The purpose of this study was to investigate the structural relationships among perceived quality, perceived sacrifices, and perceived risks of product and service as antecedents of the value of Internet apparel shopping, as well as satisfaction and behavioral outcomes as consequences of the value of Internet apparel shopping. To examine the relationships among these variables, the quality-value-satisfaction (QVS) model (Cronin, Brady & Hult, 2000) was adopted and expanded to fit the Internet apparel retailing environment. This study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches to examine the phenomenon of Internet apparel shopping. For scale development, two focus interviews were conducted using female college-aged consumers. For the model testing, an experimental design with two treatment levels of service quality was employed. Two mock Internet apparel retail sites were created. Pretest and manipulation checks of the two treatments were conducted. At two large Midwestern universities 361 female students were randomly assigned to one of two treatments and provided usable responses after browsing one of the two websites for ten minutes. The results of a series of confirmatory factor analyses revealed that three scales--perceived apparel quality, perceived Internet retailer's service quality, and perceived value of Internet apparel shopping--had three correlated factors with moderate to very good model fit indices and good reliability; however, these scales contained some areas for improvement through scale refinements. The findings from causal model analyses showed that four proposed models had moderate to very good model fit indices. In all except one model, treatment effects were significant. Perceived apparel sacrifice and apparel risk did not significantly impact perceived value. Perceived service risk was a successful mediating variable between perceived service quality and perceived value. Findings showed that perceived apparel quality, perceived service quality and perceived service sacrifice were significant determinants of the perceived value of Internet apparel shopping. In addition, perceived value was an influential factor affecting consumer satisfaction and future behavioral outcomes. Specifically, perceived value and perceived Internet retailer's service quality were the strongest predictors of future behavioral outcomes which were intention to purchase, search, revisit, recommend, and say positive things about the site to others.

Includes bibliographical references and index

This publication comprises material on recent studies on quality management in agri-food chains. Due to several food crisis’s (e.g. BSE, Foot-and-Mouth disease) and growing demands for food quality and safety, quality management systems and quality assurance schemes have been widely adopted in different countries in recent years. Scientific knowledge about the features, the acceptance and the effectiveness and efficiency of these newly introduced quality management initiatives, has remained scarce until now. The material by experts in the field, focuses on the evaluation of quality management systems and quality assurance schemes. The main issues are the costs and benefits of quality management given the influence of the public sector and consumers' expectations about food quality and safety. Not only are benchmarking and harmonisation methods examined with regard to their impact on the effectiveness of quality assurance schemes, but, also the role of trust, cooperation and integration for efficient quality management is discussed. Different economic theories such as microeconomics, organization and marketing theory as well as advanced statistical methods are applied. Concepts are discussed from the various points of view of industrialised, export-oriented and developing countries throughout the book. The information in this book give a comprehensive review of quality management concepts in food chains and highlight future research directions from a global perspective. This book is of interest to all those who concern themselves with the topic, be it in academia or in the professional sector.