E-retailing by banks: E-service quality and its importance to customer satisfaction

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the measurement of e-service quality for e-retail banking, the importance of e-service quality dimensions to e-retail bank customers, and the relationship between e-service quality and customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach - Results are drawn from a self-completed survey of a convenience sample of 200 Australian respondents who regularly use online banking facilities. Factor analysis and regression analysis are used to ascertain factor structure and determine the impact of e-service quality dimensions on satisfaction. Findings - A four-factor solution (E-ServQual) represented by "personal needs", "site organisation", "user-friendliness" and "efficiency" is found, with all factors rated as important. E-ServQual is found to be a predictor of overall customer satisfaction with banking performance, but "efficiency" is not found to be predictive. Overall satisfaction is lower than overall e-service quality. Research limitations/implications - The Australian sample limits generalisability. Future research should investigate the importance of human interaction in the provision of quality service, re-test the developed measure with new data, explore the e-service quality construct further, and investigate its relationship with customer satisfaction and the exposed "unknown" negative influences on customer satisfaction, in other international settings. Originality/value - The paper informs knowledge gaps related to the measurement and structure of e-service quality, its importance and impact on customer satisfaction. A more holistic measure of e-service quality is supported. Good e-service performance impacts customer satisfaction positively, but does not override unsatisfactory performance in other areas. Banks need to be mindful that online service provision is not sufficient for ensuring customer satisfaction with their overall service.