Thursday, January 30, 2020

Effect of Service Content Quality Essay Example for Free

Effect of Service Content Quality Essay Introduction: The growth of Internet Mediated Environment (IME) based services has changed the manner in which firms and consumers interact. This paper aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the role service quality dimensions play in developing service enjoyment and loyalty in IMEs. We are in the era of service-based economies. The services sector has grown to dominate economic activity in today’s advanced industrial economies. Interestingly, within the growing service-dominated economies, increased innovation in Information Technology (IT) has dramatically altered services conceptualization, development, delivery and consumption. By extending the definition of an electronic service, we define IME services as being mediated via information technology (IT) where the consumer interacts with an appropriate user interface such as web site, mobile phone, iPhone, PDA, iPad, virtual world environment, tablets, etc., in order to gain a consumption experience and pursue desired benefits for another entity or the entity itself (self-service). Innovations related to IT and novel Internet-based service delivery in IMEs and consumption are fueling extraordinary growth in demand for existing as well as new services. Problem Statement: The study is to investigate the some of the dimensions of online service content quality and service delivery quality such as navigation, visual appeal, timeliness, access, content customization and reliability leading to enjoyment and loyalty. Significance of the research: Both Information Systems (IS) and Marketing scholars have recognized this paradigmatic shift from the exchange of goods toward a service-centered model of exchange in which the consumer plays a pivotal role, specifically in the case of online services. In this context, there is an increasing emphasis on service quality rather than manufacturing quality regardless of the industry. A customer’s willingness to maintain a relationship with a firm is contingent on his or her perception of the benefits of high-quality service that provides a continuous flow of value. CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Review of Literature: Service Content quality: Service content quality is defined as the extent to which complete, accurate, and timely content is provided to online consumers during the interaction process with the user interface in the IME. The user interface is a critical component in the IME service experience. In the context of the online environment, the store layout and design particularly influences the consumer’s service consumption experience. To capture service content quality we have identified the following three antecedents based on the literature: visual appearance, navigation, and preview. These dimensions have been found to be important in the context of online services in past IS studies. Visual Appearance: A consumer’s perception of the visual appeal projected by the service is driven by the design, physical attractiveness, and beauty inherent to the service interface. Visual appearance in IMEs can be defined as an overall output of image or personality generated from website components such as text, style, graphics, colors, logos, themes and slogans. Websites with a more visually acceptable interface often result in greater service quality and can influence a consumer’s IME experience and ultimately his or her long-term service provider relationship. Consequently, the interface appearance is one of the most important aspects of the IME experience. Navigation: Consumers want and demand websites that are simply designed and easy to use. Ease of navigation has surfaced as a critical element, since the IME lacks most of the interactional human elements so vital in offline service delivery. Navigation challenges, such as getting lost is often associated with a consumer’s confusion, frustration, and anger, and thus negative experiences. To negate this danger, IME navigation features have been developed to prevent consumers from becoming lost. A considerable amount of freely available information, if it is well organized and easily accessed, is frequently mentioned by consumers as an important reason to interact with an IME. The ease of navigation in the IME is expected to enhance service content quality. Customized Preview: Customized preview is the ability to tailor products, services and the environment to individual customers. Preview is expected to influence loyalty towards the service by creating the perception of an increased choice set by enabling quick focus, signaling high quality and lead to a better match of what the customer actually wants. Service Delivery Quality: Service delivery quality is defined as the manner in which IME functionalities are made accessible to consumers via the service provider’s website as a delivery channel. IME service providers have realized that consumers are concerned with the service delivery process and outcome. The following dimensions of service delivery quality: accessibility, reliability, and timeliness are taken. Accessibility: Accessibility is related to the actions taken by the service provider to ensure no service interruption. More and more customers now look for company access and support via IMEs. Potential service failures impact future business because they weaken the customer-company bonds and perceptions of service quality. In this research, accessibility is defined as the level of efforts taken to minimize service disruptions. Reliability: In offline contexts, reliability is defined as the â€Å"ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately†. Similarly, IME reliability is concerned with the delivery of the service in good condition, on time, and exactly as it was displayed. A study of online failures stated that consumers noted delivery issues as the most frequently stated problem. Consumers place significant emphasis on service outcome and service quality, which will suffer if a service provider fails to deliver as expected. Such failures can result in significant costs to the firm, such as lost customers and negative word of mouth. Consequently, service failure is a driving factor explaining customer switching behavior. Timeliness: One of the significant IME benefits is the near-time or immediate service delivery. IMEs lack most of the interactional human elements so vital to the traditional service experience which typically lead to service delivery lag times. In terms of online versus offline purchasing, online purchasers’ beneï ¬ t in the fact that they receive timely information directly from the website without having to seek a salesperson. Access speed and performance appear as critical to the assessment of quality in IMEs. Service Enjoyment: Just as shopping enjoyment is important in offline environments, it can be equally important in IMEs. Hirschman and Holbrook introduced the Hedonic Consumption concept which designates â€Å"those facets of consumer behavior that relate to the multisensory, fantasy and emotive aspects of one’s experience with products† to explain enjoyment’s role in the consumer experience. IS research has suggested that intrinsic enjoyment associated with website usage can positively impact a consumer’s web usage over time. Koufaris applied the model of flow and found that the emotional reaction to a website (intrinsic enjoyment) influenced the intention to return. Thus, service enjoyment is suggested to influence the IME consumer experience. Service Content Quality and Enjoyment: Service content quality is a critical component in the IME experience. In the context of the online environment, the store layout and design influences the consumer’s online activity and service consumption. In IMEs, the spatial layout and functionality are especially important since availability of direct human employee assistance is minimal. Mathwick, Malhotra, and Rigdon suggest that in online environments, the use of color, graphic layout and photographic quality combine to influence a desirable consumption experience. Éthier, Hadaya, Talbot, and Cadieux demonstrates that web site content quality has a significant positive impact on the cognitive appraisal including liking, joy, pride, dislike, and frustration. Van der Heijden found that perceived enjoyment affected intended and actual use of the website. Service Delivery Quality and Enjoyment: IME delivered services have increased convenience in terms of time, place and use. For example, consumers can now pay their bills online, setup automatic mortgage payments or track packages at any time of day. Therefore, service delivery quality pertains to the consumer-website interaction during the process when the consumer is looking for information, selecting from available options or carrying out a transaction. According to Luong, â€Å"Service delivery seems to imply service encounters that entail more intense and deliberate use of emotions.† Loyalty: Loyalty is yielded through the process of repeated interaction between consumers and the online service. Achieving customer loyalty is critical for IME service provider economic success. The fear in the online environment is that the inherent low switching costs enable competing online firms to be just a click away. Loyalty can be defined both behaviorally and attitudinally. Behaviorally, loyalty consists of repeated purchases of a brand, whereas attitudinally loyalty includes a degree of dispositional commitment in terms of some unique value associated with the brand. Perceived service quality has been suggested to be positively related to loyalty. According to Garbarino and Johnson, consumer perceived service enjoyment and commitment are believed to summarize consumer knowledge and guide subsequent loyalty actions. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Title: A study on the effect of service content quality and service delivery quality, leading to loyalty in online banking system. Objectives: Main Objective: To study the effect of antecedents of service quality leading to loyalty in online banking system pertaining to South Indian Bank Specific Objectives: * To study antecedents such as visual appeal, navigation and customized preview effect on online service content quality * To study antecedents such as accessibility, reliability and timeliness effect on online service delivery quality * To study service content quality and service delivery qualities effect on consumer’s perception of service enjoyment * To study service content quality and service delivery quality mediated by service enjoyment effect on consumer loyalty in banking websites.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

