The effects of online reviews and satisfaction rates to customer's purchasing decision

Variable 1: Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a term that frequently discussed in marketing as it is normally used as a
key performance indicator of many businesses. It is a measure on how the products and
services supplied by the company meet or exceed customer satisfaction. According to (Kotler er
al., 2012), customer satisfaction is a person’s feeling of pressure or disappointment resulting
from comparing the product's perceived performance or the outcome of the expectation.
(Bae,2012) and (Fatima&Razzaque,2013) defined that customer satisfaction is the expectation
before consuming the product regarding the quality or a pre-consumption judgment and have
an antecedent, moderated, and mediated effect on personal connections and enjoyable
interactions. Customer satisfaction is the outcome that the customers received when the
service they experienced, it exceeds the customer's expectation and generally known as an
outcome of the service quality. According to (Bilan,2013; Yeo et al., 2015) it defines that
customer satisfaction portrays the quality of products or services provided to the customer in a
positive manner, the level of customer satisfaction it enhances with an increased level of the
service quality. Therefore, the more positive customer’s perceived service quality, the better
the satisfaction of the level with the service provider is likely to be. In addition, customer
satisfaction is important to improve the customer focused on the products and services.
According to Suchánek et al. (2014), the quality is defined as the perceived quality of the
customer, therefore, the main factor in measuring the product quality is customer satisfaction
itself. To achieve the high customer satisfaction, it is important to create products that meet
the requirements of the customers.
Ref:

Petr Suchánek, Jiří Richter, Maria Králová2, Customer Satisfaction, Product Quality and Performance of
Companies1, REVIEW OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES – NÁRODOHOSPODÁŘSKÝ OBZOR, VOL. 14, ISSUE 4,
2014, pp. 329–344, DOI: 10.1515/revecp-2015-0003 50.

Bae, Y,H.(2012) journal name(Three essays on the customer satisfaction-customer loyalty

association)p23

KotlerP, Keller K.L.,Koshy A.,Jha M.,(2012), Marketing Management ;A south Asian Perspective, Dorling
Kindersley (India)Pvt Ltd.

Fatima,j,k. & Razzaque,A,U.(2013) journal name(Roles of customer involvement in rapport and

satisfaction) p1

http://eprints.utar.edu.my/3078/1/fyp_BA_2018_CKYS.pdf
Variable 3: Influencing Online Customer Satisfaction

Customer Satisfaction refers the degree of a customer is happy about the quality of products and
services. According to Gou X., Ling K.C., Liu M (2012) examined the factor’s determining the customer’s
satisfaction towards the online shopping and identified the factors such as the product quality, e-service
quality, delivery services and a considerable level of perceived price are the important determinants of
the customer satisfaction in online shopping. In addition, Khan, Al-Balushi, Algaithi, and Alshihi (2017)
they claimed the information of reliability is a factor that highly induces the customer satisfaction.

Ref:

Khan, F.R., Al-Balushi, H.Y., Algaithi, A.D. & Al-shihi, A.A. (2017a). Impact of Social Media on Customer
Satisfaction: Bank Muscat – A Case Study. Ahead International Journal of Recent Research Review, 1
(11), 154-164.

Guo X., Ling K.C., Liu M. Evaluating factors influencing customer satisfaction towards online Shopping in
China, Asian Social Science, 8(13) (2012), 40-50.

Product Quality
According to Business Dictionary, product quality defined as a saleable good that controlled by the
manufacturer to reach some basic requirements through features and characteristics. Thus, product quality
defined as improving the products or goods to meet the customer needs to achieve customer satisfaction
Gaurav Akrani (2013). Asides from Lan Linton (2018) stated that quality products can help to maintain
customer satisfaction and loyalty and also it can reduce the risk and cost of replacing the incorrect good
that making by the workers. Product quality is an importance for the company as well as the consumer, it
is because the consumer is ready to pay a high price which will expect to get the best quality product that
will match with the amount they paid and if the company failed to do that, they will purchase from the
competitors. There are many good quality products that have been sold in the local market. Hence, if the
local companies do not improve their product quality to a higher standard, most probably they will hard to
survive in the market Gaurav Akrani (2013). Product quality is essential to online shopping. According to
the Product Information Report, it stated that the one important factor that success in online sales is the
product quality Retail Dive (2016). Additionally, quality plays a significant role to reduce shopping cart
abandonment and as well as the impact of the brand equity and consumer’s future purchase decisions
Retail Dive (2016).
Ref:

