Waiting for service on the internet
Defining the phenomenon and identifying the situations
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12420485 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gerard Ryan (0000-0002-5008-9862, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, corresponding author), Mireia Valverde (0000-0002-0174-3207, Universitat Rovira i Virgili) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 220-240 |
| Publication date | 2005-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Internet Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1066-2243 • E-ISSN: 2054-5657 |
| Publisher | Emerald Publishing Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1108/10662240510590379 |
| OpenAlex | W1494072821 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 13 |
Purpose E‐consumers consistently complain that the internet is frustratingly slow. Most existing research on this phenomenon is based on the concept of “download delay”, that is, the time required for a web page to fully download to the e‐consumer's computer screen. This paper reports on an exploratory study of the phenomenon of waiting for service on the internet with the intention of extending the narrow conceptualisation of the phenomenon of “download delay” to a more user‐based perspective of waiting on the internet. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a qualitative research methodology. The research methods are seven asynchronous virtual focus groups involving 126 intensive internet users over 17 days and 92 participants who maintained personal diaries of waiting on the internet over a nine‐week period. Findings A new definition of waiting on the internet is proposed based on extensive virtual focus group research. Subsequently, 14 distinct types of internet waiting situations are identified based on the analysis of a total of 1,041 waiting situations as reported by the participants in the study. Practical implications A number of practical implications for various functional areas of the business are outlined. Conceptual and methodological contributions are also made. Originality/value The study is the first to present a broader conceptualisation of waiting on the internet from an e‐consumer perspective and based on empirical research. All previous research has been based on just one type of online waiting, i.e. waiting for web pages to download to the user's screen. This paper presents 13 “new” types of waiting situations on the internet
Business · Download · Empirical research · Exploratory research · Focus (optics · Focus group · Internet privacy · Originality · Perspective (graphical · Phenomenon · Qualitative research · Service (business · Sociology · The Internet · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Consumer Retail Behavior Studies · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Technology Adoption and User Behaviour · Marketing
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 2006 - 2020 (15) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |