E-service quality perceptions: a cross-cultural comparison of American and Korean consumers

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to compare the e-service quality perceptions of US and South Korean consumers in relation to overall e-service quality, e-satisfaction, and e-loyalty to understand geographic and cultural differences in relation to the international expansion of e-business. Design/methodology/approach -The data for the study were collected from college-age internet users in the USA and Korea. A total of 361 questionnaires were deemed as usable for data analysis. Regression analyses were used to test the conceptual model. Findings -Privacy and efficiency significantly affected overall e-service quality and e-satisfaction for respondents in both Korea and the USA. As for Korean respondents, system availability and fulfillment were significant factors that affected overall e-satisfaction. The relationships among overall e-service quality, e-satisfaction, and e-loyalty were positively significant between the two countries. Practical implications -Using two sets of data from the USA and Korea, the paper examined important e-service quality dimensions in producing overall e-service quality and e-satisfaction which in turn influence e-loyalty based on respondents' actual shopping experience. The dimensions identified in the study are based on a full assessment of an e-service experience. Global e-retailers can use the dimensions identified by the paper to better assess their service performance on an international level. Originality/value -The paper is unique in that it is one of the first cross-cultural examinations of how consumers in two different countries perceived e-service quality using e-SQ scale developed by Parasuraman et al.