ISSN: 2289-4519 Page 72 International Journal of Accounting & Business Management www.ftms.edu.my/journals/index.php/journals/ijabm Vol. 7(No.1), April, 2019 ISSN: 2289-4519 DOI: 10. 24924/ijabm/201911/v7.iss1/72.102 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Research Paper Impact of E-service Quality Dimensions on Word-of-Mouth and Customer Retention and the Mediating Role of Customer Satisfaction: A Study on E- commerce in Malaysia Arwa Moustafa Kamel Eissa FTMS Global College Arwa.moustafa90@gmail.com Ismail Nizam FTMS Global College nizam@ftms.edu.my Abstract The continuous growth in internet usage and online shopping presents huge opportunities for the e- commerce industry in Malaysia. It is important for online businesses to determine the factors contributing to attracting and retaining customers. Motivated by the growing interest in e-commerce, the current study aimed to empirically investigate the impact of e-service quality dimensions on customer retention and word-of-mouth, more specifically, determining the role of customer satisfaction as a mediator in an e-commerce context. To achieve this objective, a research model was developed based on the Antecedents and Mediator Model. An explanatory research design was adopted and an online questionnaire was designed to collect data from undergraduate and postgraduate students of universities in Klang Valley. A total of 320 responses were gathered using non-probability convenience sampling and snowball sampling. Data collected were coded into SPSS for analysis. Findings confirmed customer satisfaction to be largely explained by variance in e-service quality dimensions. Ease of use, website design, responsiveness, personalization and assurance, were all validated to positively and directly impact customer satisfaction, with ease of use, personalization and assurance having the greater effect. E-service quality was also found to equally impact word-of-mouth and customer retention. Lastly, customer satisfaction was found to partially mediate the impact of e- service quality on word-of-mouth and customer retention. This study has important implications for online businesses as service providers can control e-service quality dimensions as ease of use, personalization and assurance to increase customers’ perception of quality and subsequently increase satisfaction, retention and word-of-mouth communication. Key words: E-service quality, Customer satisfaction, Customer retention, Word-of-mouth, E- commerce, Malaysia. 1.0 Introduction The rapid development in information technology and internet and computer technology is a key driver to the recent increase in the demand for e-commerce services all over the