E-service quality: comparing the perceptions of providers and customers Emmanouil Stiakakis and Christos K. Georgiadis Department of Applied Informatics, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece Abstract Purpose – This study aims to identify the similarities and differences between the perspectives of providers and customers regarding the important dimensions and attributes of e-service quality (e-SQ). Design/methodology/approach – Ten criteria are proposed for assessment of e-SQ in both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions. Confirmatory factor analysis confirms the validity of grouping these criteria into five proposed dimensions. The e-SQ dimensions and criteria are then ranked in terms of their importance by a survey of respondents from small and medium-sized enterprises with experience in conducting e-business in Greece. The results are compared with selected surveys of customers’ perceptions from the literature. Findings – The results indicate that the providers’ perceptions are in agreement with customers’ perceptions with regard to e-SQ dimensions, but not with regard to specific criteria (items) within those dimensions. The study also finds that providers have similar perceptions of the importance of the suggested e-SQ criteria in B2B and B2C electronic transactions. Research limitations/implications – The findings should be generalised with care if extrapolated to other socio-cultural settings and specific industries. Practical implications – Managers should recognise that there might be differences between their views of e-SQ and those of their customers. Originality/value – This is one of the few studies to have focused on the perceptions of providers in assessing e-SQ. Keywords Services, Customer services quality, Electronic commerce, Business-to-business marketing Paper type Research paper 1. Introduction Most studies of the concept and measurement of electronic service (e-SQ) have identified the dimensions of the construct from either the customer’s perspective or the provider’s perspective (Heim and Field, 2007), and the majority of these have focused on the priorities and needs of the customer. Although it is unquestionable that the concept of e-service quality is inherently associated with the perceptions and expectations of customers, it is also true that these perceptions of what constitutes e-SQ might differ significantly from those of the service provider (Ghosh et al., 2004; Surjadjaja et al., 2003). In a similar vein, some authors have contended that few companies are able to understand and manage e-SQ from the user perspective and that a holistic view that takes into account both perspectives is therefore needed for a full understanding of e-SQ (Auer and Petrovic, 2004; Halaris et al., 2007). Against this background, the present study contends that a comparison of the two perspectives would provide useful insights into the nature of the dimensions of e-SQ The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0960-4529.htm MSQ 19,4 410 Managing Service Quality Vol. 19 No. 4, 2009 pp. 410-430 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0960-4529 DOI 10.1108/09604520910971539