Perceived Service Quality in a University Web Portal: Revising the E-Qual Instrument

Abstract

Online service quality is a much-studied concept. Despite this, dimensions that make up service quality, and the items used to measure those dimensions have proven unstable. It is widely suggested that service quality measurement scales need to be instantiated differently in different business domains. In addition, the nature of online services is continually changing. Universities have been at the forefront of this change, with university Websites increasingly acting as a portal for a wide range of online transactions for a wide range of stakeholders. In this work-in-progress, qualitative study, we conduct focus groups with a range of stakeholders in university Web portals with a view to adapting the e-qual instrument for use in a university Web portal environment. We find support for a new service quality dimension, and for additional items in existing scales. We conclude by proposing a revised instrument that can form the basis for a more extensive quantitative study