Reducing the Service Deficit in M-Commerce. How Service-Technology Fit Can Support Digital Sales of Complex Products

Heinze, J; Matt, C (2018). Reducing the Service Deficit in M-Commerce. How Service-Technology Fit Can Support Digital Sales of Complex Products. International journal of electronic commerce, 22(3), pp. 386-418. Taylor & Francis Group 10.1080/10864415.2018.1462940

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Mobile commerce still experiences high drop-out rates throughout the sales process. This is especially evident for complex products such as insurances, which consumers often initially explore online but complete the purchase offline to enjoy direct human assistance, helping them to better understand the product, and reduce associated risks. To facilitate complex product purchases online, we highlight the need for fit between the type of service and the type of technology used for the purchase, termed as service-technology fit (STF). In particular, we propose a comprehensive technological service (CTS), i.e. the combination of a technology-mediated service (TMS) and a technology-generated service (TGS) as a central element of a face-to-screen service (FtoS). Our experimental study finds a significant superiority for CTS in terms of service quality and information quality, as well as concerning consumers’ perceived financial risk, psychological risk, ease of use and purchase intention. In contrast, relying solely on either TMS or TGS reduces the perceived service and information quality and reinforces the perception of several risks. Our findings extend the theoretical knowledge on the mechanisms that are inherent to an FtoS service and give concrete practical implications for the future design of service in m-commerce.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Department of Business Management > Institute of Information Systems > Information Management
03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Department of Business Management > Institute of Information Systems

UniBE Contributor:

Matt, Christian

Subjects:

000 Computer science, knowledge & systems
600 Technology > 650 Management & public relations

ISSN:

1086-4415

Publisher:

Taylor & Francis Group

Language:

English

Submitter:

Yves Roulin

Date Deposited:

07 May 2018 14:11

Last Modified:

06 Feb 2024 14:59

Publisher DOI:

10.1080/10864415.2018.1462940

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/114623

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