The Relationship between Quality and Loyalty in Multi- Channel E-services: an Empirical Investigation

Research in traditional (bricks-and-mortar) services has broadly supported the link between service quality and customer loyalty. Given the significance of customer loyalty for the profitability of eservices, it is important to ascertain whether the established role of service quality as a driver of loyalty in traditional services translates to e-service settings. An important feature which differentiates e-services from traditional services is the fact that e-services are typically offered as part of a broader multi-channel service package, combining the internet with other channels of service delivery, such as the phone and physical facilities. As a result, customers frequently engage in multi-channel behavior, using both online and traditional channels, and thus will exhibit different degrees of focus on the internet channel relative to other traditional channels. We argue that existing research examining the quality-loyalty relationship in e-services has not adequately recognized the multi-channel nature of these services. As such, the objective of this study is to increase our understanding of the relationship between quality and loyalty in multi-channel e-service settings. In this connection, we empirically test the quality-loyalty relationship in a multi-channel e-service; and examine whether a customer’s degree of focus on the internet (DFI) channel moderates this relationship. The study consisted of an online survey of customers registered with a commercial e-banking service which is part of a broader multi-channel service. Employing structural equation modelling, we found a strong and significant link between e-service (web site) quality and loyalty intentions, suggesting that this relationship also holds in e-services. In addition, we found that a customer’s DFI – defined as the proportion of the total number of transactions that were performed by a customer through the internet channel relative to the other available channels moderated this relationship. Specifically, we found that the relationship between e-service quality and loyalty was weaker for customers with a higher DFI. The implications for the research and management of multi-channel e-services are discussed.