| Consumer behavior on the Internet has been the subject of considerable research in the past few years. However, there has been a lack of genuine knowledge about what contributes to effective interactions with online customers and what drives customer satisfaction and loyalty behavior in online services. This dissertation studies customer behavior from self-service, service quality, and experience design perspectives.;In Chapter 1, we investigate what drives customers to choose self-services versus professional service within the context of a high involvement service (e.g., online financial service). Based on the level of self-reliance, we classify customers into self-service, hybrid service and professional service segments. Given the customer segments, we employ a web-based experiment and conduct discrete choice analysis to study the heterogeneity in customers' preferences across segments.;In Chapter 2, we examine the service quality associated with online purchases from a self-service perspective. We provide a framework for analyzing the quality of online purchases that also supports analyses of other online services that may use a self-service perspective. By conducting a series of pilot studies and surveys, we develop, refine, and evaluate the properties and potential applications of a multiple-item scale (e-SELFQUAL) for measuring the service quality of online purchase.;In Chapter 3, we integrate total experience design, flow construct, and stock trading elements in a theoretical framework of online stock trading consumer behavior. We provide a comprehensive framework to examine how context-based experience and cognitive experience affect customer satisfaction in online stock trading services. The final theoretical model can offer both managers and researchers great insights on the antecedents and consequence of customer experience in online financial service. |
