An Empirical Examination of the Relationships between the Dimensions of Culture and E-service Quality Perceptions

E-services are diffusing rapidly in the developing economies. E-service quality plays an important role in determining the customers’ satisfaction and usage behaviour. Culture, in turn, has been found to influence customers’ perceptions of service quality. However, the current understanding of the influence of culture on e-service perceptions is limited. This study presents a review of prior e-service quality literature and position ease of use, responsiveness, system availability and reliability as the predictors of overall e-service quality. Furthermore, we examine Hofstede’s dimensions of culture as moderators between the dimensions of dimensions of e-service quality and overall e-service quality. Our research model is empirically tested with data collected from 453 Chinese e-service customers and analyzed using PLS. The results show that all the four dimensions of culture values influence on some, but not all, dimensions of e-service quality. Finally, directions for further research are suggested.