A Framework for Modelling the Determinants of e-Loyalty in Business-to-Consumer Internet Commerce Jamie Carlson 1 Sukunesan Sinnappan 2 1 Newcastle Business School* University of Newcastle New South Wales e-mail: Carlson@mail.newcastle.edu.au 2 Faculty of Information Technology** University of Technology, Sydney New South Wales e-mail: Suku@it.uts.edu.au Abstract The issue of measuring the relationship between e-service quality to develop e-loyalty has emerged as an area of strategic importance in the information systems and marketing literature in recent times. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for measuring the determinants of e-loyalty1 that includes e-service quality, e- satisfaction2, e-value3 and Internet expertise. It is hypothesized that the quality of a Website can contribute to strengthening attitudinal and behavioural outcomes that ultimately enhance consumer relationships. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that Internet expertise moderates the impact on the proposed direct relationships. Resultant research hypotheses are explored with reference to the theoretical framework. Managerial implications are highlighted with potential research areas identified and discussed. Keywords e-Service Quality, e-Value, e-Satisfaction, e-Loyalty INTRODUCTION While the Web is a means of information delivery, it is also a means of service provision (Sweeney and Lapp 2000). Consumers are active participants in the service delivery, contributing resources including effort and time. Furthermore, customers contribute to the outcomes and thus take a degree of responsibility in the delivery of the service, affecting perceptions of service quality, service satisfaction and service value (Zeithaml and Bitner 2000). The effects of electronic service quality, or e-Service quality to enhance an organisations service offering, has attracted growing attention by academic researchers and practitioners. In 2002, The Journal of Academy and Marketing Science devoted an entire special issue on “Marketing to and serving customers through the Internet: Conceptual Frameworks, Practical Insights and Research Directions”. An area of particular importance was the call for rigorous attention to the concept of service quality delivery through Websites. According to Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Malhotra (2002), this involves a comprehensive examination of the antecedents, composition and consequences of service quality. The authors further noted that little is known as to the demographic, behavioural and experience correlates of e-Service quality with such questions that require investigating include: Does age, gender, or income of customers affect their perceptions of service quality delivery through Websites? How are levels of expertise with Websites related? Are there other behavioural correlates that influence perceptions? Furthermore, Balabanis and Reynolds (2002) contend that there is still a dearth of research concerning how many important marketing concepts translate to the online environment citing notable exceptions by Reichheld and Schefter (2000), loyalty to e-business; Szymanski and Hise (2000), e-satisfaction; and Novak et al. (2000), flow and the compelling online experience. Service quality, satisfaction and customer loyalty are issues that have figured prominently in traditional services research with Reichheld (2001), contending that the fundamental task of businesses today should be on managing loyalty. Previous scholarly research in the offline environment has focused on the relationship between service quality and satisfaction, as well as between consumer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The 1 Refers to on-line brand loyalty. 2 Refers to on-line customer satisfaction. Carlson, Sinnappan (Paper #193) 14th Australasian Conference on Information Systems Page 1 26-28 November 2003, Perth, Western Australia 3 Refers to on-line perceived value.