Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role and importance of results in B2C e-commerce from the customer's perspective, together with impact on overall perceived quality and customer attitudes.
Design/methodology/approach – The data base for this study was obtained from a sample of 191 individuals who had purchased on the internet and the techniques used in the statistical analysis of the data were as follows: principal components analysis, structural equations and regression analyses.
Findings – Two dimensions – cost and guarantee – explain value in e-commerce. In the data resulting from the analyses, guarantee turns out to be a more important factor with respect to overall perceived quality and consumer attitudes than cost.
Research limitations/implications – If a company manages to improve its e-commerce transaction results, this will have a favorable effect on overall perceived quality and consumer attitudes. In other words, the result is as important as the process for a successful purchase.
Practical implications – The scale, integrated for the dimensions “guarantee” and “cost” should help firms to identify and improve their B2C e-commerce results from the customer perspective. Consequently, it will have a positive effect on overall quality, disposition to repeat and disposition to recommend.
Originality/value – Companies operating on the internet will find a number of suggestions in this paper on how to achieve competitive advantage through the successful management of their websites, improving results – guarantee and cost – to customers.