Affective States of the Consumer and Satisfaction with Services in the Airline Industry

Abstract

While its importance in marketing is never questioned, customer satisfaction has rightly been described as “a complex and elusive phenomenon.” The search continues for factors/variables that determine its presence and magnitude. This paper examines the affective aspect of customer satisfaction in the globally important, but highly competitive airline industry. Two major forms of affective state of the consumer are examined, namely: (i) mood, and (ii) quality of life. Findings show that both tend to have significant influence on the level of satisfaction with services in the airline industry. However, some elementary services tend to be more influenced than others by these affective states of the consumer. Implications, and managerial applications of the findings for augmenting customer satisfaction in the airline industry are discussed.     

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.     

Corporate image,loyalty, and commitment in the consumer travel industry

Abstract

This article examines the impact and interrelationship of corporate image, satisfaction, and commitment on customer loyalty in the travel industry. A corporate image–commitment–loyalty model was developed and tested. Partial least squares (PLS) was used to test the direct and indirect linkages between the four variables, and an alternative model was proposed. The tourism and travel industry is highly price sensitive and competitive with low levels of customer loyalty. Customer loyalty is a valuable asset in highly competitive markets, and understanding factors affecting customer loyalty is important to travel agencies who are seeking ways to maintain a strong customer base. The results of a mail survey conducted in New Zealand indicate that corporate image has a positive significant influence on customer commitment and customer satisfaction. Affective commitment is the focal point in the relationship and contributed most in predicting customer loyalty. The influence of customer satisfaction, on the other hand, contributed a much smaller effect. The key implications for travel agencies are build strong emotional bonds with customers and improve corporate image through trust and service delivery.     

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.     

Are Variety-Seekers Bad Customers?

SUMMARY

Variety-seeking behavior occurs if customers derive utility from a change of service providers. It has negative consequences for the firm's profits, because it functions as a moderating factor in the relationship of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Even by offering high service quality variety-seekers cannot be retained. Therefore variety-seekers are often seen as “bad” customers, because they are not loyal to the firm. This article will show variety-seeking behavior in a more positive light. Variety-seekers are satisfied customers and therefore they are likely to engage in positive word-of-mouth communication. Recommendations will help to attract new customers and thus increase profits.     

A Case Study to Determine the Impact of Offering Selective Menus on Customer Satisfaction in a Health-Care Foodservice Operation

Abstract

In an effort to improve patients' satisfaction with healthcare foodservice, many hospitals are implementing a selective menu program. The purpose of this study was to identify the impact of a selective menu program on customer satisfaction in a health-care foodservice setting in Korea. The results of this study indicate that patients' perceptions of food and service dimensions are significant predictors of overall satisfaction with hospital foodservices. Patients who opted for a selective menu program at high levels of frequency showed more satisfaction with the selective menu program than those in the low-user group. “Food variety,” “taste,” and “offering nutritional information about menu items” are the key drivers of overall satisfaction.     

Ethical Customer Value Creation: Drivers and Barriers

There is a long-standing discussion on the positive interactions between enterprise value creation and business competitiveness. The corporate value can be seen as being created from three major sources within the cycle – from employees, from processes, and from customers or investors through reinvestment. To achieve competitive advantages, a firm must create more value than its competitors in the industry. Emphasizing that, firms should explore the positive drivers of customer value creation, allowing for a true value creation that will lead to increments in competitiveness. In reality, however, there are also barriers that hinder customer value creation. Targeting the above issues that have not yet been explored or analyzed, we have collected related literature at the first stage. Based on these presumable assumptions, this paper then conducts an empirical study by surveying and analyzing the relevance given by the investigated leading machinery measuring equipment firms in Taiwan, regarding the concerns as drivers and barriers in relation to customer value creation. This paper especially aims to answer several key questions: What drivers revolving around employees and processes can facilitate the organization to create more value for its customers? Conversely, what barriers block the organization from creating value for customers in examining the same dimensions? Does value creation direct an organization’s profitability and competitiveness? Our questionnaire survey results show that the most recognized and agreed drivers of customer value creation in consideration of employees are “distinctive skills”, “personal experience”, “learning and training”, and “team work”; and, in regard to the firm’s processes, the key drivers are “innovation and evolution”, “R&;D capability”, and “capability for differentiation”. Conversely, the most recognized and agreed barriers to customer value creation in relation to employees are a “distrustful environment” and “inadequate knowledge”; and, in terms of processes, they are “short of core technology”, “poor resource support”, and “bad services and attitudes”. Furthermore, our in-depth interview outcomes reveal that “capital sufficiency” and “mergers and acquisitions” are in practice considered to be other important customer value creation drivers; in contrast, “cultural and structural barriers” and “short of mechanisms to measure customer value creation effectively” are viewed as additional critical barriers to customer value creation.     