A Comparison of the Monsters of Frankenstein, Bladerunner, and Star Tre

In the long history of the existence of fantasy literature, writers represent monsters as something opposite to the human being. The prior conflict of this genre is usually "man Vs monster." Several examples of science fiction seemingly portray antagonistic creatures yet they are depicted as being similar to humanity: the replicants in the film Bladerunner; the monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; and the Borg in Star Trek. In each of these examples, the aforementioned "monster(s)" posses human-like characteristics (some, like the replicants in Bladerunner appear almost exactly human) yet are still "monsters," they are not quite human. Thus each of the human societies shuns and despises these creatures for what they are. The significance of the alignment of the monsters with ourselves is how the monsters are the personification of our ontology. The unconscious human mind is the content of what these works attempt to personify in the monster. As Donna Haraway said in he r "Cyborg Manifesto," "we are all chimeras." The curious thing is that the protagonists in some of the works actually portray monster-like characteristics--a role reversal between the monster and the hero of the work: "We have found the enemy and he is us." The analogy of the monsters is actually depicted in each of the work's respective humans' thoughts and deeds. This also shows the authors' portrayal of the monster-like and thus human-like characteristics of the human unconscious and the conscious mind. The role-reversal of an antagonistic monster and the human hero is never more blatant than in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In modern pop culture, the name of Frankenstein is often associated with the monster of the novel. Unkn... ...w much do our genes control how we will live our lives? Our dependence on machines is one popular theme in science fiction including Star Trek. The Borg are cyborgs--completely dependent on their mechanical components to survive. In modern society, how much do we depend on machines to survive? The Borg reflects several aspects of our own human society and human self. Donna Haraway says, "The cyborg is our ontology...The machine is us." Frankenstein's monster, the replicants, and Star Trek's Borg each is analogous to the monster within a subconscious or unrealized level within modern reality. The unconscious needs of modern technology, the uncertain amount of genetic programming within us, and the unknown about the human's unconscious mind are all objectives explored in the allegorical genre of science fiction as we explore the monster within.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

