easy Accessibility

2.6 Flexibility

3. What is the level of Consumer Purchase Intentions in terms of:

 3.1 Sensory Experience (SE)

3.2 Brand Images (BI)

3.3 Design-driven Products (DP)

3.4 Perceived Value (PV)

3.5 Emotional Attitude (EA)

3.6 Purchased Intention (PI)

4.1. Is there a significant relationship between E-service Quality and Consumer

Purchase Intentions?

4.2. Is there a significant relationship between Consumer Perception on Online

Shopping Stores and Consumer Purchase Intentions?

5. What domains of E-service Quality and Consumer Perception on Online

Shopping Stores significantly influence Consumer Purchase Intentions?

Review of Related Literature

This section offers significant proof to back the research goals, playing a crucial

role in enhancing comprehension within the study. It accomplishes this by presenting a

diverse range of methods, perspectives, theories, research findings, and insightful

observations from multiple authors relevant to related topics of the study.

E-service Quality

The attributes of e-service quality have a significant association with overall e-

service quality, customer satisfaction, and repurchase intentions, (Blut et al., 2015).

Moreover, Momotaz (2018) emphasizes the impact of service quality factors, including

fulfillment, system availability, and product quality, on customer satisfaction in online

shopping. Furthermore, Tsao et al. (2016) studied the impact of e-service quality on

online loyalty based on online shopping experience in Taiwan and showed that system

quality and electronic service quality had significant effects on perceived value, that in

turn had a significant influence on online loyalty. In addition, Chang et al. (2013) stated

that trust is the most important factor to attract e-commerce buyers. However, only few

studies about the impact of service quality on trust, especially within the scope of online

business are available.

The first indicator is Tangible, a good logistics packaging design can significantly

improve consumers’ sense of pleasure and happiness, so as to stimulate consumers’

consumption psychology and improve consumers’ consumption desire. Liu, D., & Sun,

W. (2022). Moreover, Adoption of service quality is very influential on customer loyalty

in the world of E-Commerce, namely in the form of web-based service quality, which is

commonly called website service quality (Website Service Quality) is the level of the

website that can facilitate efficiently and effectively to make purchases, sales and

delivery of good products and services. Setiawati et al., (2021). However, In the words

of Liu, D., & Sun, W. (2022). In recent years, businesses pay more attention to the

display of products and ignore the logistics packaging design, resulting in poor first
impression of products by consumers. If the products are damaged, it will also lead to

consumers’ feeling of worthlessness, resulting in loss of trust in products and decline in

product sales.

The second indicator is information quality, as indicated by Delone & McLean

(2003), information quality is an important consideration in adoption process of

information systems. In order to implement ecommerce successfully, all the quality

aspects of the system, especially information quality should be deliberately considered

(Pardo, Brandt & Puerta, 2018). According to this model, information quality has been

used as measures of information systems output that meet the criteria of completeness,

ease of understanding, personalization, relevance to decision making and security.

D&M IS Success Model indicates that the understanding of the system quality and

information quality is very relevant to manage the e-commerce related activities.

Information is a resource that needs to be managed efficiently. As competition in

business environment is becoming more intense in this day, organizations were pushed

to acquire qualified information in order to be sustainable in the market (Chong et al.,

2014). According to Somers, Gorla and Wong (2010), information quality refers to the

quality of outputs the information system produces which can be in the form of reports

or online screens. Information quality describes the value of information presented by

websites as perceived by users (Qutaishat, 2013). Users want the information provided

displays completeness, ease of understanding, personalization, relevance, and security,

so that their confidence in doing the transactions can be increased, thus will enhance

their satisfaction (DeLone and McLean, 2003; Huang & Chen, 2017).E-commerce offers
the consumer or enterprise various information they need, making information into total

transparency (S.Sridhar, 2017& Zhou, et.al., 2018). This transparency criteria is very

crucial in halal e-commerce because both parties required quality information to make

decisions. Consumers depends on information provided by the website to know the

halal status of the products before making the purchase. High quality information can

help consumers in making a quick and efficient decision to purchase of appropriate or

difficult-to-find products.

The third indicator is responsiveness, is defined as the ability to respond to

customer requirements timely and flexibly. Mariappan (2006) stated that revolution of

information technology has brought astonishing changes in business environment which

no other sector has been influenced by advancement in technology as much as banking

and financial institution. Banks have to adopt technology to deliver their services and at

same time reduce cost due to creation of value added services for customers (Zhu,

Wymer and Chen, 2002). It is crucial for banks to better understand the changing

customers’ needs and adopt the latest information technology system in order to

compete more effectively with global organizations (Malhotra & Mukherjee, 2004).