Retail Dive. (2016). Quality Product Content Prevents Online Shopping Cart Abandonment | Retail Dive.
Retrieved May 10, 2016, from https://www.retaildive.com/news/quality-product-content-prevents-
onlineshopping-cart-abandonment/418638/

Gaurav Akrani. (2013). What is Product Quality? Definition Meaning Importance. Retrieved May 21,
2013, from http://kalyan-city.blogspot.my/2013/05/what-isproduct-quality-definition.html
Lan Linton. (2018). Why Is Quality Important for a Business? | Chron.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018,
from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/quality-importantbusiness-57470.html

Price

One of the top influencers to the customer experience is the price. If the price is too high, the customers
will refuse to pay. It drops the price too low and the product could be interpreted as cheap and one of the
most essential factors when the customer decides to buy something when the customer buys something
for a lower price but it meets their expectation the customer more likely to satisfied. According to Hassan,
& Nawaz (2013), to maintain a long-term relationship with consumers, it is important to place concern
on consumer satisfaction and by providing them a fair price, the seller is able to stimulate satisfaction
from the consumer. As stated by Sabir, Ghafoor, Hafeez, Akhtar, & Rehman (2014), price is the main
contribution to consumer satisfaction in the hotel industry of Pakistan because it affects the consumer
directly which incurs the financial loss. Price fairness is an important impact on consumer satisfaction
when the consumer is paying for the products which have a greater benefit than the price. In addition,
the service provider must focus on the price of the products which they are selling to get a competitive
advantage, especially for price-sensitive products.

Ref:

Hassan, M., Hassan, S., & Nawaz, M. S. (2013). Measuring Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty through
Service Fairness, Service Quality and Price Fairness Perception: An Empirical Study of Pakistan Mobile
Telecommunication Sector. Science International, 25(4), 971–980.

Sabir, R. I., Ghafoor, O., Hafeez, I., Akhtar, N., & Rehman, A. U. (2014). Factors Affecting Customers
Satisfaction in Restaurants Industry in Pakistan. International Review of Management and Business
Research, 3(2), 869–876.

Service Quality

Service quality a measure of how much the services have been provided to meets consumer
expectations. According to Hassan & Nawaz (2013), defines as an evaluation of the standard or
distinction of the service. Furthermore, Izogo & Ogba (2015) stated that consumer will be satisfied with
the service of the firm when the service provided exceeded the consumer’s expectation and it became a
necessity for the firm who want to satisfy the customer to keep up with offering service quality with the
expectation of the customers. It is important since satisfied customers have more commitment to the
firm compared to the dissatisfied customers. Service quality will guide especially for the companies to
pay more attention to quality and consider as a strategic tool in order to compete in the markets. Thus,
in order to gain a competitive advantage, increasing the satisfaction and loyalty of the customer’s,
service quality will become the major element.

Ref:

Hassan, M., Hassan, S., & Nawaz, M. S. (2013). Measuring Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty through
Service Fairness, Service Quality and Price Fairness Perception: An Empirical Study of Pakistan Mobile
Telecommunication Sector. Science International, 25(4), 971–980
Izogo, E. E., & Ogba, I.-E. (2015). Service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty in automobile repair
services sector. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 32(3), 250–269.
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-05- 2013-0075