South America vs. North America

Audrey Hepburn March 4, 2013 Mr. Miller AP U. S. History South vs. North 1800-1850 FRQ: In spite of sharing a country, the Northern and Southern areas of America had many differences and distinctions, which ended up dividing the nation. During the first part of the 1800's the North and the South grew in different ways. In the North, cities were centers of wealth and manufacturing. There were many skilled workers. In the South there was not much manufacturing. There were not many skilled workers. Most of the people were farmers. Money came from plantation crops, like cotton, and slavery was a major piece of their economy.Their respective societies were also diverse. The period between 1800 and 1850 brought rapid population growth throughout the United States. In the North the overall population rose from about 5 million to 31 million during this time. Part of this increase was due to massive immigration. Between 1830 and 1850 over 2 million Irish, German, and other northern Europeans arrived in the United States. Most of them settled in the North. The population of the South was made up of white Americans and enslaved Africans. By 1800 there were about 4 million slaves in America and the United States was the largest slaveholding republic.The total population of the South reached 12 million. The South was an overwhelmingly agricultural region of mostly farmers. Most farmers lived in the backcountry on medium sized farms, while a small number of planters ran large farms, or plantations. The South was ideal for agriculture and had the ability to grow crops in large amounts. However, only one-fourth of the Southern population owned slaves, and most of these were the planters. The rest of the population was made up of white independent farmers, tenant farmers (who rented land and paid the landowners in crops or money), laborers, or frontier families.Most Southerners lived on farms, scattered along the coastal plains and the small farmers in the backcountry. Since th e economy was based on agriculture, industries and towns developed at a slower pace than in the North. There were many small towns along the banks of rivers and the coasts. Only a few large cities developed as trading centers in the South. Plantations were so large and so distant from each other that they became almost self-sufficient, like small towns. Cities in the North thrived as centers of commerce. They were set up along the Atlantic coast and served as centers of trade between the North and Europe.They were hubs of manufacturing of textiles (cloth goods) and other products. Many people from rural New England moved to the cities looking for employment opportunities. In 1800 about 5 percent of the population lived in cities, but by 1850 nearly 15 percent did. Increased trade and manufacturing drew many laborers to town to work. Cities were often crowded and dirty. Not until after 1830’s were harbors and streets improved, sanitation systems were started, and police forces were created. Public services such as education began to take root. The Southern economy was based on agriculture.Crops such as cotton, tobacco, rice, sugar cane and indigo were grown in great quantities. They were raised on large farms, known as plantations, which were supported by slave labor. After Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793, cotton took over as â€Å"king† of the southern economy. Whitney invented the cotton gin, a machine that separated the seed from the cotton fiber much faster than could be done by hand. This caused a rapid growth and expansion of cotton production. In 1793 Southern farmers produced about 10,000 bales of cotton. By 1835, they were growing over 1 million bales a year.Cotton exports made up two-thirds of the total value of American exports. To clear land and grow cotton, Southerners used slave labor. Slavery was essential for the South’s prosperity. The South had little manufacturing, and Southerners wanted cheap imports. Since t hey exported most of their cotton and tobacco, they believed that high tariffs-–taxes on imported goods—would scare away the foreign markets that bought their goods. For these reasons the South was against tariffs. The North, however, favored high tariffs to protect its industries from foreign competition.The Northern economy was based on many different industries. These included shipping, textiles, lumber, furs, and mining. The majority of people lived on small farms and found that much of the land was suited for subsistence farming—raising food crops and livestock for family use—rather than producing goods to export, or send to other countries. Northerners stated to use their â€Å"ingenuity† to manufacture all kinds of goods. With the use of waterpower and coal for steam plants, manufacturing developed quickly. People realized that the many surrounding waterfalls were cheap source of energy, and the waterpower began to be used to run the factori es. Items such as textiles, iron, and ships were manufactured in great quantities. These goods were traded for foreign products, as well as transported to and from all continents by trading ships. The growth of trade, manufacturing and transportation brought many changes to cities in the North. Cities took on an increasingly important role in determining the culture of the North. Merchants, manufacturers, wage earners, and new business owners brought new ideas to the North. The majority of Northerners were Protestant believers.Villages became strong centers of community activities. Cities were important centers of art, culture, and education. Most cities printed newspapers and books and provided many forms of recreation, such as dancing, card playing, and theatre. Both religion and education were organized institutes. Most towns had both schools and churches. Public education grew in the north after the 1830s, but few boys went to secondary school, and college was reserved mostly fo r the wealthy. There were few schools or churches in the South, since neither education nor religion were very organized.The best educated were the sons of planters. On plantations there were sometimes small schools, and often planters hired private tutors to teach their children until they could be sent off to private schools. Small farmers had little or no education. Life in the South revolved around the small, wealthy class of planters and the agricultural system they controlled. Planters were the aristocracy—the upper class—of the South. They lived like country gentleman of England and ran the political and economic life. Plantations were far apart and developed their own communities.Recreational activities included such things as fox hunting, dancing, horseracing, and watching cockfights. During the first half of the 1800s transportation vastly improved, and the size of the United States more than doubled. Methods of long-distance transports, such as steamships an d railroads, affected the South because products could more easily be sold to more distant markets. By 1850 about 9,000 miles of railroad spread across the Southern states. Meanwhile, hundreds of steamboats moved Southern crops to the North and to European markets.Still, this was not nearly as vast a railroad system as the North. Most of the new rail lines were in the North, spanning out to the west. By 1850, 30,000 miles of railroad tracks connected distant parts of the United States. . Canals, mostly built in the North, were also a cheap source of transportation. The Erie Canal was clearly a success for New York commercial activities. Many other cities began to follow suit and within a decade a system of over 3,000 canals provided water transportation between the Eastern seaboard and rivers in the West. By 1850 there were over 88,000 miles of surfaced roads.Although the Northern and Southern states shared many things, in the period of 1800-1850, their disparities began to outshine what they had in common, which helped to lead into the Civil War. Their economies were polar opposites, with the Northern industrializing and the South farming and exporting; their societies were based on two diverse things, the South being an almost aristocratic system and the North focusing on factory work and industrializing. Their governmental ideals differed, especially and so blatantly emphasized in their opinions on tariffs.

