Customer-to-customer interactions on customer citizenship behavior

This study examines how both positive and negative customer-to-customer interactions (CCIs) simultaneously influence customer citizenship behavior. Specifically, we posit that (1) positive CCI and dysfunctional customer behavior (negative CCI) influence customers’ affection with service, (2) customers’ affection with service leads to positive customer citizenship behavior, and (3) service providers’ relationship investment moderates the relationships between positive (negative) CCI and customers’ affection with service. The study sample consisted of 362 customers at a major public recreation center in South Korea. We used latent moderated structural equation modeling and the bootstrapping technique to test the proposed hypotheses. The results offer full support for the expected differential effects of positive CCI and dysfunctional customer behavior on customer citizenship behavior, and provide important implications for research and practice.     

Exploring the relationship between individual values and the customer orientation of front-line employees

Abstract

Because of the nature of services, namely the inseparability of production and consumption, employee behaviours influence customer perceptions of service quality and satisfaction with the service provider. In particular, customer-oriented employees seek to help customers by addressing their needs, and this contributes to the building of customer satisfaction and the development of a relationship. Not surprisingly, research has been investigating the drivers of employees’ customer orientation. This paper examines how individual values influence the customer orientation of front-line service employees, a topic that has been unexplored in extant literature, and this is useful for the selection of employees who match the firm’s service strategy. To accomplish this, the study relies on the Schwartz value theory, which is applied to front-line employees in banking. The findings indicate that both resultant conservation and resultant self-enhancement affect the customer orientation of employees, and that these effects are moderated by job satisfaction and autonomy.     

How price increases affect future purchases: The role of mental budgeting,income, and framing

This article suggests that mental budgeting processes provide afurther understanding of how and to what degree price increases negatively affect a customer's future purchase behavior in a particular category of expenses. Furthermore, the authors analyze how customer income and different price presentation tactics alter this reaction. Results of two experimental studies using both students and non‐students show that customer income attenuates the negative effect of a price increase on the likelihood of a future purchase in a particular expense category. As an underlying mechanism, the influence of customer income on future purchase behavior is partially mediated by the degree to which customers engage in mental budgeting. Moreover, mental budgeting strengthens the negative effect of a price increase on a future purchase in the same category of expenses, whereas it does not alter the effect of a price increase on a future purchase in another category. Finally, the framing of a price increase as a percentage versus in absolute terms leads to a lower likelihood of a future category purchase. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Hotel Service Recovery and Service Quality: Influences of Corporate Image and Generational Differences in the Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

ABSTRACT

As the number of tourists continues to grow globally, the hospitality industry players inevitably face more challenges. High competition among the competitors and the emergence of new technologies such as online booking platforms make the competition more intense among players in the hospitality sector. The quality of services provided is undoubtedly crucial to the success of the hotel. Hence, any service failure has to be addressed appropriately in order to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction and to keep the image of the hotel intact. It is therefore vital that service recovery programs are carefully planned to meet various types of service failures which may inevitably occur. In this study, questionnaires were distributed to customers who had experienced service failures. The aim was to investigate the influence of service quality and service recovery on satisfaction and, ultimately, the effect on customer loyalty. The research also tested the mediating effect of corporate image between the relationship of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The findings showed that both service recovery and service quality had a significant impact on customer satisfaction. Similarly, it was found that customer satisfaction induced customer loyalty towards the hotel operator. The result also showed that corporate image mediated partially between the relationship of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.     

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.     

The trickle-down effect of trust in business-to-business relationships: How can a supplier ensure cooperation from multiple customers?

