Abstract This article examines the determinants of service quality and continuance intention of online services. We proposed and empirically tested a model with both service and technology characteristics as the main drivers of service quality and subsequent continuance intention of eTax, an electronic government (eGovernment) service that enables citizens to file their taxes online. Our data were collected via a two‐stage longitudinal online survey of 518 participants before and after they made use of the eTax service in Hong Kong. The results showed that both service characteristics (i.e., security and convenience) and one of the technology characteristics (i.e., perceived usefulness, but not perceived ease of use) were the key determinants of service quality. Another interesting and important finding that runs counter to the vast body of empirical evidence on predicting intention is that perceived usefulness was not the strongest predictor of continuance intention but rather service quality was. To provide a richer picture of these relationships, we also conducted a post‐hoc analysis of the effects of service and technology characteristics on the individual dimensions of service quality and their subsequent impact on continuance intention and found assurance and reliability to be the only significant predictors of continuance intention. We present implications for research and practice related to online services.

Abstract Prior research on Web animation typically focuses on banner ads, where the findings suggest that users are capable of ignoring the animation when performing online tasks. Research on non‐banner‐ads animation (e.g., animation applied to the main content of an e‐commerce Web site), however, is relatively scarce with inconclusive results. We propose that the effects of non‐banner‐ads animation are moderated by task type and the Web user's experience with the animation. Drawing upon divided attention theories, especially the central capacity theory, this research investigates the effects of non‐banner‐ads animation on Web users' clicking behavior, task performance, and perceptions through an online shopping experiment. The results show that non‐banner‐ads animation does attract Web users' attention, with the animated item more likely to be clicked first and also more likely to be purchased when users are performing browsing tasks. Meanwhile, Web users' task performance and perceptions are negatively affected in the presence of animation. Moreover, the negative effects of animation on task performance are greater in browsing tasks than in searching tasks. Finally, experience can help Web users to reduce the distraction from animation and is more effective when users are engaged in searching tasks than when they are engaged in browsing tasks.