The Impact of Webcare Quality on Buying Behaviour: A Study in Çanakkale

Abstract

The increasing share of e-commerce in global trade in the 20th century has not only created new opportunities for businesses but also brought new problems and solutions. The rapid spread of e-commerce both in Turkey and the world, especially during the Covid19 pandemic period, has led businesses to take part in the digital world. Businesses that have to keep up with the digital world also have to perform functions such as sales, marketing and customer service management in the e-commerce world with new methods. Customer experience and product reviews, which have become an important element in e-commerce, have led to the concept of webcare. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of webcare, which has become an important element, especially in e-commerce activities, on consumers' purchasing behavior. In the research, the young population, ages between 18-25, who use e-commerce more often and whose digital literacy is higher than other generations, are selected as the sample. Data is collected through surveys from 354 participants in Çanakkale province. In the study using quantitative analysis methods, the webcare quality scale (Ghosh and Mandal, 2020) is translated into Turkish and evaluated by factor analysis, and the relationship between webcare quality and purchasing behavior is subjected to correlation and regression analyses. Research findings show that Webcare quality is divided into 5 dimensions in participant perceptions and that these dimensions have a positive relationship with purchasing behavior. Regression analysis findings show that especially in webcare quality, the reliability dimension, which includes coherence, assurance and retention dimensions originally, is effective on purchasing behavior. The findings also reveal that consumers follow business responses at a very high rate when it comes to webcare, and most of this following happens on the e-commerce platform where the purchase occurs. The study is completed with comments and suggestions regarding the findings.