Online consumer reviews

Consumer reviews on online decisions are widely recognized. Several studies have
shown that consumer ratings and reviews impact the people’s purchasing behavior and
intentions, as well as the attitudes towards the products and retailers (Floyd et al. 2014). The
more positive reviews it increases sales and attitude, whereas negative reviews it reduces
them (Floyd & Freling 2014). However, it depends on the review exposure (Maslowska et al.
2017), the characteristics of the reviewer (Karimi & Wang 2017), and the source of the
review (Floyd & Freling 2014). The positive and negative reviews can sway a consumer’s
behavior, some research indicated that they differ in their impact. Purnawirawan et al. (2017)
reported that the negative reviews have the strongest impact on quality, attitudes, and
suggesting the negative reviews which will carry additional weight than the positive reviews
However, the relative importance of these types of information is still under debate. A recent
consumer survey indicated that the customer's rate average rating is the most important.
According to Hong & Park (2012), stated that the statistical info and also the narrative info
are equally convincing, in addition, Ziegele and Weber (2015) stated that the average ratings
as considered an important, single vivid narrative overrode average ratings. The question of
how strongly the single reviews influence behavior is particularly important because people
are often only read the small number of reviews before making a decision and focusing on
the most recent reviews.

REF:

K. Floyd, R. Freling, S. Alhoqail, H.Y. Cho, T. Freling How online product reviews affect retail

sales: a meta-analysis
Journal of Retailing, 90 (2) (2014), pp. 217-232, 

E. Maslowska, E.C. Malthouse, V. ViswanathanDo customer reviews drive purchase

decisions? The moderating roles of review exposure and price
Decision Support Systems, 98 (2017), pp

S. Karimi, F. Wang Online review helpfulness: impact of reviewer profile image

Decision Support Systems, 96 (2017), pp.
N. Purnawirawan, M. Eisend, P. De Pelsmacker, N. DensA meta-analytic investigation of the
role of valence in online reviews
Journal of Interactive Marketing, 31 (2015), pp. 17-27, 10.1016/j.intmar.2015.05.001

Bright Local Local Consumer Review Survey 2016

(2016)
https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-consumer-review-survey/

S. Hong, H.S. ParkComputer-mediated persuasion in online reviews: statistical

versus narrative evidence
Computers in Human Behavior, 28 (3) (2012), pp. 906-919

M. Ziegele, M. WeberExample, please! Comparing the effects of single customer

reviews and aggregate review scores on online shoppers' product evaluations
Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 14 (2015), pp. 103-114

http://eprints.utar.edu.my/3078/1/fyp_BA_2018_CKYS.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167923618300861#bb0100

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167923618300861#bb0090

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/302973824_Impact_of_Online_Product_Reviews_on_Purcha
sing_Decisions
At the same time, it will also guide many companies to pay more attention on quality and consider it as a
strategic tool in order to compete in the markets. Service quality has been becoming more and more
important nowadays. Therefore, in order to gain competitive advantage, increasing the satisfaction and
loyalty of the customers, services quality will becoming the main element of it
Ehsani, Z and Ehsani, M. H., 2015. Effect of Quality and Price on Customer Satisfaction and Commitment
in Iran Auto Industry. International Journal of Service Sciences, Management and Engineering. No.1.Vol
5. pp.52- 56

Kotler, P and Amstrong, G. 2012. Principle of Marketing.14th Edition. New Jersey. Published by Prentice
Hall

According to Kotler and Amstrong (2012) stated that product quality is the characteristics of a product or
service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied customer wants. Ehsani (2015) quoted that
“quality of the product is the customer’s perception of the general quality and also the superiority of the
product or service with relevance it’s intended purpose, relative to alternatives”.
Ludin, I. H. B. H., & Cheng, B. L. (2014). Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction and E-Loyalty:
Online Shopping Environment among the Young Adults. Management Dynamics in the
Knowledge Economy, 2(3), 462.

(Lai Wang Wang and Quoc Liem Le 2012) examined the factors influencing online shoppers, the study
revealed the customers’ satisfaction on their online purchase depends on the effectiveness, tangibility,
understandability, and product feature satisfaction.

According to (Lin, Wu, and Chang 2010), the most important factors that affect the online consumers’
satisfaction are service quality, product quality, delivery quality, system quality, and a considerable level
of perceived price. (Khan, Al-Balushi, Algaithi, and Alshihi 2017) they claimed the information of
reliability is a factor that highly induces customer satisfaction. In addition, (Zamri 2014) confirmed the
three factors – brand diversity, product quality and shopping experience influence online shopping
customer satisfaction. According to (Guo X., Ling K.C., Liu M 2012) examined the factor’s determining
the customer’s satisfaction towards the online shopping and identified the factors such as the
information quality, payment method, e-service quality, security, product quality, delivery services,
website design, and products variety are the important determinants of the customer satisfaction in
online shopping.

