Development of a service continance model with IT service antecedents Kwabena G. Boakye a,n , Thomas McGinnis b,1 , Victor R. Prybutok c,2 , Audhesh K. Paswan d,3 a Department of Management, College of Business Administration, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, USA b Department of Management, Seidman College of Business, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI, USA c Department of Information Technology and Decision Sciences, College of Business, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA d Department of Marketing & Logistics, College of Business, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA article info Article history: Received 13 September 2013 Received in revised form 21 March 2014 Accepted 12 May 2014 Keywords: IT-related service Service firms System service quality Customer service quality Loyalty abstract This study make provides service marketers, particularly those delivering information technology (IT) related service, with insight to the factors that consumers use when evaluating IT services. We develop a service continuance model that includes the antecedents of the consumer's decision to continue using information technology (IT) related services in a B2C service environment. Using data from the smart phone service consumers, a covariance-based structural equation modeling analysis is used to test the research model. Results from our empirical study suggest that the association between service usefulness and service continuation intention is fully mediated by service satisfaction. Though both system-service quality and customer-service quality are positively associated with service satisfaction, consumers of IT related services attach greater importance to system-service quality than to custom service quality. Likewise, the indirect path to service continuation intention is stronger in system-service quality than in customer-service quality. Our findings have practical implication for growing market share in IT related services by recognizing the importance of system-service quality in technology service delivery. & 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In the United States, the service sector continues to be the main source of employment and output (Bartsch, 2009). In 2008, more than 75% of jobs came from this sector (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). While the service sector has been historically human resource dependent, more recently, a large number of service providers are depending on technology, especially information technology (IT) to enhance both efficiency and effectiveness of their operations. Building upon the work of Daunt and Harris (2012) as well as Vargo and Lusch (2004) we address a gap in the existing literature by developing a service continuance model that examines customer centered antecedents to IT related service loyalty. Examples of IT services that have expanded into everyday activities including IT based order taking and processing in traditional service sectors are fast food restaurants, hotel and motel, and airlines industries. IT's impact on a firm's return is stronger in the service sector than in the manufacturing sector (Dewan and Ren, 2011; Mullaney et al., 2003). Provisioning of services via IT has become an important component of a business service model. Customers are delighted to purchase services virtually; in such situations, the customers are in firm control of the service encounter. For service providers, it offers an opportunity to grow their business with fewer boundaries. Although many studies have been conducted regarding technology impact on a firm's performance (Zhou et al., 2005; Wu et al., 2006), interestingly little exists on the use of technology as a platform for IT-enabled services and the factors that contribute to the creation of a successful platform to enhance consumer loyalty. Our study addresses this gap by investigating the factors that contribute to consumer loyalty towards IT-enabled services, by specifically focusing on technology as the platform for service delivery. In order to do so, we develop and test a new model based on established IT acceptance research. We focus on the customer centered antecedents to IT related service loyalty because it is the customer who ultimately co- creates value for themselves (Daunt and Harris, 2012; Chen, 2012). Further, like most services, IT related service loyalty is dependent upon service experience quality (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2008; Parasuramann et al., 1988). This quality exists for both the core Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2014.05.004 0969-6989/& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 912 478 5799. E-mail addresses: kboakye@georgiasouthern.edu (K.G. Boakye), mcginnit@gvsu.edu (T. McGinnis), Victor.Prybutok@unt.edu (V.R. Prybutok), Paswana@unt.edu (A.K. Paswan). 1 Tel.: þ1 616 331 7463. 2 Tel.: þ1 940 565 4767. 3 Tel.: þ1 940 565 3120. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 21 (2014) 717–724