Timeliness is occurring at a suitable time, seasonable, opportune and well-time. The

establishment of speed in operation that reduces waiting time is an important factor of

ATM services quality (Mobarek, 2007). Dilijonas et al. (2009) identified that elements

which contributed to timeliness in banking services are speed, high uptime, errors, cash

backup, and quality service at reasonable cost. While past studies look into many other

factors such as strategic location, accessibility and convenience. Taking into

consideration that the ATMs have been located in strategic locations with enough

number of machines, this study attempts to investigate determinants of customers’

satisfaction in regards to good service operations; being responsive and reliable.

The fourth indicator is trust, an important construct that has been frequently

studied in e-commerce literature. Trust is a mental shortcut that consumers can use

when trying to reduce the uncertainty and complexity of transactions and relationships

in electronic markets. An often mentioned reason for consumers not purchasing from

Internet vendors is a lack of trust (Petrovic et al., 2003). E-commerce as a novel form of

commercial activity implicates more uncertainty and risk than traditional shopping (Lee

& Turban, 2001). Consumer trust is more critical in e-commerce because the consumer

cannot touch, feel, and smell the real product. That trust plays a vital role in the

relationships between consumers and e-vendors (Fung & Lee, 1999). Consequences of

consumer trust influence consumers’ intention to use, or continue to purchase in the e-

commerce website (Pavlou, 2003). Gefen (2000) investigated the role of trust in

purchasing behaviour and tested familiarity and disposition to trust as two antecedents

for trust in his model. In addition to the consumer characteristics such as propensity to

trust, Teo and Liu (2007) explored the attributes of e-commerce vendors. They found

that e-commerce vendors’ reputation and system assurance affect e-commerce

consumer trust. The trust encourages the attitude and reduces the perceived risk, thus

becomes favourable to purchase intention. Lu, Zhao and Wang (2010) also applied

similar variables, e.g., familiarity, perceived similarity, structural assurance, and trust

propensity as the antecedents of trust among members in virtual communities and

customer-to-customer (C2C) e-commerce. In line with this effort, Fang et al. (2014)

reported that satisfaction with a vendor, website quality, and reputation are three

significant antecedents of trust in a vendor for repurchase intention. However, they

found insignificant paths for familiarity and satisfaction with the Internet.

The last indicator is personalization, denotes the efficient management of issues

and returns via the m-commerce applications (Zemblyte, 2015).

Consumer Perception on Online Shopping Stores

The consumer’s perception on online shopping varies from individual to individual

and the perception is limited to a certain extent with the availability of the proper

connectivity and the exposure to the online shopping. The perception of the consumer

also has similarities and difference based on their personal characteristics. The study of

Dr.R.Shanthi1 & Dr. Desti Kannaiah in 2015 reveals that mostly the youngsters are

attached to the online shopping and hence the elder people don’t use online shopping

much as compared to the younger ones. The study highlights the fact that the

youngsters between the age of 20-25 are mostly poised to use the online shopping. It is

also found that the majority of the people who shop online buys books online as it is

cheaper compared to the market price with various discounts and offers. The study

also reveals that the price of the products have the most influencing factor on online

purchase. The second most influencing factor is the security of the products, the third

most influencing factor on online purchase is Guarantees and Warrantees followed by

delivery time and the next most influencing factor is reputation of the company, privacy
of the information and nice description of goods. The study highlights on the easy

navigation and access on the internet with people liking for easy to access the online

shopping and to be more convenient. The study also reveals that majority of the

respondent’s buys clothes from flipkart.com which is thus one of the leading online

shopping websites in India. On top of that the most products purchased online by the

respondents is the books followed by tickets (railway, movie, concerts).

The first indicator is Product Information,

The second indicator is Mode of Payment,

The third indicator is Convenience, according to Rizky Virgonia, 2013 explained

that ease is a level or condition where someone believes that using a certain system

does not require any effort. Meanwhile, according to Jogiyanto (2007) explains that

perceived ease of use is a belief about the decision-making process. If someone

believes that information systems are easy to use then he will use them. Conversely, if

someone believes that information systems are not easy to use then he will not use

them. According to Ndubisi in Kigongo (2011), ease of use refers to a clear and easy

interaction with a system, ease of using the system to take necessary actions, the effort

required to interact with the system and ease of use of the system. According to Wen et

al. in Trisnawati et al. (2012) ease of use is where consumers feel that shopping at a

web-based store will increase their shopping and the extent to which consumers feel the

ease of interaction with a website can receive information about the products needed.