Abstract

Although several interfirm cooperation studies have expanded the unit of analysis from dyads to triads (networks), there is scant literature focusing on whether and how a supplier’s relationship with a customer influences its relationships with other customers. Individual relationship dyads are not isolated but interact with one another. Particularly, mutual trust in a supplier–customer relationship dyad may influence other customers’ cooperative behavior. This cross-dyadic influence is called the “trickle-down effect of trust.” A hypothesis for the mechanism by which this effect occurs was generated, focusing on the customers’ demand information offerings as a cooperative behavior. The results of an empirical analysis indicate that (1) a supplier’s mutual trust with its primary customer encourages nonprimary customers to offer their demand information to the supplier and (2) the quality of information from customers helps the supplier to make their new product more meaningful.     

Customer Participation Behavior in High- Versus Low-Contact Services: The Multiple Roles of Customer Trust

ABSTRACT

In light of the changing roles of customers from service co-producer to value co-creator, the customer participation literature has conceptualized two types of participation behavior: co-production and value co-creation. However, there is a dearth of knowledge concerning both the antecedents of customer co-creation behavior and the outcomes of such behavior in relation to customer-perceived value and loyalty. Anchored in the trust-commitment theory, the present research (a) examines the effect of how a customer's trust in the service personnel could affect his/her cooperative behavior over the service design and delivery processes; and (b) investigates how the potential impact of a customer's trust in service personnel on his/her co-design and co-delivery behavior could be made contingent upon the customer's trust in the service brand and the types of high- versus low-customer-contact service contexts. Filling the aforementioned research gaps, the present research contributes to advance our knowledge of the roles played by trust at different levels of analysis in facilitating customer participation behavior and improving our appreciation of the customer contact service contexts when designing the service organization for maximizing service value and sustaining brand loyalty over time.     

Gender Differences in Service Quality Expectations in the Fast Food Industry

Abstract

Services marketers can influence the evaluation of service quality by “managing” customer expectations. Expectations can also provide insights into market segmentation strategies. Gender is often used as a segmentation variable since it is easily identifiable, accessible, and profitable. The purpose of this study was to examine if there are any gender-based differences in the expectations of service quality in the fast food industry. Hypotheses on gender differences in expectations were tested by an ANOVA, where the composite scores of each of the five dimensions of fast food service were used as dependent variables. The expectations of women were significantly higher than men in four of the five dimensions of fast food service quality.     

Complaining: A function of attitude,personality, and situation

The random nature of situations where an acquired product or service contains a defect or deficiency means that consumers usually have no experience of seeking redress (i.e., complaining), or their experience may be from totally different situations. Because of this, most people have not formed a clear attitude about how to behave in the specific situation and they may also be uncertain about social norms for proper behavior. Hence, their behavior is guided by more general traits and dispositions as well as by situation‐specific factors, which are bound to exert a relatively strong influence on behavior. This study confirms that the likelihood that consumers will complain over defects and deficiencies depends a lot on the situation and specifically on the size of the loss due to the defect and deficiency. However, some individuals refrain from complaining even in serious cases. This study shows that the propensity to complain depends on the person's attitude toward complaining and on personality traits (inclination to become dissatisfied). The two latter variables reinforce one another. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Impact of Other Customers on Customer Citizenship Behavior

Despite extensive research on the antecedents of customer citizenship behavior, the influence of other customers remains a neglected area in service research. Drawing on social information processing and interpersonal influence theories, this article investigates how citizenship behavior of focal customers is shaped by citizenship behavior of other customers. This study also examines how informational influence in the form of other‐customer credibility and normative influence in the form of customer social identity moderate this relationship. Using qualitative and quantitative data, this study shows that other‐customer citizenship behavior drives focal customer citizenship behavior. This link is also moderated by informational influence (other‐customer credibility) and normative influence (social identity). From a theoretical standpoint, the findings provide preliminary evidence that other‐customer focus is critical to an understanding of customer citizenship behavior. This study also identifies the boundary conditions for these relationships. From a practical standpoint, the findings suggest that managers need to identify and pay attention to customers who exhibit citizenship behavior so that customer citizenship behavior is reciprocated and extended to other customers in the service encounter.     

Analyzing user sentiment in social media: Implications for online marketing strategy

This article examines restaurant customers’ online activity following visits to restaurants. Differences in customers’ opinions based on gender and location are discussed. Sentiment analysis was used to analyze customers’ social media behavior in terms of liking, rating, and reviewing restaurants. User‐generated reviews and comments about experiences influence potential customers’ decisions. The results of this study show that gender and location of customers influence restaurant ratings. This article shows that sentiment analysis (using Natural Language Toolkit and TextBlob) can help marketers by providing a useful tool for big data analysis. Sentiment analysis can be used to interpret customer behavior and highlight how presales, sales, and after‐sales strategies can be improved.     

There is no dark side of customer aggression − It’s all dark

ABSTRACT

Customer mistreatment is a daily experience of service employees, with a considerable accumulating adverse impact reflected in distress, reduced performance and withdrawal. This paper builds on research addressing the universality of customer aggression and the I3 model which is used to explain aggression, to describe how the combined impact of norms of perfectionism and intensified customer–employee power differentials engender prevalent customer aggression. It is suggested that constant violation of unrealistic expectations threatens customers’ inflated sense of worth. Additionally, because service employees are prevented from both the ‘fight’ and the ‘fight’ reactions to customer aggression, social exchange in the service context does not involve any sanctions for customers. It is recommended that, similar to sexual harassment and organisational bullying, customer aggression should be addressed through legislation requiring organisations to protect their employees.     

Customer e-complaining behaviours using social media

This paper develops a conceptual framework about customer complaining behaviours (CCB), using social media. Specifically, this research expands the current understanding of CCB by examining the differential impact of unfairness, firm response, retaliation, locus attribution, stability attribution, and personal identity on public complaining and private complaining using social media, and their subsequent impact on post-complaining satisfaction (PCS) and loyalty. Public complaining refers to customer complaints directed to a service provider, while private complaining refers to service failure complaints directed towards other customers. A structural equation model shows that high levels of unfairness, firm response, locus, and personal identity have a strong influence on public complaining, while desire for retaliation is a significant factor influencing private complaining. The findings contribute to practice by providing useful and pertinent information for developing suitable web care interventions to effectively deal with public complaining and private complaining through social media platforms.     

Electronic and in-person service quality of hybrid services

The service industries have experienced dramatic changes in service delivery format because of fast-paced innovation in information technology. Hybrid services involve service deliveries through conventional and technology-enabled environments, each of which is complementary and non-interchangeable. However, limited research has examined consumer behavior in response to a series of relevant service episodes in different channels at different points in time. In other words, how customers perceive service quality at each service encounter and how the cumulative effect of these perceptions influences customers’ overall service value assessment and satisfaction remain unclear. This study addresses this research gap by investigating the sequential influence of e-service quality on in-person service quality in a hybrid service format in which interpersonal and computer-mediated services coexist but at different points in time. Empirical analysis shows that e-service quality directly and positively affects in-person service quality, which fully mediates the effects of e-service quality on perceived value and customer satisfaction. The sequence of service encounters matters because in-person service quality perception has a stronger effect than e-service quality on customer metrics. Cumulative quality perceptions significantly influence perceived value and overall customer satisfaction. Theoretical and managerial implications are presented in the discussion.     

Student Complaint Behavior Based on Power Perception

Abstract

This study investigated students' complaint behavior in a higher education service sector. Based on their complaining styles, students were clustered into three groups as passive recipients, private complainers, and voicers. Passive recipients exhibited the highest perceptions of educators' punishment power and legitimate power. They were more likely to be international and undergraduate students. Private complainers possessed high perception of educators' punishment power but moderate perception of educators' legitimate power. Similar to passive recipients, they were more likely to be international and undergraduate students. Distinctively, voicers had the lowest perceptions of both educators' punishment power and their legitimate power. These students were more likely to be domestic and MBA Students.     

The impact of emotions on service quality,satisfaction, and positive word-of-mouth intentions over time

Abstract

This article examines the impact of emotions on customer satisfaction, service quality, and positive word-of-mouth intention formation process over time. In the study, a confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-dimensional model of emotions that then served as predictors in a series of multiple regressions. The findings indicate that two emotion dimensions had a consistent direct impact on all dependent variables in both time periods. However, the interaction effect between time periods and emotions revealed that different emotion dimensions influence satisfaction and word-of-mouth intentions at different stages of the service encounter. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed in detail.     

Influence of customer–firm relationships on customer participation in the service industry

Previous research has focused on relationship value and outcome as ‘consequence variables’ of customer participation (CP). This study examines customer–firm relationships as an ‘antecedent variable’ of CP. Early contact and relationships with customers build confidence in the service encounter and create customer trust, which leads to commitment and improves customer cooperation. Likewise, interaction and relationship building in the service encounter encourage active customer cooperation and participation in the later stages of interaction. This study analyzes the influence of relational antecedent factors affecting customer participation intention, examines the moderating effects of customer relationship proneness, and suggests some theoretical and practical implications.     

Aesthetic labor and visible diversity: The role in retailing service encounters

This study endeavors to investigate the role of the appearance of customer service staff in forming customer perceptions. It also aims to fill the gap in existing knowledge by exploring the notion of visible diversity, for example, ethnicity, age, gender and perceived sexual orientation of store staff in service encounter from the customers’ perspective. The study adopted a qualitative, inductive approach in data collection using a sample of 30 customers from leading Australian fashion retailers. This study identifies three themes explaining customer perceptions of staff's aesthetic labor, namely mirroring appearance, matching appearance, and charming appearance, which can be explained by the social identity theory, role theory and aesthetic capital. It is found that staff appearance might affect customers’ intention to revisit but does not guarantee sales. In addition, based on signaling theory, the results show that age, ethnicity, gender and perceived sexual orientation of the retail store staff are meaningful factors in determining customers’ attitudes and behavior. This study is one of the first that takes aspects of visible diversity into account along with aesthetic labor and customer experience in a retail setting.     

An Investigation of the Relationship Between Need for Affect and Responses to Alcohol Public Service Announcements

ABSTRACT

The study investigates the impact of the Need for Affect personality construct on the processing of advertisements. The purpose of the present study is to gain a better understanding of how need for cognition, sensation seeking, and affect intensity as well as prior product use influence consumer responses to public service announcements. Specifically, the study attempts to improve the understanding of factors that should be considered in efforts to successfully demarket alcohol abuse among college students. The variables of need for cognition, sensation seeking, affect intensity, prior product use, memory of the advertising message, attitude toward the ad, intention to behave, and behavior are linked to create a multidimensional model. Results of the study indicate that high levels of sensation seeking and prior product use are the best predictors of behavior involving the specific product of alcoholic beverages. Need for cognition and affect intensity are not good predictors of behavior involving the specific product of alcoholic beverages. Sensation seeking is also an important indicator for prior product use of alcoholic beverages and intention to buy and consume alcoholic beverages. Although affect intensity does not have a significant effect on behavior, it does have a significant effect on memory of the advertising message.     

Exploring the customer's intention to switch firms: The role of customer‐related antecedents

This study examined the customer‐related antecedents of the customer's intention to switch firms. Customer citizenship behavior was a key element in this study. Scholars have extensively studied the antecedents of customer citizenship behavior. However, the way that customer citizenship behavior relates to other attitudinal variables and the intention to switch has scarcely been analyzed. The proposed hypotheses were verified using partial least squares variance‐based structural equation modeling applied to 947 users of beauty care service firms in five countries. The results suggest that customer citizenship behavior is an antecedent of satisfaction, trust, and attitudinal loyalty. Two of these variables influence customers’ intentions to abandon relationships with the service provider. The implications of these findings enhance managers’ and scholars’ understanding of the determinants of customers’ intentions to switch firms.