The customer wants service: Why technology is no longer enough

In today's marketplace, the customer is presented with a myriad of products and services of greater variety and value than ever before. As competition becomes more intense, product and service providers are increasingly turning towards “service” or “service quality” as a means of achieving competitive advantage. Even in industries such as telecommunications, where significant technological advances have characterized the industry, companies are realizing that the best product no longer guarantees an advantage over the competition. The key ingredient in the formulation of a competitive service strategy is the proper measurement of service quality dimensions, as defined by the customer, and the continual monitoring of company performance along those dimensions. This article describes the process of identifying service quality dimensions as applied in two telecommunications network providers, one in Canada and one in Ireland. Results are compared and contrasted between the two countries.     

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.     

Research Trends of Marketing: A Bibliometric Study 1990–2017

Abstract

Interest in the role of marketing has grown in recent decades due to its impact in brand value, value creation for customers, profitability of customer base, and organizational results. The paper shows an overall view on marketing research to explore the development of research trends, showing the high-frequency keywords at different time periods. Using bibliometric methods, the research analyzes publications between 1990 and 2017 found in the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The paper shows the evolution of keywords to reveal emerging topics as demonstrated in the connections network which includes “advertising,” “consumer behavior,” “trust,” “innovation,” and “customer satisfaction.”     

A Normative Model for Improving Services Quality

Abstract

As services businesses continue to proliferate, competition among professional and retail service providers rapidly intensifies. Amidst the competitive wars, service marketers are seeking new, innovative ways to improve services quality in order to maintain their competitive position. Many of the existing approaches are geared toward larger operations. This article proposes a normative model of services quality for service organizations of varying types and sizes with an emphasis on the small service provider. The utilization of this model can assist service providers in improving the quality of their service and overall customer satisfaction.     

Customer Satisfaction in the Property and Casualty Automotive Insurance Industry

Abstract

This study addresses the important issue of service quality and customer satisfaction in the highly competitive property and casualty (P & C) insurance industry. Automotive dealers and related customer groups were surveyed about their perceptions of the service quality they received from their P & C insurance companies, and about their intentions to change carriers.

Strong relationships were found between intention to change the carriers and all dimensions of service quality. No statistically significant relationships were found between the length of coverage and service quality dimensions. The findings suggest that consistent delivery of high quality service is imperative to retain customers and that the customers' loyalty toward the company is short lived at best.     

Quantifying the link between employee engagement,and customer satisfaction and retention in the car rental industry

In the retail service industry, employee engagement may play an important role in customer satisfaction and retention, as employees often interact directly with customers. This paper investigates the empirical link between employee engagement and customer satisfaction and retention by analyzing a unique data set from a large car rental company. Our analysis makes use of retirement-induced employee turnover as an exclusion restriction that is plausibly induced by employee age, thereby allowing for variation in employee engagement that is partially exogenous to common underlying factors that also impact customer satisfaction and retention. We show that there is a positive effect of employee engagement on customer satisfaction and retention. Further analysis of moderating effects highlight potential limits to employee engagement, as service disruptions in the form of car downgrades can dampen the positive effects of employee engagement. However, despite the dampened impact of employee engagement its overall effect remains positive indicating that employee engagement can be a key factor in building resilience to unforeseen service disruptions.

     

Internal Relationship Management

SUMMARY

In the quest for sustainable competitive advantage, managers have sought to differentiate themselves through a customer (as opposed to product) focus. This has given rise to successive strategies designed to improve the customer experience (e.g., objective quality, service quality, customer satisfaction, customer retention, customer loyalty, etc.). The problem, however, is that a satisfied, loyal customer who is persuaded to consistently buy a firm's product or service over and over again because of its quality can be and often is unprofitable. Therefore, using such strategies does not guarantee increased profits. As a result, firms will increasingly rely on the measurement and management of customers' lifetime values to guide their customer loyalty efforts.     

Validating Restaurant Service Quality Dimensions

Abstract

Service-based industries such as hotels and restaurants are spending a tremendous effort to measure and improve the service quality of their businesses. Service quality is one of the key factors in achieving competitive advantages in the restaurant industry since high service quality presumably results in increased customer satisfaction, and thus increased future patronage. The purpose of this study was to examine the two generic service-quality dimensions: physical quality and staff behavior/attitude in restaurants by employing the confirmatory factor analysis approach. The findings indicated that the two-factor model of restaurant service quality was successfully validated and also, the predictive accuracy of the model was established.     

A Gap Analysis of a CPA Tax Service and the Implications for Enhancing Service Quality

ABSTRACT

Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firms are “pure” services where the customer is buying the knowledge and expertise of the accounting professional. Marketing the “expertise” of certified public accounting firms is challenging because the client's expected and perceived levels of service quality is not clearly understood. This article presents a service blueprint of an income tax service and highlights potential failure points that can impact process and outcome qualities. Some recommendations are made for improving the tax service to achieve higher levels of service quality.     

Reaching the customer: Strategies for marketing and customer service

The author suggests that logistics and marketing can combine to provide a sustainable means of competitive advantage. Many marketing executives never consider the very substantial contributions which effective logistics management could make to success in the marketplace. “Marketing Logistics” can lead to success by securing a cost advantage through increased efficiency and by maximising added value through customer service, providing high levels of service at lower cost.     

Applying Transactional NPS for Customer Journey Insight: Case Experiences and Lessons Learned

ABSTRACT

While the concept of “customer journeys” is widely taken up to support service design and management, practical frameworks for routine monitoring of customer experience in the context of customer journeys are lacking. This article proposes a framework for applying the widely used transactional Net Promoter Score (NPS) as a means for gathering insight into customers' experiences of a customer journey. We present lessons learnt from three case trials of the framework elements within a telecom service provider, involving the analysis of more than 1,700 quantitative and qualitative customer responses from transactional NPS surveys.     

Individual Differences Among Service Employees

SUMMARY

To do an excellent job of managing external relationships, service firms must be prepared to do an excellent job of managing internal relationships. This effort begins with recruiting, selecting, and retaining employees who are likely to serve customers well. While service firms strive to match the knowledge, ability, and skills of potential employees to the requirements of the job, most do not have the time or the resources to implement elaborate recruitment and selection systems. This is especially true among services where relatively high turnover levels mandate that recruitment and selection processes be fast and inexpensive. To meet this challenge, managers often focus on a set of easily identifiable individual characteristics, such as experience, job tenure, age, or education that can be assessed during the time of an interview or scan of a job application. This study examines the effect of these characteristics on the attitudes and responses of service employees that are critical for the effective delivery of quality service (job satisfaction, self-efficacy, role stress, organizational commitment). The results indicate that satisfied and committed service employees tend to be older, better educated, and possess a great deal of service experience. These employees also appear to be better able to handle the stress associated with service positions. These characteristics are atypical of the service industry, where employees tend to be younger, possess relatively little experience in any one industry, and are less educated. Implications for managing the recruitment, selection, and retention of service employees are offered, as are directions for future research.     

The Effect of Organisational Vision on Service Quality Delivery

This study is an attempt to apply the concept of organisational vision to quantitative measures of service operation. Service organisations look at customer satisfaction ensuing from service quality delivery as a source of competitive advantage. To be able to contribute towards this end, vision must exert influence on the key variables job satisfaction and service effort of employees. The results show that organisational vision positively contributes to job satisfaction and service efforts of the participants working in a nationwide fast-food organisation.