According to Jogiyanto (2007), ease of use is also defined as the extent to which a

person believes that using technology will be free from effort. From this definition, it can

be concluded that this ease of use is also a belief about the decision-making process. If
someone believes that information systems are easy to use then he will use them.

Conversely, if someone believes that the information system is not easy to use, then he

will not use it. When a consumer finds it easy to interact with an ecommerce site, to find

product information, buy products, and make payments, then they will consider online

shopping to be more useful. A system that is considered difficult to use will be

considered less useful for users to shop online.

The fourth indicator is Consumer Attitude. Consumer’s good and bad feelings

can know as attitude in word f online shopping when they about to do the buying

decisions according Aliff et al. (2014). Emotion frequently related to attitude of

consumer and according to the past researcher Aliff et al. (2014) stated that consumer

attitude are influenced from purchasing intention based on the model of attitude change

and behaviour. Past researcher (Aliff et al., 2014) proved that perceived risk related with

the purchase intention will negative influence the attitude and purchase intention.

The fifth indicator is Easy Accessibility,

The last indicator is Flexibility,

Costumer Purchase Intentions

Customer's purchase intention is crucial in determining the behavior of

customers. It clearly depends on the impacting factors that make the estimation

troublesome under various conditions. Other than that, Ariffin, Mohan and Goh (2018)

uncovered that, the presence of a robust security/protection would not prompt a higher

intention of purchase. The researcher understands that clients’ trust in the capability of
the organization to satisfy their true needs is something more than mere “confiding in

goodwill to impact consumers’ purchase intentions”. Consumers’ purchase intention is

often utilized as a measure to calculate the clients' activities of honest purchasing. This

research hypothesized that; purchase intention of clients gives an adequate

intermediary to real online purchase behavior. Furthermore, past researches have

indicated that, consumer’s impression of quality of service and consumer loyalty

decidedly intention of purchase. For example, Rust and Zahorik (1993) observed that

consumer loyalty altogether impacts retention of clients, market shares, and profitability.

Lee and Lin, (2005) measured consumer loyalty as an intermediator of the connection

between firm observed quality and purchase intention of consumers. As per my

observation purchase intention is also one of the key features of online shopping

because purchase intention provides a picture/information to the company in respect of

customer behavior, his needs, choice, capability and more importantly his loyalty. Thus,

this feature (purchase intention) is very helpful for the company. On the other hand, if

the company does not observe it or takes this feature (purchase intention) lightly the

company will not be able to differentiate between loyal and un-loyal customers.

Sensory Experience (SE)

Brand Images (BI)

Design-driven Products (DP)

The fourth indicator is Perceived Value, according to Kotler and Keller (2012)

that customer perceived value is the difference between the evaluation of the

customer's perspective on all benefits (benefits) and overall costs and compared with

existing alternatives. According to Shabbir (2017) Perceived value is "a consumer's

overall assessment of the utility of a product based on perceptions of what is received

and what is given". According to Oesman (2010), the value expected by the customer is

the difference between the customer's perception of the benefits of the product or

service and the total cost to obtain it. Consumer value is the perceived value during

and/or after the use of a product (Rivière & Mencarelli, 2012).

Emotional Attitude (EA)

Purchased Intention (PI)

Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored by Theory of Consumer Decision Making Process. In

microeconomics, the theory of Consumer Decision Making, also known as Consumer

Choice Theory, is a fundamental concept that provides frameworks to understand how

consumers make decisions about what to buy, how much to buy, and when to buy. It

postulates that consumers are rational beings who aim to maximize utility (satisfaction)

subject to constraints like income and prices. The Consumer Decision Making Process

Theory sheds light on the stages a consumer navigates from identifying a need to the

actual purchase and beyond. The five stages encapsulating this journey are Need

Recognition, Information Search, Evaluation of Alternities, Purchase Decision, and Post-

Purchase Behaviour.

The social exchange theory can be used to explain the effect of e-service quality

on perceived risk. Generally, individuals can evaluate their expected value extracted

from the exchange through comparative cost-reward analysis, which in turn influences

their perception and behavior (Priporas et al., 2017). The theory suggests that
customers are more likely to engage in behaviors that maximize rewards and minimize

costs. This means that high service quality is likely to increase customer purchase

intentions. Conversely, low service quality is like to decrease customer purchase

intentions.

The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was developed by Icek Ajzen as an

attempt to predict human behavior (Ajzen, 1991). The TPB posits that attitude toward

the behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control influence behavioral

intention. This theory suggests that behavior, in this case, purchase intentions is

determined by factors such as attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral

control that can be influenced by consumer perception of online shopping stores. TPB

provides useful framework for understanding how consumer perception of online

shopping stores impacts their purchase decisions. Through considering those factors,

online stores can innovate effective strategies to enhance their customer perceptions

which ultimately can lead to higher purchase intentions.

