Conceptualisation and Instrument Development of Service Quality in the Sharing Economy in Car-hailing

Abstract

Car-hailing service have experienced rapid growth since the inception of the Sharing Economy (SE), and now cover almost every city in the world. However, due to market competition and the scale of car-hailing service’ operations, about 40% consumers are hesitant to actively participate in the SE. They believe that services provided by strangers (e.g., Uber and Didi’s drivers do not belong to a well-known car service company) are less secure or may not meet their expectations. Therefore, there is a pressing need for a quantifiable evaluation instrument to measure the service quality of SE companies thereby reducing customers’ hesitation to participate in the SE. Currently, provision for measuring car-hailing service quality is sparse.

This study proposes a measurement instrument that captures the three pillars of car-hailing service quality from the user’s perspective, including Service Delivery Quality, Service Provider Quality, and Service Platform Quality. Based on the classic SERVQUAL scale, combined with the characteristics of car-hailing service, this comprehensive and validated instrument consists of 11 first-order dimensions, 3 second-order dimensions, and 41 items. The instrument’s development process was rigorous, advancing service quality management theory, particularly in the emerging SE-driven car-hailing mobility market, and contributing to the repository of rigorous research tools used by researchers.

This study further empirically tests the conceptual model and related findings proposed by the development of the scale. First of all, it conducts an exploratory test on the structure of the instrument through pilot testing. It simultaneously conducts quality inspection and adjustment on the scale’s items through item analysis, reliability test, and exploratory factor analysis. After that, a preliminary and complete scale structure is formed by exploring and analysing pilot test responses data. Then the adjusted scale is used again for field data collection and testing. In the field test, convergent validity and combination reliability are mainly tested through confirmatory factor analysis. In addition, this research evaluates and contrasts six Competing Models that deviate from the proposed model in order to further explore whether the model is appropriate for car-hailing service. The analysis reveals that the Competing Model 4 and Competing 6 are more in line with the structure of the car-hailing service quality scale and can be chosen to use under different circumstances.

This study provides a theoretical contribution to the study of technology-mediated service and the SE, and also offers concrete suggestions on how SE platforms may adopt instrument methods to improve their businesses. It is expected that the proposed measurement instrument will help build consumer trust by providing a quantifiable evaluation of car-hailing service quality.

Date of Award	26 Sept 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Northumbria University
Supervisor	Dimitra Skoumpopoulou (Supervisor)