A Comparison of Formative versus Reflective Approaches for the Measurement of Electronic Service Quality

Drawing upon the extant literature, we examine the definition, conceptualization, and measurement of electronic service quality (e-SQ) and propose an alternative measurement approach. We posit that customers’ perceptions of overall e-SQ are influenced by six proximal antecedents: security/privacy, fulfillment/reliability, website design, customer service, informativeness, and customization. Using three independent samples of real customers of three hotel reservation sites, we assess the proposed measurement approach via appropriate scale development procedures. Findings indicate that a causal structure that considers e-SQ as a distinct construct that is influenced by six proximal antecedents should be preferred over a second-order reflective measurement model. We discuss theoretical implications of our proposed measurement method, make recommendations for service firms, and offer directions for future research.