Monday, January 6, 2020

The Bible is the Authoratative Word of God Essay - 686 Words

Responding to such a question as the one stated on responding to a friend who asks you why you believe in the Bible, and asks Isnt it a book just like any other piece of literature? would be a difficult question, but let alone a very plausible question to be asked to a Christian in a ones lifetime. I have personally been asked this question before on multiple occasions, and there are many responses I have given as according to being sensitive to the circumstances upon which the question was asked. I believe in the Bible as being the authoritative word of God, and the divinely inspired, and breathed out word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). To use a response that would allow this message to portray itself accurately, I would likely use 3 main†¦show more content†¦I would explain the concept of hope and love that I now had in my life, and if it wasnt for God, or His divinely inspired word, I wouldnt be alive today, or I at least wouldnt be where I am today. I would be sure to explain the depth of Him being my Lord and my king, my savior who didnt need to, but willingly proved His faithfulness in His love. God is good and real. It is only by His just faithfulness and grace that I am where I am, and alive today. I have no other explanation in my life, for the joy I am able to have after the abuse Ive experienced growing up, for the love I carry after the abandonment of my mother as a mother, for the forgiveness I bear after the tragic scene of my father slowly dying until his very final breath. There is no humanly possible explanation for the existence of my life, at least as it is today, other than that the love and mercy of God is truly and radically life altering. It surpasses all other earthly things, and it is important to express that if we let Him, He could change our lives forever. To continue in a life of bitterness, pain, regression of anger, hurt, evil, depression, and numbness is just illogical and senseless when theres an offer of hope, restoration, l ove, peace, comfort, understanding, grace and faithfulness. As I look back into the testimonies of