An Examination of the Relationship Between Employee Behavior/ Non-Behavior and Customer Satisfaction in Quick Service Restaurants

ABSTRACT

The major objective of this research is to explore the relationship between employee behavior/non-behavior and customer satisfaction in quick service restaurants. Four behavioral components (employee reliability, employee responsiveness, employee assurance, and employee empathy) and one non-behavioral component (the physical environment) are identified.

The survey questionnaire included the modified SERVQUAL instrument (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry, 1991) in addition to questions about satisfaction. A convenience sample of 125 participants was used to collect data by frequenting selected quick service restaurants. The results identified significant positive correlations between three of the five behavior/non-behavior constructs (employee responsiveness, employee assurance, and the physical environment) with three of the four identified dimensions of customer satisfaction (satisfaction with the food, satisfaction with the task/service, satisfaction with the price, and overall satisfaction).     

Exploring different airport users’ service quality satisfaction between service providers and air travelers

This study investigates appropriate attributes— physical environment, outcome, and interactional quality—to measure users' satisfaction that influences airport users' satisfaction level. With these three attributes and users’ perspectives for air travelers and service providers, we generate a conceptual model of airport service quality and satisfaction. The findings indicate that different perceptions exist between airport service providers and air travelers. Air travelers are more concerned with interaction and outcome (convenience) quality attributes, while services providers reflect on interaction and physical environment (servicescape) quality attributes. The airport service quality is found to be significantly related to airport reuse, and destination revisits. An appropriate service-training program is needed to reduce the gap in the level of satisfaction.     

Using Focus Groups to Determine Specific Attributes That Influence the Evaluation of Quality Food and Service Quality in Continuing Care Retirement Communities

Abstract

Residents' perceptions of the specific quality attributes of food and service that affect the quantity of food consumed and their satisfaction with the dining service were explored. Eight focus groups composed of 45 residents were conducted in three continuing care retirement communities. When asked to identify the two most important attributes affecting food quality, the participants identified flavor/taste and texture/tenderness of meat. Appearance of staff and attentiveness of service were the most important attributes affecting service quality. These results can be used in identifying strategies to enhance the quality of food and service and overall satisfaction and developing an instrument to evaluate residents' satisfaction.     

Investigating the Effect of Employee Empathy on Service Loyalty: The Mediating Role of Trust in and Satisfaction with a Service Employee

Abstract

This study examines the indirect effect of employee empathy on service loyalty through the intervening effect of trust in and satisfaction with service employees during service interactions. Data were obtained through a self-administered questionnaire from university students. A total of 410 useable responses were used to perform data analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and bootstrapping for indirect effects were conducted to test the hypotheses. The results show a significant effect of employee empathy on trust in service employee and satisfaction with service employee during customer–employee interactions. Also, satisfaction with a service employee showed a significant effect on service loyalty during service interactions. The study enhances the understanding of empathy within banking services during interactions between service employees and customers. It also provides insights for service managers and frontline service employees on how empathy develops customer’s trust and satisfaction with service employee.     

Effects of physical environment and locus of control on service evaluation: A replication and extension

As a replication and extension, this study empirically tested Bitner's (1990, Journal of Marketing 54, 69–82) model of consumer service evaluation using Singaporean subjects. It investigated the effects of a service failure, physical environment, and attribution on customer evaluation of and satisfaction with the service. The experimental findings showed that consumers engaged in causal inferences when they evaluated the service. Specifically, in cases of service failure, consumers were more dissatisfied when they perceived that the service firm had more control over the cause, and when the failure was recurring vis-à-vis a rare event. Consumers also tended to attribute service failure to a lack of control on the part of the service firm when the failure occurred in a more pleasant environment. The results also showed that satisfaction with the service resulted in perception of higher service quality. Although the physical environment affects perception of service quality, it was mediated by attribution and satisfaction.     

Differences in Customers’ Online Service Satisfaction Across Cultures: The Role of Thinking Style

ABSTRACT

Online retailers constantly strive to improve customer satisfaction. However, satisfaction levels can vary significantly across cultures when customers experience mixed quality services, that is, services with a mixture of high and low quality service attributes. Based on two studies, we find that Westerners (e.g., European Americans) react more negatively than East Asians (e.g., Chinese) toward mixed quality online services. Our findings show that due to differences in thinking style, Westerners (analytic thinkers) are more likely to focus on negative service attributes than East Asians (holistic thinkers), who tend to consider the amalgam of high and low quality service attributes as an integrated whole when forming their overall perceptions and levels of satisfaction. Moreover, the results suggest that for online retailers marketing across cultures, providing superior quality on each individual service attribute may be more important to achieving satisfaction for customers from Western rather than Eastern cultures.     

Perceived Importance Factors of Restaurants in Relation to University Customers' Demographic Characteristics

Abstract

This research examines the attributes which influence customers' decisions to return to a restaurant for another meal. Quality of food was rated as the most important attribute, followed by quality of service, cost/value of the meal, and ambiance of the restaurant. Nutritional value was rated as the least important attribute. Male customers did not rate the attributes differently from the female customers.     

Employee display of burnout in the service encounter and its impact on customer satisfaction

This study examines if employee display of burnout symptoms in service encounters has an impact on customer satisfaction. An experimental approach was used in which the employee's display of burnout (absent vs. present) and the service performance level (low vs. high) were the manipulated factors. The results show that employee display of burnout had a negative impact on customer satisfaction, that this effect was mediated by customers’ appraisals of the employee's emotional state, and that the effect was stronger under the condition of low service performance.     

The Beautiful,the Cheerful,and the Helpful: The Effects of Service Employee Attributes on Customer Satisfaction

In contrast to prior studies examining only piecemeal aspects of employee attributes (i.e., physical attractiveness, displayed emotion, or helpfulness), the present research adopts an encompassing approach and considers these attributes simultaneously. These three attributes were selected as they represent the physical, emotional, and motivational aspects of the employee, respectively. This holistic approach provides an understanding of how these three dimensions of employee attributes exert differential effects and interact with one another on customer satisfaction. In order to validate the proposed framework and hypotheses, the authors conducted an experiment as well as a survey in an actual retail setting. Results show that even though all three employee attributes lead to customer satisfaction, employee helpfulness has the strongest impact. In addition, employees’ displayed emotion interacts with their physical attractiveness and helpfulness, respectively, to influence customer satisfaction. These findings not only contribute to the literature, but also have managerial implications for high‐contact services.     

服务质量构成要素对顾客满意影响力差异研究--现有顾客同潜在顾客间的比较

本研究通过对银行服务业现有顾客样本和潜在顾客样本的比较分析发现:两种不同类型的顾客样本分析结果都显示服务互动质量和结果质量要素对顾客满意都有显著正影响,顾客满意对(重复)购买或口头传播等行为意向有积极效应。物理环境质量对顾客满意的显著影响效应只是在潜在顾客样本中发现,而在现有顾客样本中并不显著。现有顾客样本的分析结果显示三方面服务质量要素对顾客满意的影响力是有显著差异的,而对于潜在顾客样本,三方面的服务质量要素对顾客满意的形成所起的作用没有显著差别。     

The impact of staff empowerment and communication style on customer evaluations: The special case of service failure

Empowering front-line staff to deal with service failures has been proposed as a method of recovering from service breakdown and ensuring greater customer satisfaction. However, no empirical study has investigated consumer responses to empowerment strategies. This research investigates the effect on customer satisfaction and service quality of two employee characteristics: the degree to which the employee is empowered (full, limited, and none), and the employee's communication style (accommodative–informal and personal, and underaccommodative–formal and impersonal). These employee characteristics are studied within the context of service failures. Subjects were shown videotaped service scenarios, and asked to complete satisfaction and service quality ratings. Results revealed that the fully empowered employee produced more customer satisfaction than the other conditions, but only when the service provider used an accommodating style of communication. Fully empowered and nonempowered employees were not judged differently when an underaccommodating style of communication was adopted. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Employee Mere Presence and Its Impact on Customer Satisfaction

Existing research suggests that humans are hardwired to be sensitive to the presence of other humans, and that the mere presence of someone is likely to affect human behavior. So far, however, this issue has been under‐researched in physical environments in which retail and service transactions take place and with respect to the mere presence of employees. This study examined empirically if the mere presence of an employee in a physical environment has an impact on customer affect (in terms of pleasure) and customer satisfaction. Two between‐subjects experiments, in two different settings, showed that the absence of an employee produced lower levels of pleasure and lower levels of customer satisfaction than the mere presence of an employee. The results also indicate that pleasure mediated the association between employee presence and customer satisfaction. In addition, a field study with mystery shoppers confirmed that the employee absent condition produced lower levels of satisfaction than conditions in which employees were visible.     

When do AI chatbots lead to higher customer satisfaction than human frontline employees in online shopping assistance? Considering product attribute type

The increasing adoption of AI chatbots in online shopping assistance, as a complement or substitute for human frontline employees (HFLEs), leads to the question whether HFLEs perform better than AI service robots and why. From the perspective of product attribute type (experiential/functional) and focusing on customer satisfaction, this study explores how the impact of service agent on customer satisfaction varies along with product attribute type. A scenario-based experiment was designed and completed by 567 participants. Although HFLEs lead to higher customer satisfaction when the product attribute is experiential, AI chatbots perform better than HFLEs when the product attribute is functional. We make use of perceived information quality, perceived waiting time, and positive emotions, three determinants of customer satisfaction, to explain the variation of the role of different service agent types. The findings offer useful implications for companies when selecting service agent types in online shopping assistance.     

Service Orientation: Its Impact on Business Performance in the Medical Service Industry

From the viewpoint of internal marketing, employees who are content in their job may be motivated to satisfy their customers better than ones who are not content. Another relevant premise is that the content employees, because of their work motivation, would eventually help improve the performance of their firm. To verify these relationships, some previous studies looked into the effects of organisational service orientation on employee's satisfaction. But only few of them investigated the mediating effects of variables such as service value and customer orientation for their role in linking service orientation to business performance. This study examines how an organisation's service orientation had an effect on its performance at hospitals. For this purpose, verification of the mediating role of service value perceived by employees as well as the role of customer orientation on the firm's performance was attempted. For this study, a total of 292 usable questionnaires were collected from hospital staffs located in metropolitan cities of Korea. The hypotheses concerning relationships among service orientation, service value, employee satisfaction and customer orientation were verified by covariance structural modelling, using SPSS 10.0 and AMOS 4.0 programs. The result is as follows. First, organisational service orientation had a positive effect on both employee satisfaction and service value perceived by hospital staff. Second, employee satisfaction had a positive impact on service value and customer orientation. Finally, service value as well as employee's customer orientation were found to exert positive influence on the medical firm's performance.     

The impact of high-performance work systems in the health-care industry: employee reactions,service quality,customer satisfaction,and customer loyalty

The purpose of this study is to empirically test the effects of high-performance work systems (HPWS) on employee attitude, service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in health-care organisations. The proposed research model was tested using structural equation modelling for hypotheses, based on data collected from 196 pairs of employee–customer respondents in four selected hospitals with more than 500 beds. The results indicate that hospitals can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty through efficient operations, employee engagement, and service quality. One of the key findings of our study is that HPWS in health-care organisations influence employee reaction and service quality.     

Oh my gosh,I got to get out of this place! A qualitative study of vicarious embarrassment in service encounters

Vicarious embarrassment is a negative emotion, which is experienced by an individual when others misbehave. People can feel vicariously embarrassed when observing other people's pratfalls or awkward appearance. For instance, vicarious embarrassment is elicited when watching reality TV or in service encounters where many other customers are present. However, the relevance of vicarious embarrassment in physical service environments has not yet been thoroughly analyzed in the context of service encounters. The objective of the present study is to close this research gap and to introduce the phenomenon of vicarious embarrassment to service research. The findings of 25 in‐depth interviews indicate that vicariously embarrassing incidents mostly occur in service encounters and that these incidents are triggered by the violation of social norms in both customer‐to‐customer and customer‐to‐employee interactions. The authors of the present paper identified closeness of relationship, the service context, and parties involved as important situational variables influencing vicarious embarrassment and further emotional, cognitive, and behavioral consequences for the observing person. From a managerial point of view, the relevance of vicarious embarrassment in physical service environments is caused by negative spillover effects of the service experience, which lead to decreasing customer satisfaction, negative word‐of‐mouth and purchase intentions, and a negative impact on the overall image of the service provider.     

An examination of the presence,magnitude and impact of halo on consumer satisfaction measures

This paper replicates and extends a pioneer study on halo effects in consumer satisfaction by Wirtz and Bateson (1995, International Journal of Service Industry Management 6(3), 84–102). An experiment was conducted using a travel agency service. Two attribute performances were manipulated in a 2×2 factorial design, and the performances of five other attributes were held constant, employing a video to standardise performances across all experimental conditions. The results replicated the findings of Wirtz and Bateson’s study. First, it was shown that the two manipulated attributes both caused halo on non-manipulated attributes. Second, it was demonstrated that observed attribute satisfaction could not be interpreted reliably, neither across attributes within a brand nor by attributes across brands. There were two findings extending the replicated study. First, it was found that the manipulation of the more important attribute caused significantly higher halo than the manipulation of the less important attribute. Second, the notion that the magnitude of halo is an additive function of the number of halo causing attributes had to be rejected. Consumers may be susceptible to halo only to a certain level, beyond which they may attempt to contain its effect.     

Service failure and recovery in using technology-based self-service: effects on user attributions and satisfaction

This study examines service failure and recovery in using technology-based self-service (TBSS) systems to determine the effects of a variety of relevant factors on negative customer/user attributions to the service provider, to employees who try to help in recovery, and to the technology itself, as well as the effects on customer/user satisfaction with the failure/recovery experience. The findings show that immediate recovery of TBSS failures reduces negative attributions and increases customer/user satisfaction with the experience, as does a low-anxiety environment around the kiosk. Technology error (as opposed to user error) decreases user satisfaction. Employee assistance decreases negative attributions to the employee but increases negative attribution to the technology. Some interactions were found among the experimental factors that are also meaningful.     

What drives diners' eco-friendly behaviour? The moderating role of planning routine

Research focusing on diners' intentions towards leftovers, which are considered one of the main sources of consumer food waste in restaurants, is still at a nascent stage and requires further investigation. The present study attempts to address this gap by investigating the antecedents of diners' intentions to take away leftovers and thereby mitigate food waste in an out-of-home setting. Towards this end, we examined the role of personal and social norms as antecedents of the facilitators, inhibitors, and intentions of taking away leftovers. Using the theoretical lens of the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) paradigm, we tested the proposed hypotheses by analysing data collected from 281 diners residing in the United States through a cross-sectional survey on Prolific Academic. The findings indicate that personal norms are positively associated with facilitators and intentions. In comparison, social norms are positively associated with facilitators but negatively associated with inhibitors. The results also confirmed the mediation effect of facilitators and inhibitors and the moderation effect of planning routine to provide valuable insights into the drivers of pro-environmental/eco-friendly behaviour in out-of-home dining to thus aid strategy formulation and future research.     

The effects of online shopping attributes on satisfaction–purchase intention link: a longitudinal study

Attributes of online satisfaction are dynamic. Specifically, it remains to be examined how online shopping attributes empirically affect changes in satisfaction that leads to repurchase behaviours over time and why. The present study develops a theoretical framework for conceptualizing satisfaction with temporal effects and empirically tests it using longitudinal data from 219 online customers. The results indicate that the relationship between attribute‐level evaluations and satisfaction, which has only been examined in terms of predictors of satisfaction in prior literature, is dynamic and changes over time. Changed attributes (particularly convenience and site design) might signal an opportunity to capture the dynamics of attribute‐level evaluations over time. Furthermore, the findings reveal significant temporal effects of satisfaction and purchase intention at time point T on satisfaction and purchase intention at time point T + 1. The results suggest that temporal effects occur as a diagnostic function of a previous attribute rating of a subsequent satisfaction evaluation and the consumer's level of subjective knowledge.