Assessment of Customers’ Evaluations of Service Quality in Live-Streaming Commerce: Conceptualizing and Testing a Multidimensional and Hierarchical Model

Abstract

Live-streaming commerce (LSC) is a new shopping method that combines the characteristics of social commerce and e-commerce. Since the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, the number of branded platforms is growing rapidly, and their competition is fiercer than ever. Understanding consumer needs and improving service quality have become the key issues for survival. This study aims to develop and empirically validate a multidimensional hierarchical model for measuring service quality on LSC platforms. A hierarchical reflective construct was proposed to capture dimensions based on the literature on e-retail and social commerce service quality. The proposed model was rigorously tested using two waves of survey data through the partial least squares method. Results showed that the service quality of LSC is a third-order, reflective construct and includes five primary dimensions (the streamer’s interaction quality, physical environment, website quality, outcome quality, and ordering process) and twelve sub-dimensions (trustworthiness, expertise, responsiveness, telepresence, consumption scenarios, information quality, system operation quality, fulfillment and refund/compensation, privacy/security, contact, and ease of use). Findings also supported the hypothesis that service quality has a significant impact on customers’ satisfaction and their behavioral intentions. Furthermore, we tested an alternative model, and the results showed that the relationship between dimensions and overall assessment is reflective rather than formative. We offered directions for further research on LSC service quality and discussed managerial implications stemming from the empirical findings.