Characteristics of product/service process and customer needs of geographical accessibility in electronic commerce

The necessity of geographical accessibility between service provider and the customer has been essential for face‐to‐face contact in many service industries. However, the emergence of electronic commerce (EC) and new technologies has altered the concept of location and geographical accessibility of service industries in a traditional economy. This study developed factors representing characteristics of product/service processes and verified that those factors are significantly related to customer needs of geographical accessibility in the transactions of EC. In addition, it investigated the relationships with the reasons for customer needs of geographical accessibility. Data for analyses were collected through customer surveys and statistically analyzed through exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, and canonical correlation analysis.