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Total online retail spending in China reached $427 billion in 2014 and is expected to surpass $1 trillion in 2018 (Chu and Wong 2015). In addition, the number of online stores in China has been rapidly increasing. The present study proposes a model based on the theoretical frameworks of technology readiness (Parasuraman et al. 2005) and e-service quality (Parasuraman and Malhotra 2005), and tested the model on consumers from China. The results indicate that consumer technology readiness positively influences the perceived efficiency, system availability, fulfillment, and privacy dimensions of e-service quality as it relates to the online retailing environment in China. Moreover, the influence of technology readiness on the intention to purchase online in the future is both direct and mediated by the dimensions of perceived e-service quality. Implications and future research suggestions are also discussed.

In this study, we reviewed the quality of customer service (E-S-QUAL) model and the quality of service recovery (E-RecS-QUAL) model and applied them to the African American and Chinese cultural settings. Utilizing the LISREL 8.72 program, we conducted measurement equivalence tests and found that the e-service quality measurement can be generalized to different cultures, and the equivalence of measurement between two cultures considered here is partially supported. In addition, t-tests were conducted on each dimension of Web service quality in order to compare the mean differences between the perceptions of Chinese and African American consumers. It was found that Chinese consumers rate Web service quality at a significantly lower level than African American consumers on all seven dimensions. Methodological and practical implications of the study are discussed.

Purpose – This paper seeks to use the consumer‐perceived levels of internet shopping skills and challenges, to cluster the young Chinese customers and to compare the quality perceptions of customers from the different clusters.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 237 college students from Beijing with the average age of 20.2 was conducted via a paper‐and‐pencil questionnaire. All the constructs were measured using established scales. The students completed the questionnaire in their native language.Findings – The paper finds that, at the present level of internet development in China, online consumers can be segmented on the basis of their self‐rated internet skills and their perception of the challenges involved in online shopping.Practical implications – Online customer segments obtained through internet skill and challenge level perceptions are demonstrated to explain some of the differences in the online shopping behaviors and service quality perceptions. The managers of online stores in China co...

The development of effective retailing strategies that are sensitive to cross-cultural differences would seem to be of considerable importance to their success in the global marketplace. Building on two existing models, SERVQUAL and RSQS, this study developed scales to examine service quality in Hong Kong's supermarkets. Based on intensive field study, we revised the existing service quality instruments and developed a new set of instruments to measure service quality in Hong Kong's markets. A new underlying structure emerged, suggesting that in Hong Kong, Chinese consumers perceived service quality in the regular supermarkets based on their purchasing process instead of from the tangible and non-tangible aspects found in previous studies. In the enhanced supermarkets, however, consumers perceived service quality differently than did the consumers in the regular type of store, suggesting a different model would be appropriate. Overall study results indicated that the measurement and underlying structure of service quality perception was not only industry and culture specific, but also specific to the form of retail structures that may enter the cultural mélange of the Chinese marketplace.

Relationship quality is increasingly emerging as a strategy for organizations that strive to retain loyal and satisfied customers in today's highly competitive environment. However, a limited number of studies have investigated relationship quality within the hospitality industry. This study examines and applies a measurement model originally tested with Korean customers to American customers to confirm that the predictors of relationship quality for luxury restaurants are cross-culturally valid. This study also examines the relative importance of each predictor of relationship quality, and identifies strategies for luxury restaurants that should enhance their level of customer trust and satisfaction.

In March, 2005, Japan attempted to bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations (UN) Security Council. Millions of Chinese protested strongly against it because Japan’s invasion and partial occupation of China in World War II. Demonstrations opposing Japan’s UN bid were conducted in almost every province in China. The voices of anti-Japan, anti-Japanese product, and even boycotting Japanese products rose higher and higher.

The proliferation of new self-service technology in retailing suggests a need to assess the extent to which consumers are ready and willing to actually use the technology. This study examines the influence that the dimensions of the Technology Readiness Index (TRI) has on the propensity of consumers in China, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, to use self-service technology to complete retail transactions. Cluster analysis was also used to classify Chinese consumers into consumer types based on their TRI scores. The findings indicate that the dimensions of TRI impacts consumer types differently with respect to influencing the likelihood of using self-service technology. Implications of the consumer classifications are also discussed.

This study revisited the debate concerning standardization vs. customization of the international advertising strategy from a Country-of-Origin (COO) approach. The objective here is to compare the perceptions of the exporting country and its products from the vantage point of different host countries, and to compare exporting countrys self-image with the perceived images prevailing in the host countries. Further, the study also examines the images of search products and experience products across different countries. Through analyzing survey data collected from 189 Americans, 238 Chinese, and 236 Japanese consumers, we found that different host countries have significantly different perceptions of the same exporting country. Moreover, exporting countrys self-image also largely varies from the host countrys perception of the exporting country. Finally, differences in product image were found both for search and experience products. Therefore, customized advertising strategy is suggested in the New Asia, especially in the countries studied.