The Mediating Role of E-Trust in the Relationship Between E-Service Quality and Repurchase Intention in B2C e-commerce Trading : Comparative Study in Sri Lanka and Sweden

Sammanfattning

The study examines how e-trust affects the way efficiency, fulfillment, system availability, privacy, and responsiveness from e-services influence the decision to repurchase goods in B2C e-commerce in Sri Lanka and Sweden. Since e-commerce is expanding around the world, the research examines how well-established service quality models, such as E-SERVQUAL, perform in areas with both high and low digital development and trust in institutions. Information is gathered from university students of both countries who use used TEMU app. The sample contains responses from 161 people, and 84 are from Sri Lanka, while 77 are from Sweden. SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) is used in this research to assess the goals and objectives of the research. The results demonstrate that countries differ a lot from each other. Responsiveness and fulfillment were the biggest contributors to e-trust, which then greatly affected repurchase intention in Sri Lanka (β = 0.759, p < .001). Mainly, privacy and availability did not greatly influence the performance. Privacy (β=0.536, p=.008), system availability (β=0.611, p=.017), and responsiveness (β=0.696, p<.001) all significantly contributed to e-trust for people in Sweden. In both countries, efficiency affected trust, but only in Sweden did fulfillment not matter, showing that Swedes have different expectations from what they buy. These findings show that following the same e-service quality framework does not automatically ensure trust in every situation; national rules and access to infrastructure make a difference as well. Suggestions involve targeted marketing methods, transparent handling of orders in emerging nations, and privacy measures following GDPR in advanced economies. This research contributes to what is known about e-commerce on a global scale by uniting universal service models with how consumers behave in different countries, giving actionable advice to platforms facing diverse online markets.