Conceptual Framework

The variables and their depicted indicators that have been determined to be

employed in the statistical analysis of this research are as follows:

The first independent variable is E-service quality with its indicators namely:

Tangibility, Information Quality, Responsiveness, Trust and Personalization. Each of

these components plays a crucial role in assessing the overall quality of a service:

These indicators collectively gauge service quality, aiding in improvements for

enhanced customer purchase intentions.

 The study's second independent variable is the Consumer Perception on Online

Shopping Stores, which is depicted by the indicators: Product Information, Mode of

Payment, Convenience, Costumer Attitude, Easy Accessibility and Flexibility. These

indicators used to measure costumer purchase intentions because they reflect how

costumers perceive and interact with a product or service. Moreover, these factors are

integral to assessing costumer intentions as they influence how a consumer feels about

a brand, product, or service.

The dependent variable in this study is Costumer Purchase Intentions, assessed

through the indicators of Sensory Experience, Brand Images, Design-driven products,

Perceived Value, Emotional Attitude, and Purchase Intention. These six metrics

collectively measure Costumer Purchase Intentions due to their integral roles..

Together, these indicators provide a comprehensive understanding of customer

intentions, encompassing not only the initial expectations but also the real-world

encounters and the likelihood of advocacy, making them a well-rounded and effective

means of evaluation.

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

E-service
Quality
Tangib
ility
Consumer
Purchase
Intentions

Consumer
Perception on
Online
Shopping
Stores
 Chapter 2

METHODOLOGY

This chapter aims to discuss the design and methodologies used in acquiring

the needed data for the study. It gives a thorough explanation about the research

design, research locale, research respondents and sampling method, research

instrument, data collection, statistical tools, and ethical consideration.

Research Design

This study will utilize descriptive-correlational

Research Locale

This study will be conducted at

Research Respondents

The target population of this study was one hundred (100) business program students

from a university, bonafide enrolled for the school-year 2020- 2021, and a regular online

shopper. Moreover, the respondents were a representation of 25 students each from Marketing

Management, Financial Management, Human Resource Management, and Accountancy

programs. In this regard, the study used purposive-quota sampling and snowball sampling

techniques. Purposive-quota sampling was used in the selection of 25 respondents in each

business program based on the criteria set such that the respondents are enrolled students of

the school and are using online shopping for their personal needs. Snowball sampling was

utilized in tapping friends, classmates, and friends of friends in the school in identifying those 25

students per program who became respondents of the study based on the set inclusion criteria

Research Instruments
Data Collection

In gathering the information needed for the study, the researchers followed the proper

procedures to collect data from the respondents. In addition, the data collection started after

securing approval from the dean of the chosen university. After the approval to conduct the

survey, the researchers sought respondents for the study according to the set inclusion criteria

and by utilizing both purposivequota sampling and snowball sampling techniques. Once the

respondents were identified, the researchers asked for their Messenger accounts and then sent

a letter to them asking for their participation in the survey. The researchers then created the

survey questionnaire in google forms and the link for the google form was sent to the

respondents’ Messenger accounts since this is the most suitable means to gather data in the

midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic. The respondents answered the questionnaire for about 5 to 10

minutes.

Statistical Tools

The data collected was analyzed using the following statistical tools: Mean Score was

used in establishing the level of customer feedback and online shopping behavior. Standard

Deviation was used in measuring the dispersion of a data set relative to the resulted mean of

customer feedback and online shopping behavior. Pearson r was used in determining the

relationship between customer feedback and online shopping behavior. Regression was used in

determining which domain of customer feedback significantly predicts online shopping behavior.

Ethical Considerations

In any research study, the protection of human subjects through the application of

appropriate ethical principles is important. Because of the in-depth nature of the research

process, ethical considerations have a special resonance in quantitative studies. When

conducting a face-to-face survey with vulnerable groups, ethical concerns become more

prominent (Arifin, 2018).

Ethical issues may arise in any chapter or phase of the research process in this study.
The study entails participants sharing their experiences, including their perceptions and

opinions.

Therefore, permission from the respondents is fundamentally required to conduct the

study and data collection. Contained within the permission is a clear explanation of the purpose

of the study, possible risks, and confirmation of anonymity. Also, withdrawal of participation can

be decided at any time without penalty and prejudice.

Moreover, it was made clear to the participants that this study will not evaluate their

performance or assess anything. Hence, the focus of this study is to give the participants the

opportunity to reveal the level of classroom management among home economics teachers.