The Effects of Technology Readiness on the Formation of E-Service Value

Customer perceived value is a strategic imperative for many service firms, and many human-to-human services are shifting to Internet-based services to enhance firm competitive advantages. Under such circumstances, knowing what customers want is a challenge as the concept of boundary is no more definite in virtual worlds. We posit that consumer´s technology readiness (TR) plays an important role in forming their perceived e-service value. From a field survey, we find that monetary cost has negative effect on consumer´s perceived overall e-service value; service-enhancing and risk-reducing value drivers both have positive effects on overall e-service value. As to the effects of technology readiness, the results indicate the effects of service-enhancing attributes are stronger in high-TR group than in low-TR group; the effects of risk-reducing attributes are greater in low-TR group than in high-TR group. Monetary cost is equally important in both TR groups. Research implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.