Zamri, N.N.A. (2014). Factors affecting Customer Satisfaction towards Online Shopping among University
Students at UniversitiTeknikal Malaysia, Melaka. Bachelor Degree Research report, submitted to the
Faculty of Technology Management and Technopreneurship, UniversitiTeknikal Malaysia, Melaka, Jun.
2014, 1-78, retrieved from http://eprints.utem.edu.my/16204/

Lin, C., Wu, H. & Chang, Y. (2010). The Critical Factors Impact on online Customer
Satisfaction. Procedia Computer Science, 3, 276-281. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2010.12.047 

Customer refer to the person who does the buying of the product and satisfaction can refer to the
person’s feelings of pleasure or disappointment that results from comparing a product’s perceived
performance or outcome with their expectations. Customer satisfaction refers to the degree a customer
is happy about the quality of products and services.

Derived from the rhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer satisfaction (assessed on

25.10.2015) customer satisfaction, measured as “the number of customers or a percentage of
total customers in which reported an experience with a firm, it’s products or its services exceed
specified satisfaction goals”.
Customer satisfaction is important to improve customer-focused products and services.

Customer satisfaction portrays the quality of products or services provided to the customer in a positive
manner, whereby the level of customer satisfaction enhanced along with an increased level of service
quality (Bilan, 2013; Yeo et al., 2015). In other words, the more positive customers‘ perceived service
quality, the better their satisfaction level with the service provider is likely to be.

According to Suchánek et al. (2014), quality is defined as perceived quality of the customer, so the main
factor in measuring product quality is customer satisfaction itself. To achieve high customer satisfaction,
it is important for the company to create products that meet the requirements of its customers.

Customer satisfaction is the outcome that customers received when the service they experienced
exceed their expectation

According to (Brink and Berndt 2004), it defines customer satisfaction as the degree to which an
organization’s product or service matches up to the expectations of the customers. Thus, the extent to
which consumer’s perceptions of the online shopping experience confirm their expectations. If the
customer’s experience of the product or service exceeds their expectations of the product or service,
the customer will be satisfied. It has been found, customer satisfaction has a positive purchase
intention, such as a positive word -of- mouth, repurchase, and loyalty in the long term (Byambaa &
Chang, 2012)

https://www.academia.edu/6963546/LITERATURE_REVIEW_ON_CUSTOMER_SATISFACTION_U
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MITED_TO_MAM_NOOR_UL_AIN_SUBMITTED_BY_MOHIB_KHALID_IRFAN_ALAM_AZEEM_SAR
WAR_TEHMINA_BEGUM
Customer satisfaction is measured as "the number of customers, or percentage of total customers,
which reported an experience with a firm, its products, or its services exceed specified satisfaction
goals." Derived from rhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer satisfaction (assessed on 25.10.2015).
Customer satisfaction is an evaluation of difference between prior expectations about productand its
actual performance.

Juran (1998) cited by Esmaeili, Manesh, & Golshan, (2013) argues that customer satisfaction as a state of
mind where the customers think that the product features are compatible with their personal
expectations. According to them if the performance falls short of expectation, the customer dissatisfied
and if it matches the expectation, the customer is satisfied. If it exceeds the expectation, the customer is
delighted

Customer satisfaction is the expectation before consuming a product regarding quality or it is a pre-
consumption judgment or expectation(bae,2012).

Customer satisfaction have antecedent, mediated and moderated effect on personal connectionsand

enjoyable interactions(Fatima&Razzaque,2013)

Customer satisfaction is the reaction of customer toward state of the fulfillment and

judgment ofcustomer about that fulfilled state (Khayyat & Heshmati,2012).

Kotler et al., (2013), defined customer satisfaction as a person‟s feeling of pressure or disappointment
that result from comparing a product‟s perceived performance or outcome to the expectation.

Customer satisfaction a measurement we use to quantify the degree to which

a customer is satisfied with a product, service, or experience.