An Experimental Study on the Effect of E-Servicescape in Quality Signals in Websites: An Abstract

Abstract

Several studies have sought to investigate the potential of marketing efforts as a tool for quality signals (Kirmani and Rao 2000). Harris and Goode (2010) present a model of e-servicescape from dimensions of websites that influence the customer’s perceptions about products and services offered on the Internet. The development of an experiment is aimed to verify the relationship of cause and effect between variables. The procedure includes the development of platforms with different quality levels (high, medium, and low). The channels were accessed and analyzed by students and then assessed the credibility of the signal (quality signals). The theory of quality signals is based on the assumption that, in the negotiating process, the parties involved have access to different amounts of information (Akerlof 1970). This situation is recognized as scenarios of “information asymmetry” (Kirmani and Rao 2000). The greater the asymmetry of information and the difficulty in identifying the customer a quality product at the time of purchase, the greater the relevance of the company transmitting signals to consumers about the quality (Rao; Qu; Ruekert 1999). Harris and Goode (2010) e-servicescape model presents three dimensions that result in perception of quality digital environment organizations: aesthetic appeal, design/functionality, and financial security/environment. The guidelines of the platforms were signed from theoretical references of Harris and Goode (2010) model. The website with the highest quality with excellence should encompass all dimensions of the model. The website of average quality contemplates the dimensions with less force. The low quality neglected the majority of elements. The characterization of service and brand was created with the objective of having control of their effects on the prior knowledge by the consumer. Undergraduate students were chosen as the sample. According to Hair et al. (2005), 30 observations are sufficient to perform the analysis of variance (ANOVA); however, due to the intention of greater consistency in the database, it has reached the number of 40 observations per treatment. Regarding exposure to the websites, there was a total balance in the number of participants in each treatment. Forty individuals (33.3 %) were exposed to high-quality website, 40 individuals (33.3 %) to medium-quality website, and the other 40 subjects (33.3 %) were exposed to low-quality website (n = 120). The H1 hypothesis relates to the measurement of differences from the website with the factor dependent on the credibility of the signal that was observed from the ANOVA test of a factor variable. With F 370.1 and p < 0.05, reject the null hypothesis and confirm that there are significant differences between the means of the credibility of the signal groups in relation to treatments. Tukey’s test, in which the groups are compared pairwise, demonstrated that the differences between means were also significant among themselves. Thus, confirming the hypothesis that the perception of investment or credibility of the signal is perceived as a significant difference in websites of different qualities. The second hypothesis (H2) suggested that the e-servicescape is positively related to the credibility of the signal of the website. Pearson correlation was considered significant (level below 0.01). The correlation coefficient (r) shows that there is a strong association (r = 0.92) between the variable x (e-servicescape) and the variation in another variable y (website credibility of the signal); an increase in e-servicescape is accompanied by an increase in the perception of the sign of the investment website, thus, confirming the second hypothesis of the study (H2). The results are important theoretically because they meet other studies that verify the digital platforms of organizations as signaling elements of the quality on the Internet.