Service quality of mHealth platforms: development and validation of a hierarchical model using PLS

Advancing research on service quality requires clarifying the theoretical conceptualizations and validating an integrated service quality model. The purpose of this study is to facilitate and elucidate practical issues and decisions related to the development of a hierarchical service quality model in mobile health (mHealth) services research. Conceptually, it extends theory by reframing service quality as a reflective, hierarchical construct and modeling its impact on satisfaction, intention to continue using and quality of life. Empirically, it confirms that PLS path modeling can be used to estimate the parameters of a higher order construct and its association with subsequent consequential latent variables in a nomological network. The findings of the study show that service quality is the third-order, reflective construct model with strong positive effects on satisfaction, continuance intentions and quality of life in the context of mHealth services. Finally, the study discusses the implications of hierarchical service quality modeling in electronic markets and highlights future research directions.