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Exploring online customer experience : website features, customer activities and repurchase intentions
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Kong, Xiangyu (2011) Exploring online customer experience : website features, customer activities and repurchase intentions. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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WRAP_THESIS_Kong_2011.pdf - Submitted Version Download (10Mb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b2568679~S1
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to provide a better understanding of customer
experience as to how it could be used to contribute to experience-based design in
the context of online retail services. The review of literature suggested that a good
customer experience may bring various benefits to service organisations. However,
many of the existing studies appear to be focused on traditional face-to-face services
rather than e-services. Moreover, although it is proposed that services should be
designed based on the customer experience, little literature was available to suggest
how it could be done.
This research studied three key areas in the online retail service context, the features
offered on retail websites, the activities performed by customers, and the customers’
perceived influences of each feature on their experience and repurchase intention.
Each of these areas was investigated by an individual study using different data
collection methods and data sources. Study 1 investigated the retail website features
by analysing 60 retail websites. Study 2 enquired the online customer activities by
interviewing 52 university students. Study 3 researched each retail website feature’s
perceived influences on customer experience and repurchase intention by surveying
1680 university students and 233 customers of an online retailer. The studies
identified twenty retail website features (e.g. search box, filter, and express
checkout), four online customer activities (i.e. Search, Compare, Checkout, and
Enquiry), and provided evidence which demonstrated a correlation between
customer experience and repurchase intention.
By performing a Principle Component Analysis on data collected in Study 3, it was
found that some of the retail website features appear to influence customer experience (and repurchase intention) in similar ways. In order to identify the
similarities of the features with similar influences, analysis was undertaken by linking
retail website features with their associated online customer activities.
The result suggested that there are four types of retail website features that appear
to influence customer experience (and repurchase intention) differently: i.e. optional
automatic features (e.g. enable customers to choose whether or not to save
addresses and payment details for future use), non-optional automatic (e.g.
automatically suggest alternative or additional products), optional non-automatic
features (e.g. enable customers to browse categories), and features involve real
person interaction (e.g. enable customers to chat with customer service agent on the
website). Although all the four types of features appear to have positive influences
on customer experience (and repurchase intention), it seems that the optional
non-automatic features have the most positive influences, and the features involves
real person interaction have the least positive influences. However, the result
showed that there are no clear differences between the influences on customer
experience of the optional automatic features and the non-optional automatic
features.
This research has provided a new perspective on e-services. It suggested that there
are different types of service features that tend to influence customer experience
(and repurchase intention) in different ways. It implies that e-services could be more
effectively designed by focusing on the features offered on retail websites, in
particular by offering optional non-automatic features.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HF Commerce | ||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Electronic commerce, Customer services, Web sites -- Design | ||||
Official Date: | September 2011 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Warwick Business School | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Johnston, Robert, 1953- | ||||
Extent: | xiv, 221 leaves : ill. | ||||
Language: | eng |
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